When the state’s new truancy law takes effect Sept. 1, students will no longer potentially face criminal sanctions for skipping school. But there are new directives for public schools and the courts. This story is part of our 31 Days, 31 Ways series.
Judiciary of Texas
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Sandra Bland DA Appoints Team to Review Evidence
The prosecutor in the Sandra Bland death investigation said Monday he has appointed an outside group of lawyers to review the evidence in the case to ensure that Waller County remains “an open book.”
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Criminal Justice
Schools, Courts Worry About New Truancy Law
Juvenile justice advocates applauded when the Texas Legislature decided this year that repeated school truancy will no longer be a crime. But school and court officials worry they are losing tools that have actually worked at keeping kids in school.
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Criminal Justice
TDCJ Official: Supreme Court’s Ruling Won’t Impact Texas Executions
A U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday that upheld the use of an execution drug used in Oklahoma will not change how death row inmates in Texas are executed, according to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman.
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Criminal Justice
Court’s Ban of Death Penalty Lawyer Will Stand
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled it has no authority or jurisdiction to intervene in its sister court’s ban of prominent death penalty lawyer David Dow.
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Criminal Justice
Prosecutors Take Pot Into Their Own Hands
Texas lawmakers may be reluctant to ease up on punishing small-time pot smokers, but local prosecutors across the state are increasingly looking for ways to keep two-bit toking cases from clogging court dockets.
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Criminal Justice
Court: Texas AG Can’t Intervene in Same-Sex Couple’s Divorce
As Texas waits on the U.S. Supreme Court to rule, the state highest civil court ruled Friday that the Texas attorney general’s office tried too late to stop a divorce between a couple married in Massachusetts.
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Criminal Justice
Questions Grow About Pace of Waco Biker Cases
More than three weeks after Waco police arrested 177 bikers following a deadly shootout, none have been charged in the killings, nearly half remain in jail and legal experts — including some former prosecutors — wonder what McLennan County is doing.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Grand Jury Reform Legislation Headed to Abbott’s Desk
Legislation that reforms the state’s grand jury system now awaits Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature after the House on Sunday approved a compromise between the two chambers.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Judge Who Referred to DA as “New York Jew” is Reprimanded
Accused of making offensive comments and holding a 15-hour court session without restroom or food breaks, a district judge in Texas’ South Plains has been publicly admonished and instructed to seek four hours of training with a mentor.
