Since 2000, the Texas prison system has referred nearly 400 cases of staff sex crimes against inmates to prosecutors. Prosecutors refused to pursue almost half of those cases. Of 126 prison workers convicted, just nine were sentenced to serve time.
Texas Department Of Criminal Justice
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice, Demographics
Get a Closer Look at Texas’ Death Row
There are currently 261 inmates living on death row in Texas, the state with the most active execution chamber by far. Use this interactive to search through these men and women by the length of their stay, race, age and sex.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Faces of Death Row: A New Tribune Data Tool
To add transparency to the state’s capital punishment system, the Tribune is unveiling a new tool for readers: Faces of Death Row. It profiles all 261 inmates facing execution, summarizes their crimes and allows filtering by race, age, sex and years spent on death row.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
House Backs Senate Bill Making Execution Drug Providers Secret
Legislation that would keep the names of execution drug providers secret is headed to the governor’s office after the Texas House gave final approval on Tuesday to a Senate measure.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Slideshow: In Darrington, Prisoners Become Preachers, Seek Redemption
Brazoria County’s 33 newest Christian ministers aren’t your typical men of God. Some have been convicted of murder, and those who aren’t murderers are locked away for other serious crimes – most of them violent.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Inmate Set for Execution Seeks Supreme Court Stay
Lawyers for a Texas inmate convicted of capital murder in the 1999 stabbing death of a prison guard have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his Tuesday execution.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Lawmaker Says Death Penalty Could End if Drug Suppliers Revealed
If the names of the compounding pharmacies providing execution drugs to Texas officials are made public, it could end the death penalty, state Rep. John Smithee told a house committee on Wednesday.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
San Antonio Gang Member Executed
A Mexican Mafia hit man convicted for his part in the 1998 capital murder of a San Antonio woman was executed Wednesday evening, leaving the state prison system with only enough pentobarbital for one more execution.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Could Sedative Be Used in Future Texas Executions?
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which is nearly out of its current lethal injection drug, pentobarbital, has stockpiled the sedative midazolam. That drug could be part of a backup execution method in Texas, but it is at the center of a legal challenge.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Classification of 17-Year-Olds Spurs Criminal Justice Debate
Texas is one of nine states that automatically classify 17-year-olds as adults when they’re accused of crimes. Campaigns to “raise the age” are gathering momentum in some states, and Texas is facing a spirited debate of its own.
