Texas officials have not detailed when jails and prisons — known hot spots of the coronavirus’ spread — will receive doses of the vaccine. And many on the inside remain wary of getting the shot in prison.
Texas Department Of Criminal Justice
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Criminal Justice
Texas to shutter three more prisons as units face critical staffing shortages
Three units across the state will be at least temporarily closed this month, according to the Texas prison system. The agency hopes it will help with dangerously low staffing levels.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Federal court orders Texas prison system to provide hand sanitizer for some geriatric inmates during pandemic
Texas has had more inmate deaths related to the coronavirus than any other prison system in the nation. Its death toll of at least 162 inmates outranks every other state as well as the federal prison system.
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Coronavirus in Texas
The only Texas prison reporting zero coronavirus cases is where inmates make soap. But that’s not what’s credited with protecting it.
Of more than 100 Texas prison units, the Roach Unit’s apparent ability to avoid the virus has been attributed to a remote location and a warden who strictly enforces precautionary measures.
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Coronavirus in Texas
The coronavirus is keeping Texas prisoners who’ve been approved for parole behind bars
Thousands of parole-approved prisoners remain locked up during the public health crisis. The coronavirus has delayed pre-release programs and kept people set to go home inside infected prisons.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Thousands of Texas prisoners still have the coronavirus. More than 25% of inmates at four units are infected.
At one prison, more than 750 inmates were actively infected with the coronavirus Monday, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
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Coronavirus in Texas
After 17 youths test positive for the coronavirus, Texas juvenile lockups to begin mass testing
The agency will use the same self-administered, oral tests used to conduct mass testing in Texas’ adult prison facilities.
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Criminal Justice
U.S. Supreme Court halts Texas execution of Ruben Gutierrez during legal fight over religious advisers’ access to death chamber
Gutierrez has long fought for DNA testing he says could prove his innocence in a 1998 Brownsville murder and home robbery. But the high court’s ruling centered on Texas prison officials’ recent decision to keep religious advisers out of the execution room.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Texas prisons will accept county jail inmates again, three months after the coronavirus halted intake
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice halted intake from county jails in April as the coronavirus began rapidly spreading in state and local lockups. The virus is still pervasive within the prison system.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Inmates report dangerous practices inside the Texas prison with the most coronavirus deaths
The Wynne Unit in Huntsville has had at least 10 deaths connected to the new coronavirus. In letters, inmates said conditions were unsanitary and disorganized, and sick men often went untested.
