The latest courts news from The Texas Tribune.
When civilians and police officers came under fire late Thursday night in Dallas, state officials live-tweeted the latest news, offered prayers and lamented a peaceful protest warping into a shootout between snipers and law enforcement. Full Story
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David Cruz joined the U.S. Border Patrol because he wanted to be "part of the best." But family pressures, disillusionment, love and greed drove him to begin taking bribes to help immigrants enter the country illegally. Full Story
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Sandra Bland's 2015 arrest, and death three days later in the Waller County Jail, remain catalysts for lawmakers, activists and policy experts seeking reforms in various facets of Texas criminal justice. Full Story
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A Texas execution set for next week has been delayed indefinitely because the state wasn't able to retest the purity of the lethal drugs in time. Full Story
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is calling a lawsuit filed by three University of Texas at Austin professors in an effort to block the state's new campus carry law "baseless" and said he plans to "vigorously defend it." Full Story
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Rudy Soliz did it for sex. Sergio Lopez Hernandez blamed depression and financial trouble. The crimes differ, but prosecutors say the actions they’re accused of weakened the U.S. borders and ports of entry they were tasked with protecting. Full Story
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Texas Insurance Commissioner David Mattax heard public testimony Wednesday on whether his department should allow insurers to offer lower rates for homeowners who agree to settle disputes through a mandatory mediation-arbitration process — effectively signing away their right to sue. Full Story
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The state’s environmental regulatory agency on Wednesday rebuffed a coalition of border residents and environmental activists who hoped to halt a coal mine from expanding its operations near the Rio Grande. Full Story
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Former U.S. Border Patrol Agent Raquel Esquivel still wears a government-issue green uniform, but now it's a federal prison jumpsuit. She was convicted in 2009 of helping smugglers sneak loads of marijuana across the border. Full Story
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accepted more than $329,000 earmarked for his legal defense from wealthy donors and “family friends,” according to a newly released financial disclosure statement. Full Story
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his Alabama counterpart have dropped their legal bid to squelch a U.S. Virgin Islands investigation of Exxon Mobil after the U.S. territory agreed to with draw a subpoena for company documents. Full Story
By the end of August, the Texas Department of Public Safety will be close to its goal of permanently placing 250 additional state troopers on the southern border. Full Story
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The legal battle to defend Texas' 2013 abortion restrictions — which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional on Monday — cost Texas taxpayers more than $1 million, according to records obtained by The Texas Tribune. Full Story
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More than 2,500 Texas inmates will participate in a national experiment starting next month so that the federal government can study whether reinstating Pell Grants for prisoners might boost their chances of finding employment. Full Story
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Reprising a familiar theme from his abandoned presidential campaign, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz convened a hearing Tuesday and repeatedly charged that the Obama administration is "willfully blind" to the root of terrorism in the United States. Full Story
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A majority of Texas’ registered voters believe Muslims who are not U.S. citizens should be banned from entering the country, according to results of a University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll released Tuesday. Full Story
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The University of Houston sued the erstwhile South Texas College of Law for trademark infringement on Monday for changing its name to the Houston College of Law. Full Story
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On its face, the Supreme Court's ruling on Texas' far-reaching abortion law seems clear: House Bill 2 is unconstitutional. But the implications may not be as straightforward. Here are five things you need to know to understand the landmark ruling. Full Story
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed Texas abortion providers a major victory by overturning Texas’ 2013 abortion restrictions. Full Story
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is trying to intervene in an effort to thwart an investigation into whether Exxon Mobil misled investors about the risks of climate change. Here’s a guide to Paxton’s effort and how it fits into the much broader climate change battle in the United States. Full Story
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