Appeals court to weigh reimposing fines for Texas foster care failures, removing judge on case
Texas Health and Human Services could face $100,000-per-day fines for violating a judge's orders. The state wants the judge off the case. Full Story
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![A caseworker's badge hangs off her neck as she prepares to assist on a case for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) in June 2018.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
Voting Rights Act doesn’t protect coalitions of racial or ethnic groups challenging political maps, appeals court rules
In a lawsuit challenging redistricting in Galveston County, the 5th Circuit said the protections afforded to a single racial group don’t apply to multiple groups who collectively claim voting rights violations. Full Story
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![The Galveston County Courthouse on Thursday, May 16, 2024.]()
Credit: Joseph Bui for The Texas Tribune -
Texas activist frustrates election officials with lawsuit about threat to ballot secrecy
Laura Pressley claims she found an “algorithmic pattern” that links voters to their ballots. But she won’t make it public. Full Story
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![Laura Pressley and an illustration of public records from court filings.]()
Credit: llustration by Elaine Cromie/Votebeat | Photo by Evan L’Roy/Texas Tribune | Public Records -
Former Texas prisoners describe suffocating heat during trial over state’s un-air conditioned lockups
A lawsuit seeks to force Texas to fully air condition its prison system. Inmate advocacy groups say temperatures can push above 120 degrees in some units. Full Story
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![Prison staff and inmates move through the Darrington Unit's main hallway on Wednesday, July 12, 2017.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough/The Texas Tribune -
Judge allows parental controls for Texas kids’ social media accounts, but blocks content moderation requirement
The rest of the law goes into effect Sept. 1. It’s been challenged by tech industry groups and a free speech advocacy organization. Full Story
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![FILE: A child uses a cell phone and a tablet on Oct. 18, 2023, in Madrid, Spain.]()
Credit: Eduardo Parra/Europa Press/ABACA via REUTERS -
Meta to pay Texas $1.4 billion for using facial recognition technology without users’ permission
Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Facebook parent company in 2022, claiming it had used personal biometric data without permission. Full Story
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![A man stands in front of a sign of Meta, the new name for the company formerly known as Facebook, at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Oct. 28, 2021.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Carlos Barria -
State appeals court strikes down Austin’s marijuana decriminalization ordinance
A state appeals court ruled that Austin’s voter-approved ordinance obstructed the enforcement of state drug laws. The court rejected a similar ordinance in San Marcos last week. Full Story
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![A sign asking for the decriminalization of marijuana is posted outside of an event hosted by Ground Game in Harker Heights on Dec. 3, 2022.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribune -
Texas teens still required to get parental consent for birth control
Texas dropped its lawsuit after federal health officials said they wouldn’t enforce a confidentiality regulation for minors. Full Story
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![Patients wait to be seen at the People's Community Clinic in Austin, which provides state-subsidized health services to low-income families and individuals.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Supreme Court to review death penalty appeal challenging Texas’s DNA testing law
Ruben Gutierrez was sentenced to death for the 1998 Brownsville murder of an elderly woman. His execution was stayed in July. Full Story
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![The view of Texas' execution chamber from a witness viewing room.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
State’s move to bump federal judge from longtime foster care lawsuit caps years of battles
A federal judge has taken the Texas’ foster care system to task for 13 years. Reforms have been made. Now armed with private legal fire power, the state wants the judge off the case. Full Story
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![U.S. District Judge Janis Jack administers the U.S. oath of citizenship to more than 100 area residents representing 25 countries in 2008 aboard the USS Lexington. Jack was the first woman federal judge to serve in Texas south of San Antonio. July 5, 2008.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Todd Yates/Corpus Christi Caller-Times -
Fight over trans medical care is at the core of leaked Houston health records case
A doctor says the government wants to punish him for calling attention to wrongdoing. Advocates say the families of trans kids are the ones at risk. Full Story
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![Texas Children’s Hospital and other buildings in the Texas Medical Center in Houston on June 26, 2020.]()
Credit: May-Ying Lam for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Supreme Court rejects Texas death row inmate’s petition
Reed, on death row for more than 25 years, says he is innocent of the 1996 killing of Stacey Stites in Bastrop County. Full Story
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![In the center, from left: RJ Reed, 5, Rodrick Reed, and Sandra Reed, join hands as they pray during a rally at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 11, 2022. The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments of Rodney Reed vs. Bryan Goertz, examining the statute of limitations for a claim seeking DNA testing of crime-scene evidence after Reed was sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Judge denies Texas’ attempt to shut down El Paso migrant shelter
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office has accused Annunciation House, which operates a network of migrant shelters, of human smuggling. Full Story
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![A crowd of people gathers in support of Annunciation House during the press conference. Earlier this week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, announced a lawsuit against the migrant shelter Annunciation House for allegedly operating a stash house and human trafficking. Annunciation House has been providing aid and shelter to migrants in El Paso, Texas for more than 40 years. February 23, 2024]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Supreme Court will hear challenge to Texas’ age verification requirement for porn sites
A state law passed last year requires pornographic websites to adopt age-verification measures, leading sites like Pornhub to block user access in Texas. Full Story
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![The United States Supreme Court is seen on Saturday, May 18, 2024 in Washington, D.C..]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Again and again, U.S. Supreme Court slaps down 5th Circuit
The New Orleans-based court, which hears Texas cases, is pushing the federal judiciary to the right, even when it gets overturned by a higher court. Full Story
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![The John Minor Wisdom United States Fifth Court of Appeals building in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Oct. 3, 2017.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough/The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ social media law remains blocked after U.S. Supreme Court sends it back to lower court
The tech industry saw the measured ruling as a win. Attorney General Ken Paxton vowed to continue defending the law. Full Story
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![Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram icons displayed on a phone screen are seen in this illustration photo on April 6, 2022.]()
Credit: Jakub Porzycki via REUTERS -
Former police chief, officer, charged with child endangerment in Uvalde shooting response
Former schools police chief Pete Arredondo faces 10 criminal charges, while former school district officer Adrian Gonzales faces 29 counts. Full Story
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![Hundreds of flowers, toys, and candles surround the crosses in memorial of the 21 victims of the school shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, on June 9, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Supreme Court upholds ban on transition-related care for minors
Parents and medical providers of transgender adolescents sued Texas, challenging the constitutionality of a restriction on puberty blockers and hormone therapy. Full Story
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![The Texas Supreme Court on Jan. 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ban on homeless encampments. Here’s what it means for Texas.
The ruling comes amid a nationwide surge in homelessness as high rents put pressure on low-income households and pandemic-era protections expire. Full Story
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![Downtown Dallas Security Sgt. Shannon Delony wakes up a homeless man outside of the Dallas Public Library on Thursday, July 21, 2022.]()
Credit: Emil Lippe for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Supreme Court pauses federal smog control plan that Texas opposed
Environmental experts say the ruling will pause measures to reduce smog in some states and influence suits in lower courts. Full Story
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![Smoke from a power plant in San Antonio on Aug. 4, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune