The latest courts news from The Texas Tribune.
The Texas Legislature has moved closer to passing a bill that would solve constitutional problems that have left prosecutors without sentencing options for some juveniles convicted of capital murder. Full Story
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A recent state audit revealed lapses in the Texas Medical Board's oversight of pain management clinics. The agency says new funding from legislators will allow increased monitoring to curb the proliferation of "pill mills." Full Story
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For the state's largest business association and criminal justice reform advocates, the 83rd legislative session was successful despite Gov. Rick Perry's veto of a key measure that they said would have made it easier for former inmates to find work. Full Story
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As stakeholders focus on the U.S. Senate during the debate on comprehensive immigration reform, the lower chamber has begun marking up a measure that would expand immigration enforcement powers to local law enforcement. Full Story
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Constitutional questions could plague the capital murder legislation under consideration in the current special legislative session, according to some juvenile justice advocates. Full Story
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John Morton, who has overseen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since 2009, is resigning from his post. Full Story
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Ten years after he was sent to prison for sex crimes he didn't commit, Steven Phillips and his wife divorced. In 2009, he was exonerated and awarded nearly $6 million in compensation. His ex-wife says she's entitled to some of it. Full Story
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The Senate on Friday approved a measure that would require judges and juries to sentence 17-year-olds convicted of capital murder to life in prison with the chance of parole after 40 years. Full Story
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Four inmates' families on Thursday sued the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for wrongful deaths, alleging that prison officials failed to protect the men from extreme heat. Full Story
U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, is asking the state comptroller to update a study on the fiscal impact of Texas' population of undocumented immigrants. Full Story
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A complaint being filed with the U.S. Department of Justice seeks to declare that a Dallas County court’s process of prosecuting truancy as a crime is unconstitutional. But officials in the county say the initiative has been a model of success. Full Story
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The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has decided to end operations at two privately run Texas prison facilities — the Dawson State Jail in Dallas and the Mineral Wells Pre-Parole Transfer Facility — on Aug. 31. Full Story
The special session's agenda now includes the hot-button issue of abortion — which is sure to spark partisan warfare. Gov. Rick Perry also ordered the Legislature to take up a measure dealing with sentences for 17-year-olds convicted of capital felonies. Full Story
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The 2014-15 budget plan for the Texas Department of Public Safety doesn't include money for big-ticket items like gunboats or planes, but it does include money for troopers’ raises and retains funding for the agency’s fusion center. Full Story
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The Rio Grande Regional Water Authority has hired a PR firm to help urge the federal government to mandate that Mexico deliver water to the U.S. under a decades-old treaty. Legal experts say such conflicts would continue if the treaty isn't amended. Full Story
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Civil rights groups and ethicists allege that 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Edith Jones violated judicial codes of conduct during a February speech in which she reportedly said some minority groups are "predisposed to crime." Full Story
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The immigration reform bill slated to go before the U.S. Senate next week is full of loopholes that fail to secure the border or address legal immigration, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz wrote in a letter to his colleagues on Tuesday. Full Story
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Megan Winfrey spent six years behind bars before she was acquitted of murder. Now, she is hoping to help solve the mystery of who brutally killed school janitor Murray Burr in 2004. Full Story
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Megan Winfrey spent six years — nearly all of the 25-year-old's adult life — behind bars before she was acquitted of murder. She faces the colossal challenge of starting her life without compensation for the years she lost in prison. Full Story
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The number of naturalized citizens in Texas is on the rise, as is the purchasing power and economic output of the state's native-born and immigrant Hispanic and Asian populations, according to an Immigration Policy Center report. Full Story
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