By Brandi Grissom, The Texas Tribune, and John Schwartz, The New York Times
When Michael Morton is officially cleared of wrongful murder charges on Monday, his lawyers will try to do something unprecedented: They will ask for a special inquiry into former prosecutor Ken Anderson's role in his conviction. Full Story
Root's scoop on Rick Perry's working retirement, Aaronson maps poverty in Texas, Aguilar on a voting rights warning shot from the U.S. Attorney General, Galbraith on the disclosure of chemicals used in fracking operations, Grissom on the drop in executions, Hamilton and M. Smith on UT-Austin President Bill Powers' rough year, Murphy and Tan and Dehn on the shortage of psychiatrists and Ramshaw on the federal refusal to exclude operators like Planned Parenthood from family planning programs: The best of our best content from December 12 to 16, 2011. Full Story
The engine is primed to rev up the national economy, but businesses aren’t putting the pedal to the metal, Richard W. Fisher, the president and CEO of the Dallas Federal Reserve, said today. Full Story
Leading a national downward trend in the use of the death penalty, Texas has executed just 13 prisoners so far in 2011, the lowest number in more than a decade. And juries meted out only eight new death sentences. Full Story
The Williamson County attorney on how the Michael Morton case inspired her to run against Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley, and her concerns that his office could still allow the same mistakes. Full Story
The Sunlight Foundation released an update to the interactive Capitol Words on Monday. The application allows users to search and compare words spoken by federal legislators using data from the Congressional Record. Full Story
With the closure of two previous youth agencies, lawmakers and advocates hope to see cost savings and better results out of the new Texas Juvenile Justice Department. Full Story
Voters choose dozens of important state officials without knowing a thing about them. So they rely on other cues — like political affiliations, pleasing names and who knows what else. Full Story
The dog-sniffing evidence that led to the conviction of her father for conspiring to commit murder was unreliable enough for him to be released from prison. So why is his daughter, Megan Winfrey, serving a life sentence for the same crime based largely on the same evidence? Full Story
If the dog-sniffing evidence that led to the conviction of her father for conspiring to commit murder was unreliable enough for him to be released from prison, why is Megan Winfrey still serving a life sentence for the same crime based largely on the same evidence? Full Story
In this episode of Weekend Insider, Claire Cardona explains the rise in the state's need for foster care, and Brandi Grissom introduces us to a family accused of murder. Full Story
Judge Ken Anderson, the former prosecutor who saw to the wrongful conviction of Michael Morton, said during a marathon deposition that he remembered few of the details from the 25-year-old case and that he did nothing wrong. Full Story
The Texas Supreme Court turned back a challenge to the state's primary business tax, saying it doesn't violate a constitutional ban on personal income taxes. Full Story
A coalition of lawyers today filed grievances with the State Bar of Texas against former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson, his former assistant Mike Davis and current District Attorney John Bradley. Full Story
The Garland Republican pleaded guilty in court Tuesday to felony abuse-of-office charges after illegally pocketing state travel money. The humbled legislator agreed to five years probation and said he was thankful that the issue was finally resolved. Full Story
In this episode of Weekend Insider, we introduce you to two influential Texans: John Bradley, the Williamson County District Attorney, and Michael Sorrell, the president of Paul Quinn College. Full Story
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals took some heat off of Gov. Rick Perry when it issued a stay of execution for Hank Skinner this week. And the governor has avoided any link to another case involving two of his appointees and a botched murder prosecution in Williamson County. Full Story
Williamson County Sheriff's Office Sgt. John Foster holds a press conference Wednesday after the arrest of Mark Alan Norwood, a suspect whose DNA has been linked to the 1986 murder of Christine Morton and the 1988 murder of Debra Masters Baker. Full Story
Mark Alan Norwood, a 57-year-old Bastrop resident, was arrested today and charged with the 1986 murder of Christine Morton. Michael Morton, her husband, was exonerated of her murder last month after spending nearly 25 years in prison. Full Story
On this week's TribCast, Ross, Reeve, Brandi, and Jay review the latest criminal justice headlines, consider the difference between news and gossip in light of the latest Herman Cain developments, and explain what's going on with redistricting. Full Story