The latest courts news from The Texas Tribune.
Texas laws more strictly regulate euthanasia of animals than the lethal injection of death row inmates, according to a report released Sunday by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas and the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University Law School. Full Story
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Tan's wall-to-wall coverage of the budget (with more from the rest of the Trib crew, interviews with some of the freshmen seeing this up close for the first time and a map of how it works), Philpott on the similarities between budget worries in Texas and those elsewhere, M. Smith explains school finance, Ramshaw on the dwindling insurance options for orphans, Grissom on legal fights over the drugs used for state executions, Aguilar on the run-up to the debate over sanctuary cities, Stiles maps the diversity of Texas counties, Galbraith on efforts to recycle plastic bags and Hamilton on calls for "entrepreneurship" at the University of Texas: The best of our best content from March 28 to April 1, 2011. Full Story
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Travis County District Court Judge Stephen Yelenosky this afternoon denied the request of two death row inmates to temporarily halt executions with Texas' new lethal injection drug. Lawyers for Cleve Foster and Humberto Leal said they would immediately appeal the judge's decision. Full Story
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Jennifer Stayton of KUT News talked with author Sherry Matthews about her new book on the Waco State Home, a troubled youth facility that operated until the 1970s. Matthews says that for some alumni of the youth facility, life there remains too painful a memory to recount. Full Story
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Texas' decision to change one of the drugs used for lethal injections has sparked a lawsuit, calls for federal investigation of the criminal justice department and pleas from the drugmaker not to use its product for executions. Full Story
The Senate Criminal Justice Committee today approved a controversial bill that would allow students to carry concealed handguns on college campuses. Full Story
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Lawyers for two Texas death row inmates today asked state and federal law enforcement to investigate whether prison officials illegally obtained death penalty drugs the state used in nearly all of its 466 executions. Full Story
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The U.S. government announced today it is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information that leads to the arrest and possible conviction of the assailants who murdered a U.S. federal agent in Mexico last month. Full Story
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Two death row inmates sued the state today, arguing that the decision to use a new lethal injection drug was made too secretly and too hastily. Full Story
For those who frequent the Texas Capitol but don’t feel like sacrificing the time it takes to get a concealed handgun license, there may soon be a special pass allowing them to bypass the building’s metal detectors at Capitol entrances. Full Story
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Former "Walls Unit" warden Jim Willett narrates a photographic tour of the Texas Prison Museum, where he is the executive director. Full Story
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Jim Willett had not intended to spend the better part of his adult life working in Texas’ sprawling prison system. But the business student turned prison guard worked 30 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and oversaw 89 executions. Full Story
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Judges across the state, and particularly in Harris County, are sending youth offenders to adult prisons even when they have few prior offenses, according to a study by a University of Texas criminal justice expert. Full Story
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A bill that would give brewpubs more flexibility to sell their ales has been given a boost by a compromise with an influential beer lobby. Full Story
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Those with a concealed handgun license, which currently means they must be 21 years old. Though it won't necessarily be that way forever, which raises another question: When it comes to gun safety, does age matter? Full Story
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No time to follow every twist and turn of the Texas Legislature? We've made it easier for you with our weekly recaps of the action under the dome. Full Story
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A money-saving proposal to combine state agencies that oversee police and firefighter training and local jail operations has public safety officials statewide worried about their future. Full Story
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Supporters and opponents of allowing concealed handguns on college campuses packed a House committee room today where a number of bills that would allow it were being discussed. Full Story
The Texas Senate unanimously approved a bill today that would revamp eyewitness identification policies used by law enforcement agencies. Full Story
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Cleve Foster will be the first Texas inmate to receive the anesthetic drug pentobarbital — instead of sodium thiopental — in the three-drug cocktail that will be used in his execution on April 5. Full Story
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