Courts

Texas Department of Criminal Justice Executive Director Bryan Collier was questioned in court for about two hours for not complying with a court order to keep some Texas prisoners in air conditioned housing.

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In a state with a long history of discrimination, lawmakers on Tuesday will kick off the 2021 round of political mapmaking — the first in nearly half a century without federal oversight.

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The lawsuit, filed by five area residents, cites state legislation passed this year that outlaws government retaliation based on “membership in and support to religious organizations.”

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A federal judge was visibly frustrated Friday as he suggested that putting state officials in uncooled cells might be the only way to get their attention after they broke a settlement agreement to keep some inmates in air conditioning.

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Lawyers for Randy Halprin, a member of the "Texas Seven," are requesting a stay of his execution amid allegations that the judge who handled his case made racist and anti-Semitic comments during his time on the bench.

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On this week’s TribCast, Emily talks to Ross, Alexa, Alex and Neena about the biggest new state laws taking effect Sept. 1, a crisis facing indigent defense in Texas, the new Texas secretary of state and the latest from the presidential campaign trail.

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For decades, Texans who can’t afford a lawyer have gotten caught in a criminal justice system that’s crippled by inadequate funding and overloaded attorneys. A growing body of caseload data — and a recent lawsuit — point to an even more fundamental hazard: the unchecked power of Texas judges.

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The appeals court overturned a 2018 decision from a federal district judge who ruled that the law, which gives adoption placement preference to Native American tribes, was unconstitutional. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton challenged the law in 2017.

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Gov. Greg Abbott has his third opportunity to appoint a judge to the state's highest civil court. His first two picks were white men.

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The nod creates a vacancy on the state's highest civil court, giving Gov. Greg Abbott his third opportunity to make an appointment.

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Commissioners approved a settlement aiming to end yearslong litigation over Harris County's misdemeanor bail system. Similar lawsuits in Dallas and other Texas cities also target how bail is set for people charged with felonies.

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The judge said that Congress' laws should not be overridden by "executive fiat." But the decision came hours after another federal judge declined to halt the policy, setting up a potential race to appellate courts over the matter.

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The ordinance was supposed to go into effect Aug. 1 but now will be delayed until Dec. 1. It requires businesses with more than 15 employees to allow workers to accrue 64 hours of paid sick leave per year.

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Attorneys in the securities case against Paxton brought back long-running fights this week with the potential to derail the 4-year-old case even further.

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After an election that swept scores of Republican judges out of office, Gov. Greg Abbott is eyeing judicial selection reform. Advocates hope that the perennial issue may finally draw some attention.

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The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform issued subpoenas earlier this year after the federal agencies overseeing immigration policy refused to provide information voluntarily.

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In its first enforcement action under a controversial new law, Texas sued San Antonio last year, alleging that the city had broken the law in December 2017.

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El Paso's backlogged immigration court recently halted programs designed to aid asylum seekers as they navigate a complicated legal system. "The confusion in the courtroom is palpable," says one advocate.

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Jennifer Walker Elrod, a federal appeals court judge appointed by George W. Bush, asked the majority of the questions in a two-hour session Tuesday on Texas' lawsuit.

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During a legislative session focused on schools and taxes, Texas lawmakers did little to prepare for the possibility that Obamacare will be struck down in its entirety — even as the state leads the charge to have the law declared unconstitutional.

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