How the Supreme Court of the United States and federal courts work and affect Texans
Here’s how federal courts help determine the fate of controversial issues, such as immigration laws, in Texas and beyond. Full Story
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![The United States Federal Courthouse in Austin on June 9, 2023.]()
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Texas wants the NCAA to start “sex-screening” its student athletes
The state lawsuit comes as more women athletes are being physically scrutinized to determine if they are transgender. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to attendees following a rally at the Tarrant County Republican Party Headquarters in Fort Worth on Jan. 6, 2025.]()
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U.S. Supreme Court hears Texas death row inmate’s appeal for DNA test of evidence
Ruben Gutierrez wants to be able to sue prosecutors to compel them to test evidence that he says will prove he did not kill a Brownsville woman in 1998. Full Story
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![The Supreme Court building in Washington on Jan. 15, 2025.]()
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South Texas bakery owners housed undocumented workers next to business before ICE raid, feds allege in hearing
Before federal agents arrested them, the couple who runs the bakery in Los Fresnos said they “knew this would happen one day,” a federal agent testified at court hearing. Full Story
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![A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge.]()
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Texas Senate votes in favor of proposals to deny bail to certain accused violent criminals
The package was fast-tracked after Gov. Greg Abbott declared “bail reform” an emergency item. The bills now head to the House for consideration. Full Story
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![A Bail Bonds and Free-Me Bail in San Marcos.]()
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Robert Roberson files first new appeal since his execution was delayed
The appeal includes new testimony from experts who say Roberson’s daughter died of natural causes, and cites the court’s exoneration of a man in another shaken baby syndrome case out of Dallas County. Full Story
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![Robert Roberson photographed through plexiglass at TDCJ Polunsky Unit in Livingston on Dec. 19, 2023. Texas death row prisoners are housed in Livingston but executed at the state prison in Huntsville, about 43 miles away.]()
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New York doctor ordered to stop providing abortion pills to Texans
The ruling is the opening salvo in a likely lengthy battle between Texas’ abortion bans and New York’s “shield” protections for providers. Full Story
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![Boxes of mifepristone, the first pill given in a medical abortion, are prepared for patients at a clinic in New Mexico on Jan. 13, 2023.]()
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Texas executes inmate who killed two men in Killeen in 2004
In his final statement, Richard Tabler asked for forgiveness from his victims’ family members, some of whom reportedly witnessed his death. Full Story
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![The Huntsville Unit Texas State Penitentiary houses the execution chamber of Texas and is located in Huntsville on Jan. 31, 2024.]()
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Texas appeals court hears attorney general’s arguments for questioning Catholic Charities director over migrant services
Three Republican judges heard oral arguments Wednesday after a lower court blocked Attorney General Ken Paxton’s efforts to depose the charity’s leader. Full Story
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![Migrants are greeted by Sister Norma Pimentel in front of the Catholic Charities RGV Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, on April 22, 2021.]()
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Texas’ social media law takes another hit with temporary blocks on three more provisions
The new injunction prohibits advertising and age verification restrictions in the SCOPE Act, which aims to make social media safer for teenagers. Full Story
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![Sophomore Alexis Phan does her Algebra 2 homework remotely from her home in Pflugerville on Nov. 16, 2020.]()
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Houston man pardoned by Trump arrested on child sex charge
Andrew Taake received a six-year sentence for assaulting officers on Jan. 6. He was arrested Thursday on an outstanding charge of soliciting a minor. Full Story
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![Newly pardoned Jan. 6 rioter Andrew Taake has been re-arrested in Houston.]()
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Texas executes man convicted of killing Arlington pastor in 2011
Steven Lawayne Nelson maintained that he unknowingly participated in the violent church robbery but didn’t harm anyone. His execution was the state’s first for 2025. Full Story
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![Huntsville, Texas: Exteriors of the Texas State Penitentiary “Walls Unit” August 20, 2020 in Huntsville, Texas.]()
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Justice Department restarts legal aid programs for detained immigrants
The agency’s reversal comes after a federal judge told the Trump administration it must continue to pay for grants and other programs it abruptly froze last month. Full Story
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![A woman commutes across the U.S-Mexico border crossing in Laredo on Nov. 9, 2021.]()
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Donald Trump’s push to freeze federal funds sparks confusion in Texas
Texas cities, counties, higher education institutions and nonprofits clambered Tuesday to gauge the potential fallout from the suspension, later blocked temporarily by a federal judge. Full Story
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![U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on AI infrastructure at the Roosevelt room at White House in Washington, U.S., January 21, 2025.]()
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Department of Justice cuts off federally funded legal aid to detained immigrants
The decision to halt the program could prevent thousands of people detained in immigration detention centers from receiving legal advice. Full Story
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![South Texas Family Residential Center, an ICE detention center in Dilley, on Sept. 30, 2020.]()
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Feds drop charges against Texas doctor accused of leaking transgender care data
Dr. Eithan Haim of Dallas had faced four counts for wrongfully disclosing the individually identifiable health information of underage patients at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Full Story
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![Texas Children’s Hospital and other buildings in the Texas Medical Center in Houston on June 26, 2020.]()
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Texas Supreme Court tosses state bar case against Ken Paxton
The state bar had sought to sanction Paxton, which could have carried a punishment ranging from a private reprimand to disbarment. Full Story
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![Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas, speaks to the media Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, during a press conference following arguments in the case “Free Speech Coalition, Inc., et al. v. Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas,” at the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, D.C.]()
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Death sentences and executions in Texas at record lows
Texas continues to lead other states on capital punishment. But the decline in new death sentences and executions reached a record low. Full Story
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![Protesters unload signs and speakers outside of the Huntsville Unit shortly before a scheduled execution in Huntsville on October 17, 2024.]()
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More than 100 Texans active in the Jan. 6 insurrection among those pardoned
A Texan was the first to breach the Capitol and many others joined the assault. The presidential pardon helps cast all of them as folk heroes. Full Story
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Appeals court rules against DACA, but leaves protections for migrants in place
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton hailed the ruling as a victory. But DACA recipients can continue renewing permits to live and work in the U.S. Full Story
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![DACA recipients and supporters rally in celebration of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the program outside of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices in Phoenix in June 2020.]()
Credit: Thomas Hawthorne/The Republic via REUTERS
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