Courts

The government has begun printing the census forms without the question, and that process will continue, administration officials said.

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The 5-to-4 decision could impact looming redistricting processes in Texas and across the country.

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Lawmakers praised a bill for protecting victims of human trafficking, but the governor said it it would have "unintended consequences" and could provide an incentive for human traffickers to use underage prostitutes.

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Texas made it easy for rent-to-own companies to press criminal charges against people who fell behind on their payments for household goods. A new law, passed after a Texas Tribune and NerdWallet investigation, gives broad new protections to their customers.

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A three-judge panel questioned whether government lawyers sincerely believed they could describe the temporary detention facilities as “safe and sanitary.”

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Since his criminal indictment in July 2015, the Texas attorney general has seen delay after delay in his case, including a side dispute over prosecutor pay that has derailed the prosecution for well over a year.

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Texas' highest criminal court reiterated that a six-figure payment to the prosecutors fell outside legal limits. The prosecutors have indicated they may withdraw if they cannot be paid.

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Critics say a bill awaiting Gov. Greg Abbott's signature would mark an expansion of lawmakers’ ability to wall off their records from public scrutiny.

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A Texas Tribune study analyzed 560 cases from four Texas counties to shine a light on how the controversial practice of civil asset forfeiture is used by law enforcement.

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A monthslong push from the governor’s office to confirm his longtime aide as secretary of state heated up in the session’s final days. Some Democrats feared retribution for defying the governor.

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Negotiators in the House and Senate couldn't come to an agreement on a bill addressing how Texas handles capital murder defendants who may be intellectually disabled. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing people with intellectual disabilities amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

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The judge said opponents had a good chance in prevailing on their claims that the administration is acting illegally in shifting money to pay for the wall.

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State Rep. Garnet Coleman suggested that the newly released video showing some of Bland's confrontation with a state trooper before her death may have been buried in a “data dump” of information given to lawyers and lawmakers.

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Angry that the Legislature failed to overrule local ordinances requiring private employers to offer paid sick leave, many business groups are hoping the courts will finish the job for them.

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Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot ignited a firestorm of controversy when he announced he wouldn't prosecute some low-level crimes, including certain theft offenses. But he's among many prosecutors turning their focus away from nonviolent offenses.

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Consideration of the bill comes more than a year after a gunman killed 26 in a Sutherland Springs church.

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What started as a sweeping religious refusals bill has been significantly watered down as it moves through the Texas Legislature. But LGBTQ advocates still fiercely oppose it, saying it perpetuates hateful rhetoric.

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Texas has been fighting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's ban on the state's attempted import of lethal injection drugs. But the Justice Department says federal law doesn't give the FDA oversight.

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A panel of three judges heard arguments in the high-stakes fight that could return Texas to the days of federal supervision of its political maps.

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State Rep. Dade Phelan added the provision to a Senate bill that would bar cities from enacting rules on how businesses schedule their employees’ shifts. LGBTQ groups worried that without the language, businesses could pick which employees get certain benefits.

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