Federal judge tosses new Texas voter ID law; state plans to appeal
A federal judge has tossed out a new law softening Texas’ strict voter identification requirements. Texas' attorney general says he will appeal the ruling. Full Story
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![The United States District & Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi.]()
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Puzzling shapes: Travel across this gerrymandered Texas district
As part of our Lock The Vote series, we examine a key piece of Republicans’ 2011 redistricting strategy, which courts said discriminated against minorities: U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett’s curiously-shaped 35th Congressional District. Full Story
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Court halts execution of convicted child killer who claims intellectual disability
A man convicted in the sexual assault and murder of an 11-year-old girl was set to die next Wednesday. But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stopped his execution amid claims of intellectual disability. Full Story
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![Steven Long was sentenced to death for sexually assaulting and murdering an 11-year-old girl in 2005.]()
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Texas voting law on language interpreters violates Voting Rights Act, court says
Texas violated the Voting Rights Act by restricting the interpretation assistance English-limited voters may receive, a federal appeals court ruled. Full Story
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Federal court invalidates part of Texas congressional map
Federal judges have invalidated two of Texas’ 36 congressional districts, setting up a scramble to redraw them ahead of the 2018 elections. Full Story
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Murderer Bernie Tiede denied new trial by appeals court
Bernie Tiede, the East Texas mortician-turned-murderer whose crime prompted a Hollywood movie, lost one round of his appeals Thursday. Full Story
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![Bernie Tiede tears up as his uncle Elmer Doucet denies sexually abusing him as a child during day nine of Tiede's new sentencing trial, on Monday April 18, 2016, at the Rusk County Justice Center in Henderson.]()
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Judge approves temporary relocation of 1,000 hot prisoners
A federal judge signed off on Texas' proposal to temporarily move more than 1,000 inmates from one hot prison to 11 different facilities around the state. Full Story
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![Prison staff and inmates move through the Darrington Unit's main hallway on Wednesday, July 12, 2017.]()
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Texas plans to move 1,000 inmates to air-conditioned prison units
Texas submitted a court-ordered proposal Thursday to move about 1,000 medically sensitive inmates from an uncooled prison southeast of College Station to air-conditioned units elsewhere in the state. Full Story
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![Inmates shuffle past new fans in the Darrington prison's main hallway on a hot July day.]()
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What it means for Texas colleges if Trump targets affirmative action
There's not much room in federal law for the U.S. Department of Justice to target Texas schools for the use of affirmative action, but a lawsuit pending in state court could spell trouble for race-conscious admissions at the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
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![The Tower at the University of Texas at Austin on June 27, 2017.]()
Credit: Austin Price / The Texas Tribune -
DPS agrees to reverse new policy of charging for crime lab testing
Gov. Greg Abbott asked the Texas Department of Public Safety Friday to retract its plans to begin charging local agencies for forensic testing. Full Story
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![A technician at the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Lab in Austin.]()
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Texas executes man who claimed his lawyers committed fraud
Texas carried out its fifth execution of the year Thursday evening, putting to death TaiChin Preyor in the 2004 murder of a San Antonio woman. Full Story
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![TaiChin Preyor was sentenced to death in the 2004 slaying of Jami Tackett in Bexar County.]()
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Border funding bill passes U.S. House; Texans vote along party lines
A legislative measure that will fund part of a border wall passed the U.S. House on Thursday, but its prospects in the U.S. Senate look grim. Full Story
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![A section of border fence near Brownsville.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's criminal trial set for Dec. 11
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has received a Dec. 11 trial date in his securities fraud case. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton holds a press conference on June 9, 2016 in front of the U.S. Supreme Court to discuss the filing of a lawsuit against the state of Delaware]()
Credit: Bill Clark for The Texas Tribune -
Senate backs bill to roll back cellphone safety laws in many Texas cities
The Senate on Wednesday gave initial approval to legislation that would roll back local mobile phone ordinances that go beyond the recent statewide ban on texting while driving. Full Story
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![A statewide ban on texting while driving goes into effect Sept. 1, 2017.]()
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Almost half of Texas' supply of execution drugs just expired
Eight doses of the state's supply of pentobarbital, the only drug used in Texas executions, expired on Thursday, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Full Story
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Set for execution, death row inmate alleges legal fraud in hopes of a stay
With two days left before TaiChin Preyor's scheduled execution, his lawyers have tried just about everything to stop it. That includes alleging that his previous counsel committed fraud. Full Story
![TaiChin Preyor was sentenced to death in the 2004 slaying of Jami Tackett in Bexar County.]()
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Heat is part of life at Texas prisons, but federal judge orders one to cool it
Most Texas prisons remain un-air conditioned, but a federal judge's ruling Wednesday called conditions at one prison cruel and unusual and ordered temporary air conditioning for heat-sensitive inmates. Full Story
![Prison staff and inmates move through the Darrington Unit's main hallway on Wednesday, July 12, 2017.]()
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Dallas getting its first female police chief with hire of Detroit deputy
Sources say that Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax has hired Detroit Deputy Chief Ulysha Renee Hall, who'll be the first female to serve as police chief in Dallas. Full Story
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![Ulysha Renee Hall was named the next Dallas police chief on July 19, 2017. She has served as a deputy chief in Detroit.]()
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Why the murder charge against the Texas police officer who killed Jordan Edwards is rare
The former police officer who shot and killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards has been indicted on a murder charge, a rare occurrence in a state and nation where criminal charges against an officer are almost nonexistent. Full Story
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![15-year-old Mesquite High School freshman Jordan Edwards (left) was shot and killed by Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver on April 29, 2017.]()
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Lawmakers failed to end troubled Driver Responsibility Program
Mandy Mann thought she had paid her dues for a 2009 traffic stop. But six years later, the Waco mom was stopped and arrested — for failing to comply with the state's troubled Driver Responsibility Program. Full Story
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![It took Mandy Mann, of Waco, more than six years to resolve penalties with the flawed Driver Responsibility Program.]()
Credit: Austin Price for The Texas Tribune