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.
Courts
Stay up to date on Texas courts with in-depth coverage of major rulings, judicial elections, criminal justice, and the judges shaping state law from The Texas Tribune.
Posted in
Congress
Detained migrant children got no toothbrush, no soap, no sleep. It’s no problem, government argues.
A three-judge panel questioned whether government lawyers sincerely believed they could describe the temporary detention facilities as “safe and sanitary.”
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Criminal case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton remains threatened after court upholds prosecutor pay decision
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.
Posted in
Politics
Advocates say lawmakers largely exempted themselves from Texas’ public records law, prompting calls for a veto
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.
Posted in
Graphics and data reporting
Texas police can seize money and property with little transparency. So we got the data ourselves.
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.
Posted in
Politics
After blocking David Whitley’s confirmation, Senate Democrats see bills die on Abbott’s desk
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.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2019
Despite bipartisan support, Texas bill tackling intellectual disability in death penalty cases fails
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.
Posted in
Immigration
Federal judge temporarily blocks part of Trump’s plan to build border wall
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.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2019
Lawmaker grills Department of Public Safety over disclosure of Sandra Bland cellphone video
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.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2019
Paid sick-leave ordinances likely survived the Texas Legislature. But businesses still want to kill them.
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.
