The state’s two U.S. senators are likely to play pivotal roles in what is expected to be a politically explosive confirmation process.
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
Criminal Justice
Former state Sen. Carlos Uresti sentenced to 12 years in prison
The San Antonio Democrat’s sentence comes after he was convicted of 11 felonies in connection with FourWinds Logistics, a now-defunct oilfield services company found to have perpetrated a Ponzi scheme against investors.
Posted in
Politics
Fifteen years after landmark gay rights case, same-sex couples in Texas still face challenges in court
On June 26, 2003, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law banning gay sodomy — a watershed moment for gay rights. But 15 years later, same-sex couples face another court case that aims to roll back their rights.
Posted in
Families Divided
Confusion, tension roil Texas-Mexico border as federal government attempts to reunify immigrant families
As an El Paso shelter prepared to take in undocumented immigrants separated from their children, President Donald Trump’s tweets calling for deportations without due process drew rebukes.
Posted in
Families Divided
Kids in exchange for deportation: Detained migrants say they were told they could get kids back on way out of U.S.
In a detention center near Houston, an asylum seeker from Honduras said he agreed to sign a voluntary removal order from the U.S. after federal officials promised to reunite him with his 6-year-old daughter.
Posted in
Health care
Texas Supreme Court rules Xerox responsible for fraudulent Medicaid dental payments
The decision comes years after the state found that Texas Medicaid and Healthcare Partnership, a subsidiary of Xerox, allowed workers with limited expertise to approve dental claims for the state’s Medicaid program.
Posted in
Environment
Texas Supreme Court strikes down Laredo’s plastic bag ban, likely ending others
The state’s highest civil court has ruled that Laredo’s ban on plastic bags violates state law.
Posted in
Families Divided
Trump wants to prosecute all illegal border crossings without splitting up families. That will be a challenge.
A lack of space and a legal settlement stand in his administration’s way.
Posted in
Economy
Texas could gain hundreds of millions of dollars after Supreme Court rules on taxing online purchases
Texas loses an estimated $1.1 billion each year in uncollected sales tax from online retailers that don’t have a physical presence in the state.
Posted in
Families Divided
For families who have already been separated, policy change doesn’t guarantee reunification
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order he says will “keep the families together” when they’re apprehended illegally crossing the border. But that does little for families who have already been split apart.
