John Battaglia shot and killed his two young daughters in 2001. He now has another chance to prove he is mentally incompetent to be executed.
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.
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Criminal Justice
Lawmakers hope to enact port-staffing bill before Trump takes over
The race is on for Texas lawmakers to pass legislation to beef up staffing and improve facilities at the country’s land ports while President Obama is still around to sign it.
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Criminal Justice
Waller County wins fight to keep courthouse gun ban. Maybe.
A district court judge in Waller County says it can ban guns at its courthouse, but Attorney General Ken Paxton is trying to convince another court in Travis County to disagree.
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Criminal Justice
Justices debate definition of intellectual disability in Texas death row case
The U.S. Supreme Court appeared fairly split among party lines in Texas’ latest death penalty case, which focuses on how to define intellectual disability among death row inmates.
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Criminal Justice
Abbott: Campus carry could have prevented Ohio State attack
Commenting on the knife attack at Ohio State University that left 11 people injured, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday that someone would “think twice” about carrying out such an attack in Texas due to its campus carry law.
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Criminal Justice
Is Ciudad Juárez on the brink of a new gang war?
October was the deadliest month in Ciudad Juárez in nearly three years. Locals are anxious — and hopeful they’re not witnessing a resurgence of the brutal drug war that plagued this Mexican border city from 2008 to 2011.
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Criminal Justice
Lawmaker wants to crack down on illegal hiring by state contractors
A measure filed Monday by state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, would beef up punishment for employers that hire undocumented workers and seek to do business with the state.
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Criminal Justice
U.S. Supreme Court to hear Texas death penalty challenge
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding intellectual disability and executions in Moore v. Texas.
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Criminal Justice
Campus carry outrage is ebbing, and schools want lawmakers to leave it be
Some lawmakers will try to tweak Texas’ campus carry law in 2017, but many schools — including the University of Texas System — would just as soon not revisit the controversial law.
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Criminal Justice
“San Antonio Four” declared innocent, exonerated
The four women were sent to prison in the late 1990s on charges of sexually assaulting two young girls.
