The removal of the death penalty as an option could lead to a quick guilty plea and life sentence, as happened with federal charges in 2023.
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
Forgotten in jail without a lawyer: how a Texas town fails poor defendants
People in Maverick County spend months in jail waiting to be charged with minor crimes. Some are simply lost in the system
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Criminal Justice
Olvidados en la cárcel sin abogado: Así le falla un pueblo de Texas a los acusados pobres
En el condado de Maverick, las autoridades pueden tardar meses en informar a los fiscales de una detención, mientras los acusados esperan en la cárcel. Rara vez se asignan abogados a quien los solicita.
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Politics
Federal judge strikes down Texas’ mail ballot ID requirement
The judge found that the provisions of SB1, the state’s 2021 voter security law, discriminate against voters with disabilities.
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Criminal Justice
Texas prison staff falsified temperatures records, investigation finds
Two-thirds of the state’s roughly 100 jails and prisons in Texas are not fully air conditioned in inmate housing areas.
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Public Education
Texas AG Ken Paxton accuses Coppell ISD of violating Texas’ “critical race theory” ban
The attorney general office’s lawsuit is based on an undercover video published in February by a conservative activist group.
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Criminal Justice
Two men convicted in the smuggling deaths of 53 immigrants in San Antonio
The 2022 tragedy was the nation’s deadliest smuggling attempt across the U.S.-Mexico border.
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Health care
Paxton says trans Texans can’t use court orders to change sex on driver’s licenses, birth certificates
Per the attorney general’s nonbinding opinion, state agencies should change gender markers on government documents back to a person’s sex assigned at birth.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas lawmakers are pushing harsher criminal penalties while prison and jail populations soar
Proposed legislation includes increased penalties for retail theft, car burglaries and forgery, among others.
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Politics
DOJ drops fight against Texas political maps as Trump administration retreats from voting rights cases
The Biden administration had challenged a Republican-led redistricting plan that diluted the political power of minorities. Other legal challenges will continue.