A woman who has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against administrators with the Llano County Jail says they neglected her son, who died last year. An attorney for the administrators has said they have done nothing wrong.
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
Ruling: Employers Can’t Use Penal Code to Restrict Handguns in Cars
A law passed last year allows licensed employees to keep concealed handguns in their vehicles while on employer property, and the employer cannot use the penal code to circumvent the law, according to an opinion from the attorney general’s office Monday.
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Criminal Justice
Supreme Court To Hear Texas Death Row Inmate’s Case
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear the case of Carlos Trevino, who contends that the high court’s decision last year’s to guarantee effective habeas representation should apply in Texas as it does elsewhere.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Supreme Court Rejects Crash Victim’s Case
For a second time — and likely the last — the Texas Supreme Court refused to hear the case of Michelle Gaines, who suffered debilitating injuries in a 2006 car accident.
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Criminal Justice
In Death Row Inmate’s Case, a Struggle Between Advocates and Lawyers
Preston Hughes III, who faces a Nov. 15 execution date, trusts several advocates without legal training more than his court-appointed attorney. The conflict between advocates and attorneys is not unusual in death penalty cases.
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Criminal Justice
Court Upholds Ban on Gun Sales to Those Younger Than 21
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court’s ruling that banning the purchase of handguns by people younger than 21 does not infringe on those individuals’ constitutional privileges.
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Criminal Justice
Willingham’s Family Seeks “Posthumous Pardon”
The surviving relatives of Cameron Todd Willingham have sent an application for pardon, hoping to clear his name eight years after his execution for a 1991 fire that killed his three young children.
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Criminal Justice
Report: More Funding Needed for Mental Health in Juvenile Facilities
A Texas Criminal Justice Coalition report says girls in the juvenile justice system don’t get adequate counseling for past trauma. The Texas Juvenile Justice Department, however, takes issue with some of the report’s conclusions.
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Criminal Justice
Texas High Court Rejects Challenge to Franchise Tax
The Supreme Court of Texas has dismissed a challenge by Nestle Inc. and two other businesses targeting the state’s franchise tax. The court said that the tax squares with the Texas and U.S. constitutions.
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Criminal Justice
Dallas Suburbs Lead State in Attempts to Deny Information Requests
Among the state’s biggest cities, several Dallas-area suburbs tallied the highest rate of requests to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott last year to keep government information secret, according to a Center for Public Integrity investigation.