Death row inmate Max Soffar says his 1980 murder confession was coerced. As his lawyers say his case highlights a broader debate about false confessions, police and prosecutors say he told them details only the killer would know.
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
Year in Review: Criminal Justice, Immigration and the Texas-Mexico Border
Prosecutorial misconduct, the politics of immigration and continuing bloodshed in the Mexican drug war dominated Tribune headlines in 2012. Here’s a look back at the crime, immigration and border stories of the year.
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Inside Intelligence
Inside Intelligence: Another Look at Gun Laws…
For this week’s nonscientific survey of insiders in politics and government, we returned to the subject of gun laws, asking the same set of questions posed after July’s theater shooting in Colorado. After Connecticut’s schoolhouse shooting, the answers have changed.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Weekly Newsreel: Money for Schools, Guns for Schools
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, unveiled their school choice legislation, without many financial details and hardly a word about vouchers. And last week’s schoolhouse shootings in Connecticut prompted Texas legislators to propose changes in the state’s gun laws.
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Criminal Justice
The State of the Gun
Texas is a gun state, more likely to expand gun rights after a mass killing than to restrict them. While there are proposals to buy back guns or restrict sales, Texas leaders are pushing to allow guns in more places.
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Criminal Justice
Bill Aims to Increase Child Sex Assault Convictions
State Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, a former prosecutor and judge, has filed a bill that would allow prosecutors to include accusations by other victims in child sexual assault cases. Defense attorneys worry it would lead to wrongful convictions.
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Criminal Justice
Video: Gohmert on Guns
On this morning’s edition of Fox News Sunday, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, rejected calls for stricter gun laws following Friday’s tragic school shooting in Connecticut.
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Criminal Justice
Bill Renews Debate on Merging Top Two Courts
State Rep. Richard Peña Raymond has filed a bill to abolish the Court of Criminal Appeals and bring all of its related cases under the Texas Supreme Court. He’s triggering a debate that goes all the way back to Reconstruction.
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Criminal Justice
Death Row Population at Its Lowest Since 1989
Mirroring a national trend, death sentences in Texas have declined over the last decade. Death sentences have fallen 75 percent since 2002, according to a new report. And the Texas death row population is the lowest in more than 20 years.
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Criminal Justice
Abbott Backs Federal Measure Increasing Child Porn Penalties
Attorney General Greg Abbott expressed support Friday for a federal measure that increases penalties for viewing child pornography. Federal judges and advocates have said that the penalties are already steep enough.
