The U.N.’s top human rights official says that the U.S. broke international law when the state of Texas executed a Mexican national last week. Matt Largey of KUT News reports on what that could mean for Gov. Rick Perry as he nears a presidential run.
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
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Aguilar on a change in law that affects applications for state-issued IDs, Galbraith on how the drought is taking its toll on wildlife, Hamilton on an outsider’s attempt to lower the cost of higher ed, Murphy visualizes the partisanship of House members, Ramsey on who becomes Lite Guv if David Dewhurst takes another job, Ramshaw on life in the colonias and three stories about Rick Perry — Grissom on how his death penalty stance might play in a 2012 presidential race, Root on how he cemented his reputation as one of the state’s most powerful governors and Tan on the growing demand for him to speak elsewhere: The best of our best content from July 4 to July 8, 2011.
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Criminal Justice
Supreme Court Gives OK to Leal Execution
Despite the Obama administration’s plea for a stay, the U.S. Supreme Court won’t stand in the way of Texas’ plans to execute Mexican citizen Humberto Leal Jr. tonight.
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Criminal Justice
For Perry, Support of Death Penalty May Be Mixed Bag Nationally
In tough-on-crime Texas, Rick Perry has overseen the executions of 230 prisoners — more than any other modern governor. As he eyes a White House bid, his support of the death penalty could have mixed consequences.
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Criminal Justice
Comptroller Pays Anthony Graves $1.4 Million
Anthony Graves got a check for $1.45 million today from Texas Comptroller Susan Combs, money the state owed him for keeping him behind bars for nearly two decades for a crime he did not commit.
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Criminal Justice
U.S. Supreme Court Asked to Intervene in Death Penalty Case
Ten days before death row inmate Humberto Leal’s scheduled execution, his attorneys and the Mexican government have asked the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay of execution.
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Criminal Justice
On the Records: Twitter Visual Tool Useful — and Pretty
A new data visualization tool, the Tweet Topic Explorer, makes analyzing a user’s Twitter feed quick, painless and beautiful. Check out what Gov. Rick Perry tweets about most on his personal twitter feed, and see how his tweets compare to others.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
An Everybody-in-the-Pool effort on what’s left to do in the special session, Ramshaw on a doozy of a congressional race shaping up, Aguilar on the debate over sanctuary cities and other immigration proposals, M. Smith on the state’s used-up Rainy Day Fund, Grissom on efforts to kick the special interests out of an insurance fight, Dehn and Tan on whether the special session helps or hurts the governor’s national ambitions, Galbraith and KUT Radio team up for a series on the long-term outlook for Central Texas water, Aaronson on government attempts to balance openness and privacy with data releases, yours truly on Amazon’s run at a sales tax break, and Hamilton on an ethnic gap in higher education: The best of our best from June 20 to 24, 2011.
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Criminal Justice
The Midday Brief: Top Texas Headlines for June 23, 2011
Your afternoon reading: Could ghosts of Gov. Rick Perry’s past affect his presidential intentions? Meanwhile, parents prepare for budget cuts in the classroom, and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst says he’ll reveal his next campaign move in July.
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Criminal Justice
Updated: Advocates Say Change to Strip Club Fee is Dead
Advocates for a $5 “pole tax” on strip club patrons that raises money for state services say their effort to change which programs benefit from the fee is dead.