The Texas Senate today passed a bill that would finally compensate Anthony Graves for the 18 years he spent behind bars convicted of grisly murders he did not commit.
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
Aaronson on pork choppers, Aguilar on sanctuary cities legislation, Galbraith on Brownsville’s ban on plastic bags, Grissom on Delma Banks and prosecutorial misconduct, Hamilton on a tough week for higher education in Texas, Philpott on wildfires and politics, Ramshaw on the state’s pursuit of a federal Medicaid overhaul, M. Smith on what would happen if lawmakers don’t rewrite school finance formulas, yours truly on the Lege as schoolyard and Stiles with interactive graphics on how the proposed Senate redistricting maps compare with current ones: The best of our best content from May 9 to 13, 2011.
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Criminal Justice
House Approves Four Loko Ban
The Texas House passed a bill today on malt liquor drinks that contain caffeine, ginseng, taurine or guarana. The bill prohibits the sale, manufacture, import and possessing of alcoholic energy drinks, like the infamous Four Loko.
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Criminal Justice
On the Records: Complaints Lead Valley Paper to Pull Salary Data
In an apology issued Thursday morning, The Monitor announced that, in response to reader complaints, it will remove public school district salary data it posted earlier this week.
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Criminal Justice
30 Years Later, Banks, Prosecutor Face Off Again Over Death Penalty
In a Texarkana courtroom Monday, Delma Banks Jr. faced again the district attorney’s office that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled committed misconduct when it successfully fought to send him to death row in 1980 for the shooting death of 16-year-old Richard Whitehead.
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Criminal Justice
Amendments Piled Onto Education Finance Bill
Senators today amended an education finance reform bill to allow community college students to carry concealed handguns on campus, increase the cost of cigarettes and allow drastic changes to university administration.
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Criminal Justice
Wentworth Gets a Win for Campus Carry
Sen. Jeff Wentworth is relentless with campus carry, and today, the San Antonio Republican got his way.
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Criminal Justice
Loser-Pays Bill Clears Texas House
Texas got one step closer today to becoming one of the few states with a rule that awards legal fees to prevailing parties in lawsuits.
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Criminal Justice
Senate OKs Concealed Carry for Lawmakers
Texas lawmakers — current and former — may soon be able to pack heat at church, the hospital, a sporting event or even bars.
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Criminal Justice
Death Row Inmate Faces Same Prosecutors Who Committed Misconduct
At a hearing Monday in a Bowie County state district court, lawyers for Delma Banks Jr. will ask the court to disqualify prosecutors who the U.S. Supreme Court ruled suppressed evidence and deliberately covered up mistakes in a 1980 murder trial that sent the young black man to death row.