The comptroller of public accounts has been ducking responsibility ever since revealing that her agency had put the names and Social Security numbers of 3.5 million people in a publicly available spot on its website.
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
Comptroller Offers Help After Data Mishap
Frustrated state employees continue to search for help — and answers — after the comptroller’s office accidentally left sensitive personal data on an open server for anyone to see.
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Criminal Justice
Bassett: Politics Stymied Willingham Investigation
The former chairman of a state forensic board applauded the current commissioners’ report on the arson investigation used to convict Cameron Todd Willingham, but said he’s deeply concerned that politics stymied their ability to take a stronger stance.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Hamilton on Victoria’s efforts to divorce the University of Houston, Ramshaw on a disagreement between right-to-life groups over laws governing when life ends, E. Smith’s TribLive interview with Sen. Kel Seliger and Rep. Burt Solomons on redistricting, Aguilar’s interview with the mayor of Juárez, Tan on the continuing hunt for money to buy down budget cuts, Grissom on a psychologist who found more than a dozen inmates mentally competent to face the death penalty, Stiles and yours truly on the House redistricting maps and Galbraith on cutting or killing a tax break for high-cost natural gas producers: The best of our best content from April 11 to 15, 2011.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Board Approves Report on Willingham
Members of a state forensic board today accepted an amended version of a report on convicted arsonist Cameron Todd Willingham’s case, but won’t rule on professional negligence until the attorney general says whether they have jurisdiction to do so.
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Criminal Justice
Psychologist Reprimanded in Death Penalty Cases
A psychologist who examined 14 inmates now on Texas’ death row — and two others who were subsequently executed — and found them intellectually competent enough to face the death penalty has agreed never to perform such evaluations again.
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Criminal Justice
Still No Decision on Question of Negligence in Willingham Case
After releasing a draft report on the case of convicted arsonist Cameron Todd Willingham, state forensic board members refused again today to rule on whether investigators in the case were professionally negligent in deciding the fire that killed Willingham’s three daughters was intentionally ignited.
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Criminal Justice
Juvenile Justice Agencies Come Closer to Merger
Hours after the state Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would merge the state’s two juvenile criminal justice agencies, a House committee passed a similar bill.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Senate Approves Legislation on Teen Sex
Two bills regulating teenagers’ sex lives passed on the Senate floor today — one would outlaw “sexting” by minors; the other would exempt young adults caught having consensual sex with a minor from registering as sex offenders.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Cameron Todd Willingham: A Timeline
Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in 2004, convicted of igniting the 1991 blaze that destroyed his home and killed his three young daughters. Click here for a timeline of the major events in the Willingham saga.