Texas’ juvenile correction agency has made major improvements in protecting youths within the past three years, according to a new report.
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
Dying for Care
More than 280 inmates in county jails died from illnesses while in custody over a four-and-a-half-year period, according to data provided by the Texas attorney general and analyzed by The Texas Tribune. Many died of heart conditions, some of cancer or liver and kidney problems and others of afflictions ranging from AIDS to seizure disorders and pneumonia. There are no state standards for health care in county jails, but criminal justice advocates and correctional facility experts say the large number of illness-related deaths prove they’re needed.
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Criminal Justice
Traffic Patterns
Texas has the dubious distinction of being home to one of the busiest human trafficking routes in the country: the stretch of Interstate Highway 10 that runs from El Paso to Houston.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: High Court: Property Rights Trump Open Beaches
In a pivotal decision, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled that the Open Beaches Act may not allow the state to ask landowners to remove private property if a hurricane or other natural disaster moves it within the public section of a beach.
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Criminal Justice
2010: No Surprises on the High Courts
There weren’t any surprises in the races for the highest courts: All Republican incumbents won.
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Criminal Justice
Election Night 2010: The Liveblog
The Tribune’s crack reporting staff — in Houston, Buda and other political hotspots — will be posting the latest news and spin the minute the polls close. Check back and refresh often for updates and photos from the field.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Anti-Death Penalty Groups March Tomorrow
The 11th annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty will begin Saturday at 2 p.m. on the south steps of the Capitol in Austin.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Keller Case Not Over Yet
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct isn’t giving up on its attempt to reprimand Sharon Keller — in an unexpected move today, it appealed a court’s dismissal of its sanction against Keller, the presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals.
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Criminal Justice
Sharon Keller: The TT Interview
The soft-spoken and — until now — media-shy presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals sat down with The Texas Tribune last week to talk about capital punishment in Texas, what she was doing on the afternoon she closed her office at 5 p.m. to a last-minute death row appeal, the flaws in the way the state sanctions judges, what it’s like to be known as Sharon “Killer” Keller and the “ridiculous” idea that she doesn’t care about defendants or indigent defense.