Coming this Sunday: the latest collaboration between the Trib and one of the state’s venerable newspapers.
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
The Weekly TribCast: Episode 48
Our topics this week include the renewed debate over concealed handguns on campus, the advantages of not debating or talking to the press and the hotly contested battle between Congressman Chet Edwards and Republican Bill Flores in CD-17.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Jail Official’s Indictment Dismissed
A judge in Nueces County today dismissed a criminal indictment against Texas Commission on Jail Standards Executive Director Adan Muñoz, who was charged in connection with his release of information about a jailhouse suicide. Open government advocates have called the indictment outrageous.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: We Are Family
In the shadow of a projected $21 billion budget shortfall, lawmakers told juvenile justice agencies that they must start budgeting like a cash-strapped family.
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Criminal Justice
A Burning Issue
The Innocence Project of Texas will launch a campaign today not only to exonerate Sonia Cacy, a woman who experts say was wrongly convicted of setting fire to her uncle, but also to overhaul of the use of “junk science” in the prosecution of criminal cases.
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Criminal Justice
Slideshow: A Shooting on the UT Campus
Caleb Bryant Miller, a Daily Texan photographer and frequent contributor to The Texas Tribune, was home preparing for a history test news when broke of a shooting on the campus of the University of Texas, where he’s enrolled as a second-semester senior. He ditched his books, grabbed his telephoto lens, hopped on his bike and headed to the Forty Acres to capture images of a tragic and frightening day.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: The Return of Concealed Carry?
Not long after a gunman ran through the University of Texas campus randomly firing an AK-47 and then shot himself, an old debate resurfaced: Should concealed handguns be allowed on campus?
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Criminal Justice
Go Directly to Jail
Across Texas, defendants charged with misdemeanor offenses are choosing to spend time in the local lockup rather than endure months on probation. They don’t want to deal with the hassle of probation’s conditions, and they can’t afford the thousands of dollars in fees that it requires. People on both sides of the criminal justice system agree that the trend is troubling: It’s helping to fill local jails beyond capacity, and even worse, it means that people charged with DWI, possession of small amounts of drugs and family violence are not getting the treatment they need.
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Criminal Justice
Have Guns, Will Travel
Some Texas officials believe that refusing to pass laws aimed at controlling firearms makes the state safer, arguing that a well-armed population makes would-be criminals think twice. But as Matt Largey of KUT News reports, a new study says guns from states like Texas are being used to commit crimes elsewhere.
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Criminal Justice
Judge Orders TWIA Settlement Kept Private
In an issue that’s sparked a nasty political fight, attorneys for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association and attorneys for the homeowners who sued them appeared at a Monday hearing to argue whether the legal fees in a record $189 million Hurricane Ike settlement should be kept private. Judge Susan Criss ultimately sided with homeowners’ attorney Steve Mostyn and granted a new temporary restraining order that keeps TWIA from releasing settlement details, at least for now.