Since his appointment, the alternately amiable and peevish, typically cowboy-boot-shod chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission has comported himself as a virtuoso of the bureaucratic dawdle. With the commission’s investigation of the now-notorious Cameron Todd Willingham case “still in its infancy,” John Bradley has this to say about when it might conclude its review: “However long it takes, that’s however long it takes.”
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
Spies Like Us
Sign up for state agency e-mail alerts from, say, the Comptroller or TCEQ and they’ll let you know when meetings are being held and when proposed rules are ready for review. But click a link in those e-mails and they have the ability to see who looked at which rule and which web page and who didn’t look at all.
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T-Squared
T-Squared: Why We Publish Government Employee Salaries
Because they’re already public. Because we’re about transparency, open government, and greater access to information. Because you have a right to know how your tax dollars are being spent. Etc.
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Criminal Justice
A Watershed Case
On the surface, it’s about an oat-and-peanut farm and two South Texas men who wanted enough water to operate it. But underneath lies a century-old tug-of-war over who really owns the water beneath the land.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Access Denied
“Sad and tawdry” affair between judge and prosecutor or not, the U.S. Supreme Court will not hear Charles Dean Hood’s case.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Grissom on the fall of Norma Chávez; M. Smith and Ramsey on the runoffs, the results, and the aftermath; Hu on the Tea Party’s birthday party; Thevenot and Stiles on the path between schools and prisons; Ramshaw on prosecutors’ reaction to helping hands from Austin; Hamilton on self-appointed lawyers; Galbraith on property rights and power lines; Aguilar and Grissom sit down with the mayor of Juárez to talk about his crime-ridden city; Kraft on telling the stories of Texans and other Americans who died in Vietnam; Ramsey on slots and horses and casinos; and Hamilton goes on a field trip with Jim Hightower to hear the history of populism. The best of our best from April 5 to 9, 2010.
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Criminal Justice
2010: Hey, Wait a Minute
Late last night, Rick Green took to his Facebook page to dispute comments attributed to Debra Lehrmann claiming he had pledged to have his supporters back her in the general election campaign.
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Criminal Justice
Thanks, But No Thanks
Depending on whom you ask, Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins’ repeated refusal to allow Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott into a local corruption investigation is either bold or stupid. Either way, it’s unusual. Abbott has offered prosecution assistance to local district attorneys 226 times since 2007, when lawmakers first gave him permission to do it. In all but 16 cases, he’s been invited in. And Watkins didn’t decline politely.
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Criminal Justice
Night of the Insurgents
Voters routed state Reps. Delwin Jones and Norma Chavez on Tuesday, turned back former Rep. Rick Green’s bid for a spot on the Texas Supreme Court and handed victories to at least three candidates who appeared to benefit from the Tea Party insurgency in Texas.
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Criminal Justice
José Reyes Ferriz: The TT Interview
The mayor of Ciudad Juárez was in Austin on Monday to discuss his city’s plight at a University of Texas forum. He took a few moments to talk with the Tribune.