Rick Green and Debra Lehrmann face-off. And Green finds inspiration for a new campaign slogan — from The Texas Tribune.
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
Barely Speaking
The state says that if it has the power to ban alcohol in strip clubs, then it can levy a $5 “pole tax.” But the clubs argued before the Texas Supreme Court on Thursday that nude dancing is a form of protected speech and that the tax violates the First Amendment.
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Criminal Justice
Skinner Gets a Stay
Hank Skinner was set to die Wednesday for the 1993 murders of his live-in girlfriend and her two mentally disabled adult sons — a crime he insists he did not commit. About an hour before he was to have poison pushed through his veins, the U.S. Supreme Court spared his life.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: U.S. Supreme Court Grants Stay for Skinner
The U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay this evening of the execution of death row inmate Hank Skinner, who was scheduled to die today.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Lawmakers Urge Perry to Grant Skinner Reprieve
State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and state Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin, wrote Gov. Rick Perry letters today urging him to grant a 30-day reprieve for death-row inmate Hank Skinner, who is scheduled for execution tomorrow.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Read Abbott’s Health Care Lawsuit
President Barack Obama signed the health care reform bill into law this morning. Texas and 12 other states promptly filed a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality. Read that lawsuit here.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Abbott Explains Health Care Lawsuit
Listen to Attorney General Greg Abbott explain why he and other attorneys general are suing the federal government over the just-passed health care reform bill.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Pardons Board Rejects Skinner Request
The seven-member Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles today unanimously rejected death-row inmate Hank Skinner’s request for a reprieve from his execution, which is scheduled for Wednesday.
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Criminal Justice
Data App: Even More Payroll
We’ve added 14 school districts (from Aldine to San Antonio) and five counties (Bexar, Dallas, Harris, Tarrant and Travis) to our government payroll app — an addition of 140,000 public employees earning roughly $6 billion.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Texas “Fully Engaged” in Health Care Challenge
“It’s just a question of whether to file our own lawsuit or join a multistate effort,” says Attorney General Greg Abbott.