Her office is studying efforts to release raw data in New York and San Francisco for ideas.
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.
2010: White, Perry Lead in Fundraising
The latest campaign finance reports show that both candidates raised more than $700,000 in January. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison spent more than any other candidate: $3.3 million.
Odor in the Court
Even if 84 percent of Americans believe judges should not hear cases from major campaign contributors, the big Texas law firms that have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to them over the last ten years see nothing wrong with business as usual.
TribBlog: Send a Sext, Go To Jail
Attorney General Greg Abbott has a message for young, hormonal Texans: Sending your BF or GF naughty pics over the phone could be criminal.
On the Records: Donations App Updated
We’ve added a few new features to our campaign donations app, including the ability to filter the search results by the donation amount, year and donor type.
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
The death penalty and DNA testing in a 16-year-old triple murder in the Texas Panhandle. The second debate between the three Republican candidates for governor. Charter schools are having a hard time hanging on to the employees that matter the most: Teachers. The possibilities and perils of a switch to electronic medical records. A rundown of top races. Who’s giving to candidates, and how much? Social networks and politicians. Ballots: The slow reveal. And a new and highly requested feature makes its debut. The best of our best from January 23 to 29, 2010.
Case Open: The Investigation
It took a crew of eight Northwestern University students to bring national attention to questions about Hank Skinner’s death sentence. But his legal pleas for more DNA testing of crime scene evidence — and his lawsuit against the Gray County district attorney — have gone nowhere. Unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes, he’ll be executed on Feburary 24.
Case Open
Hank Skinner is set to be executed for a 1993 murder he’s always maintained he didn’t commit. He wants the state to test whether his DNA matches evidence found at the scene, but prosecutors say the time to contest his conviction has come and gone. He has less than a month to change their minds.
On the Records: Data Decisions
Some deep-pocketed trial lawyers didn’t make the Twenty Who Gave Plenty list. Why not?
Twenty Who Gave Plenty
Houston homebuilder Bob Perry tops the list of the biggest donors to Texas candidates in the last half of 2009. McAllen developer Alonzo Cantu and Dallas businessman Ross Perot Sr. also gave large sums.


