Compared with other states, Texas alternates between merely OK and downright bad in rankings of how transparently government bodies conduct open meetings and respond to requests for public information. But we can fix that.
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
On the Records: Per-Capita Money Maps
The governor’s race candidates fill their campaign coffers disproportionately from some rural areas, according to a per-capita calculation. Each Dallas resident gave $1 to the race in 2009, for example, while those in Blanco donated $57.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Abbott launches trafficking task force
Twenty percent of the nation’s 17,000 human trafficking victims each year come through Texas, and Attorney General Greg Abbott said today the state should take the lead in collaboration among agencies to fight the scourge of modern-day slavery.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Special Master Recommends Reprimand for Keller
Sharon Keller, the presiding judge of the state’s highest criminal court, will not be removed from the bench following a trial and review by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
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Criminal Justice
What Does Debra Want?
Now that she’ll join Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison on stage at the second GOP debate — now that she’s cracked spoiler-worthy double digits in the latest poll and will fundraise, Ron Paul-style, through an online “money bomb” — it’s fair to ask what longshot gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina is in it for.
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Criminal Justice
Abuse of Power
State employees who commit heinous acts against Texas’ most profoundly disabled citizens rarely get charged with crimes, let alone go to jail. A Texas Tribune review of a decade’s worth of abuse and neglect firings at state institutions found that just 16 percent of the most violent or negligent employees were ever charged with crimes.
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Criminal Justice
Mapping the Money Race
To better understand the geography of the money race, we mapped the candidates’ contributions by city, using graduated symbols to highlight their most lucrative areas. The bubbles in the maps get larger based on the percentage of a candidates’ total take.
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Criminal Justice
Openly Hostile
Kay Bailey Hutchison says Texas government should be more transparent. Rick Perry says it already is. Let the sniping begin.
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Criminal Justice
Data App: Governor’s Race Cash
Search more than $35 million in campaign donations and loans collected by the top candidates in the governor’s race. You can also explore how they spent the money.