Watchdogs appointed by a federal court found there is evidence of abuse and exploitation after reviewing thousands of documents and recordings.
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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Demographics
Federal judge says Waller County voting process did not discriminate against Black college students
A group of students at Prairie View A&M University sued the county, claiming it set up an election schedule in 2018 that offered students — most of them Black — fewer opportunities to vote early than the county’s white residents.
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Criminal Justice
U.S. Supreme Court tells Texas to let a condemned man’s pastor touch him and pray aloud during execution
The Supreme Court ruled that the state likely violated death row inmate John Ramirez’s religious liberties when it denied his request to have his pastor lay his hands on him and pray during his upcoming execution.
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Transgender Texans
Attorney General Ken Paxton asks Texas Supreme Court to let investigations into transgender families continue
The temporary injunction was issued as part of a lawsuit brought on behalf of parents being investigated by child welfare workers for letting their transgender teenager access gender-affirming health care.
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Politics
Ted Cruz and John Cornyn question Ketanji Brown Jackson about anti-racism books, Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the other Republican senator from Texas, asked the nominee about the court case legalizing gay marriage and questioned her defense of Guantánamo Bay detainees who allegedly faced mistreatment.
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Foster Care in Texas
Texas child welfare official resigns, saying top agency leaders scapegoated employees
The former child care investigations director said there are agency-wide communication issues that led to a breakdown in relaying key information, but two of his staff members are the ones who suffered the consequences.
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Higher Education
Jury awards professor $3 million in pregnancy and sex discrimination suit against UT-Austin
A jury awarded Evdokia Nikolova damages for past and future pain and suffering after finding UT-Austin illegally discriminated against her when the school denied her tenure.
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Transgender Texans
Ken Paxton, lawyers for parents of trans kids disagree on whether child abuse investigations can continue
Paxton tweeted Friday that investigations into parents of transgender children would continue as a result of his appeal. But the state’s child welfare agency won’t confirm the status of the investigations.
Posted in
State Government
Trump appointees are helping Texas derail Biden’s immigration agenda
Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office has sued the Biden administration 20 times in Texas federal courts over everything from mask mandates to immigration policies. Trump-appointed judges have ruled in seven of them, all in favor of Texas.
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Foster Care in Texas
State-licensed shelter where sex trafficking victims were reportedly abused ordered to close
The Refuge, which closed Friday, said it fired an employee accused of coercing the victims to sell nude photos as soon as it found out. The Bastrop-based shelter has not addressed the other eight staff members also accused of causing harm to the girls.
