Criminal justice

Prosecutors and crime lab scientists were scrambling to find a solution after a change in the state's definition of marijuana imperiled criminal cases.

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Attorneys in the securities case against Paxton brought back long-running fights this week with the potential to derail the 4-year-old case even further.

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A law legalizing hemp changed the definition of marijuana, causing district attorneys across the state to drop low-level possession cases and stop accepting new ones.

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The new Criminal Justice Reform Caucus in the Texas House will set its sights on changes in 2021.

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Many prosecutors say the way Gov. Greg Abbott and lawmakers redefined marijuana requires new lab testing to prove it’s different from recently legalized hemp. The situation has created a patchwork of consequences for people caught with pot.

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In its first enforcement action under a controversial new law, Texas sued San Antonio last year, alleging that the city had broken the law in December 2017.

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The new law changed the definition of marijuana, and prosecutors and crime labs say they don't have the resources to test if a substance is legal hemp or marijuana.

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Lawmakers praised a bill for protecting victims of human trafficking, but the governor said it it would have "unintended consequences" and could provide an incentive for human traffickers to use underage prostitutes.

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Texas made it easy for rent-to-own companies to press criminal charges against people who fell behind on their payments for household goods. A new law, passed after a Texas Tribune and NerdWallet investigation, gives broad new protections to their customers.

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Starting Sept. 1, Texans who take items from mailboxes and porches face tougher penalties for their crimes. But some say punishments are too extreme since they're not based on the value of what's taken.

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Since his criminal indictment in July 2015, the Texas attorney general has seen delay after delay in his case, including a side dispute over prosecutor pay that has derailed the prosecution for well over a year.

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The Houston Democrat's bill calls for a commission to “study and develop reparation proposals for African-Americans,” and consider a national apology by the government.

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Texas' highest criminal court reiterated that a six-figure payment to the prosecutors fell outside legal limits. The prosecutors have indicated they may withdraw if they cannot be paid.

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Muhlaysia Booker's death is just one of a string of killings and violent attacks on black transgender women in Dallas.

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A Texas Tribune study analyzed 560 cases from four Texas counties to shine a light on how the controversial practice of civil asset forfeiture is used by law enforcement.

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The bill would have required domestic violence survivors to be notified when offenders are released on bond. But the Republican governor nixed the legislation over a provision by Democratic state Rep. Poncho Nevárez that would have delayed a West Texas waste facility's increase in state fees.

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It's the third policy announcement from the Democratic presidential candidate.

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Negotiators in the House and Senate couldn't come to an agreement on a bill addressing how Texas handles capital murder defendants who may be intellectually disabled. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing people with intellectual disabilities amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

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Behind closed doors, a joint Senate and House committee killed a measure that would require police officers to explain why they arrest someone for fine-only offenses, otherwise the case would be dismissed. Criminal justice reform advocates considered the issue a priority following the arrest of Sandra Bland.

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State Rep. Garnet Coleman suggested that the newly released video showing some of Bland's confrontation with a state trooper before her death may have been buried in a “data dump” of information given to lawyers and lawmakers.

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