Criminal justice

State jails were created to help low-level drug offenders get treatment. But they offer few rehabilitative services, and their inmates are more likely to reoffend.

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Lawmakers in both chambers and parties want to fix the controversial Driver Responsibility Program, but the program funds state trauma centers. Where will they find $144 million to fill the gap?

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In the wake of a midterm election that saw four major state appeals courts flip on partisan lines, Hecht called on lawmakers to consider changing Texas to a system of merit selection and retention elections.

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Two years after a bail reform bill died in the Legislature, new bail legislation has other factors working in its favor.

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Nearly two decades after the U.S. Supreme Court said it was unconstitutional to execute those with intellectual disabilities, Texas still has no process on determining the condition — leaving life-and-death decisions in the hands of courts with very different methods.

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In response to a call from Pope Francis for transparency, all 15 dioceses have released lists going back decades.

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Jennings was put to death Wednesday for the 1988 murder of Elston Howard. The long sentence was complicated by constantly evolving death penalty laws.

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Justices questioned whether revealing the name would risk physical harm to the supplier — or only hurt its business.

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Gov. Greg Abbott and his partners in office want to impose limits on the size of local property tax increases, and the governor has added a twist those local governments might like: He has targeted unfunded state mandates.

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The Texas House wants to give the state prison system $160 million more to help care for inmates. The Senate wants to cut funding.

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The court ordered Austin to pay a fine to the state for each day it prevented investigators from the attorney general's office from carrying their firearms.

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Judge Elsa Alcala ended her tenure critical of the death penalty and often pleading for policy changes from the state Legislature.

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Blaine Milam was convicted in the 2008 East Texas death of his girlfriend's 13-month-old baby.

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The Missouri City Democrat has won re-election several times since his 2015 conviction on misdemeanor charges for illegally soliciting clients.

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Police use asset forfeiture to seize cash, cars and other property that they suspect is part of criminal activity. As our December story explains, they don't have to get a conviction, but property owners have to prove they're not a criminal.

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"I hate the program," said one lawmaker; another said it's created a "permanent underclass." So why is the much-maligned Driver Responsibility Program still around? As our August story points out, lawmakers haven't yet figured out another funding source for the trauma centers that the DPR helps support.

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The state's highest criminal court must reconsider a November decision to ensure its proceedings "appear fair to all who observe them," prosecutors argued.

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More than 72 percent of those on death row in Texas are people of color. Studies show race plays a role in the state's harshest punishment.

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U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, pushed the bill, which was inspired in part by reforms made in the Lone Star State.

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The national debate came home to Texas again this year when a 17-year-old opened fire at Santa Fe High School, killing 10 and wounding several others.

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