Watch state Reps. Jeff Leach and Joe Moody discuss lawmakers’ criminal justice work at 9 a.m. at The Texas Tribune Festival
Leach, a Plano Republican, and Moody, an El Paso Democrat, co-chair the House Criminal Justice Caucus. Full Story
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![State Reps. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, and Joe Moody, D-El Paso.]()
Credit: The Texas Tribune -
Texas appellate justices appear skeptical of Attorney General Ken Paxton defense that he’s exempt from state’s whistleblower law
Paxton’s attorneys argued to a panel of Texas 3rd Court of Appeals justices on Wednesday that a lawsuit from former deputies should be thrown out. The ex-employees claim they were fired after reporting Paxton to law enforcement. Full Story
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![Attorney General Ken Paxton.]()
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Texas court tosses out conviction, death sentence after discovering a prosecutor also worked for the judge
Clinton Young was convicted in a 2001 Midland County murder in which he insists he was framed. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said he was denied the right to a fair trial and an impartial judge. Full Story
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![The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Jan. 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott adds property tax relief, bail to special session agenda
Abbott has faced pressure from his right to prioritize property tax relief. One of his challengers in the Republican primary has slammed him for not including it earlier in the agenda, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called it his top priority this session. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol on Aug. 13, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
After a Texas prosecutor dismissed dozens of migrant trespassing cases, some men were dropped at a border bus station
Officials said immigration authorities weren’t interested in taking migrants who had no criminal conviction into federal custody. But without documentation, at least one newly released migrant soon found himself back in detention. Full Story
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![A Texas Department of Public Safety official makes an arrest near the U.S. and Mexico border in Del Rio as a group of migran…]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas bill to require cash bail for those accused of violent crimes becomes law
Senate Bill 6 will bar those accused of violent crimes from being released from jail before trial unless they can put up cash. That provision of the bill will go into effect Dec. 2. Full Story
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![Ace Bail Bonds in San Marcos.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Justice Department sues Texas over new abortion law that Attorney General Merrick Garland calls unconstitutional
Garland called the law a "scheme to nullify the Constitution of the United States." It prohibits the procedure before many people know that they are pregnant. Full Story
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![A medical clinic in downtown Amarillo Monday.]()
Credit: Stephen Spillman for The Texas Tribune -
Court allows Ken Paxton's criminal case to move forward in his home county, but prosecutors say they'll appeal
In May, a three-justice panel of the 1st Court of Appeals sent the case back to Collin, Paxton's home county. Prosecutors asked the full court to reconsider. Full Story
![Attorney General Ken Paxton.]()
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For third time in recent years, U.S. Supreme Court halts a Texas execution over rules for religious advisers in the death chamber
John Ramirez was scheduled to die Wednesday. His last request to the state had been to let his pastor hold on to him as he died, something the state denied. The high court wants to hear oral arguments on the matter later this year. Full Story
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![Interior of execution chamber.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Analysis: New laws reflect Republican lawmakers’ focus on their right flank
From abortion restrictions to guns, the Texas Legislature's regular session Republican victories were just the beginning. Full Story
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![Lawmakers on the House floor on Aug. 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Thanks to local politics and a railroad, rural Kinney County accounts for most of Texas’ migrant arrests
Under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security push, Texas state police have arrested hundreds of migrants in the conservative county, usually after spotting them on cargo trains or walking remote ranch lands. Sent to a state prison retooled as an immigration jail, many men were left without lawyers for weeks. Full Story
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![A group of migrants walk off a pick-up truck after being apprehended by Department of Public Safety officers at a train depo…]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Angela Graham-West, wife of Texas GOP candidate Allen West, wasn’t drunk or on drugs when jailed for DWI, tests show
West had insisted his wife had not been drinking the night she was arrested, calling the arrest “insidious.” Dallas police said they stand by the officer’s decision to arrest Graham-West based on the information available at the time. Full Story
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![Angela West.]()
Credit: Florida Atlantic University -
Texas lawmakers pass rewrite of state’s bail system aimed at keeping more people behind bars who can’t post cash
The House balked at a part of the Senate’s bill that would have barred charitable groups from posting bail for some defendants, but otherwise embraced new limits on letting people accused of violent crimes out of jail. Full Story
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![Around the Clock Bail Bonds on 10th St. and Nueces in Austin on May 8, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: When the Texas state seal doesn’t signify trust
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is using the state seal to shield himself against accusations by former top aides. And former Gov. Rick Perry is using it as well — as a backdrop for a sales pitch. Full Story
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![Then-State Senator and current Attorney General Ken Paxton during the 2014 Red State Gathering in Fort Worth.]()
Credit: Cooper Neill for The Texas Tribune -
Dallas police defend DWI arrest of GOP gubernatorial candidate Allen West’s wife as her lawyer questions their evidence
An affidavit obtained by The Texas Tribune shows Angela Graham-West showed signs of intoxication in some — but not all — portions of a field sobriety test. Her lawyer attributes some issues to a previous brain aneurysm Graham-West suffered behind her right eye. Full Story
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![Angela Graham-West and Allen West.]()
Credit: Social Media -
An 18-year-old Venezuelan was among the first set free from Texas’ new jail for migrants. No one knew what to do with him.
After more than three weeks in jail, a trespassing charge against the man was dropped because state troopers shouldn’t have arrested him under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security push. He wound up in bureaucratic limbo for days as federal agencies passed the responsibility for resolving his immigration status. Full Story
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![A Texas Department of Public Safety vehicle is stationed near the U.S. and Mexico border in Del Rio on July 22, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
New Texas law allowing people to carry handguns without permits goes into effect Sept. 1
Starting Sept. 1, most Texans will be able to carry handguns in public without going through training or having to get permits. Law enforcement officers worry that could make their jobs more dangerous. Full Story
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![A M&P Shield handgun, small enough to be ideal for conceal carry, in Austin on April 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
The first migrants arrested in Gov. Greg Abbott's border crackdown have served their time. Federal officials will decide what happens next.
The Texas governor has derided federal immigration policy as "catch and release." But unless federal authorities now take them into custody, the migrants Abbott ordered state troopers to arrest could soon be freed. Full Story
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![A group of migrants walks onto a Customs and Border Protection vehicle after being apprehended near the U.S. and Mexico bord…]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Austin still struggling to find places for people experiencing homelessness as it begins enforcing public camping ban
After weeks of educating people about the ban that voters approved in May, police are allowed to start arresting violators this week as the city tries to find more housing. Full Story
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![Christina Jezzizki hugs her friend Elizabeth while sitting outside her tent in front of Austin City Hall on June 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Targeting surgeries rarely used on kids, Gov. Greg Abbott asks state agency to determine if gender affirming care is child abuse
Medical experts say gender affirming care for transgender children rarely, if ever, includes use of the surgeries Abbott cited in his letter to the head of the Texas Department of Family Protective Services. Full Story
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![The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services offices in Austin on Nov. 14, 2019.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune