The latest criminal justice news from The Texas Tribune.
A state judge has declined to remove District Attorney John Bradley from continuing to investigate the case of Michael Morton, whose 1987 murder conviction has been called into question by new DNA evidence suggesting someone else killed his wife. Full Story
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DAY 23 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: The state's prison education system, known as the Windham School District, eliminates or reduces classes for Texas inmates. Full Story
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DAY 23 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: The state's prison education system, known as the Windham School District, eliminates or reduces classes for inmates. Full Story
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Aaronson analyzes TWIA claims and lawyer fees, Aguilar talks border security and voter ID with Chuy Hinojosa, Grissom on the latest inmate exonerated via DNA evidence, Hamilton interviews John Sharp on higher ed and the SEC, Murphy interactively maps the changes wrought by redistricting, Philpott on who's running Texas while Rick Perry is out campaigning for president, Ramsey on Perry's history of off-the-cuff remarks, Ramshaw on Perry's childhood years in Paint Creek, Root on Perry's extraordinary first week on the trail and Tan on even more ways Texas will change on Sept. 1: The best of our best content from Aug. 15-19, 2011. Full Story
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For the first time, Texas is closing a state prison. Take a look inside the historic Central Unit in Sugar Land as workers prepare it for shuttering. Full Story
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DAY 19 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Sugar Land's historic, art deco-style prison is closing. Full Story
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New DNA test results in a 25-year-old murder case cast doubt on the conviction of Michael Morton, who was accused of killing his wife, Christine, in their Williamson County home on Aug. 13, 1986. Full Story
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DAY 16 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Gun owners in Texas will not have to leave their weapons at home while they are at work anymore. Full Story
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For the fourth time, the state of Texas is scheduled to execute death row inmate Hank Skinner for the 1993 murders of his live-in girlfriend and her two sons, potentially quashing his ability to request DNA testing under a new state law. Full Story
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Our all-hands-on-deck series on new laws — 31 Days, 31 Ways — continues, Root covers a challenge to the governor's school finance fix and the tax that makes it work, Philpott forecasts a presidential media tsunami will hit Texas, Murphy with a look at midyear campaign reports from candidates and PACs in Texas, yours truly on the quiet spot at the top of the 2014 ballot, Hamilton on government-required vaccinations against meningitis, Grissom reports on the heat wave in un-air-conditioned Texas jails, Aguilar on the private security business along the state's border with Mexico and M. Smith's interview with Nicole Hurd on how to get more high school students into college: The best of our best content from Aug. 8 to 12, 2011. Full Story
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A federal appeals court today ruled that the individual insurance mandate in President Obama's health care reform plan is unconstitutional, a decision Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott lauded as a step toward ending "Obamacare." Full Story
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Judges are elected in Texas, but Gov. Rick Perry has picked the winners on the state's highest civil court almost without fail since he took office in 2000. Full Story
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This week, Martin Robles became Texas' ninth execution of the year. Convicted in a Corpus Christi gang shooting, his death was not among the most controversial to happen on the watch of Gov. Rick Perry. During his decade in the Texas governor's office, Perry has overseen more than 230 executions, more than any governor in modern history. Full Story
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DAY 9 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Lawmakers expanded protective orders to include pets and victims of teen dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. Full Story
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As the heat index statewide soars above 100 degrees day after day, Texas inmate advocates say complaints about sweltering conditions are increasing along with concerns about prisoners’ health. Full Story
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A rare stay of execution from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals could give death row inmate Larry Swearingen the chance he's always wanted to use science to prove his innocence. Full Story
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Aguilar on the denial of asylum petitions by border judges, Galbraith on the history of wind, Grissom talks to the head of the Jail Standards Commission, Hamilton on plans for the state's new online university, Murphy and Ramsey on political warchests at midyear, Philpott on Texas' trucker shortage, Ramsey talks data privacy and abortion with Susan Combs, Ramshaw on the Rick Perry's experimental adult stem cell procedure, Root on the response to The Response, M. Smith on the country's could-be next first lady and Tan on a few of the ways Texas will change on Sept. 1: The best of our best content from Aug. 1 to 5, 2011. Full Story
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About two dozen candidates and political action committees have more than $1 million in their accounts, some of them much more, according to our analysis of midyear filings with the Texas Ethics Commission. Full Story
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About two dozen candidates and political action committees have more than $1 million in their accounts, some of them much more, according to a Texas Tribune analysis of midyear filings with the Texas Ethics Commission. Full Story
The state comptroller talks about the flip in her position on abortion, the data breach at her agency this spring, what office she might seek next and how all of the politics of those subjects mix. Full Story
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