The latest criminal justice news from The Texas Tribune.
The Texas House passed a bill today on malt liquor drinks that contain caffeine, ginseng, taurine or guarana. The bill prohibits the sale, manufacture, import and possessing of alcoholic energy drinks, like the infamous Four Loko. Full Story
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In an apology issued Thursday morning, The Monitor announced that, in response to reader complaints, it will remove public school district salary data it posted earlier this week. Full Story
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Charles Chatman and other former prisoners who have been exonerated of their crimes are joining state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, in urging House lawmakers to act quickly and pass bills intended to reduce wrongful convictions. Full Story
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In a Texarkana courtroom Monday, Delma Banks Jr. faced again the district attorney's office that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled committed misconduct when it successfully fought to send him to death row in 1980 for the shooting death of 16-year-old Richard Whitehead. Full Story
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Senators today amended an education finance reform bill to allow community college students to carry concealed handguns on campus, increase the cost of cigarettes and allow drastic changes to university administration. Full Story
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Sen. Jeff Wentworth is relentless with campus carry, and today, the San Antonio Republican got his way. Full Story
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Texas got one step closer today to becoming one of the few states with a rule that awards legal fees to prevailing parties in lawsuits. Full Story
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Texas lawmakers — current and former — may soon be able to pack heat at church, the hospital, a sporting event or even bars. Full Story
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At a hearing Monday in a Bowie County state district court, lawyers for Delma Banks Jr. will ask the court to disqualify prosecutors who the U.S. Supreme Court ruled suppressed evidence and deliberately covered up mistakes in a 1980 murder trial that sent the young black man to death row. Full Story
Aaronson on the latest attack on Planned Parenthood, Aguilar previews the sanctuary cities debate, Grissom on a death row inmate's unsuccessful appeal, Hamilton on the UT System's faculty "productivity" data dump, Philpott on the prospect of lawsuits over education cuts, Ramsey on puppies and other distractions, Ramshaw on a tobacco fight, my interview with the presidents of UT-Austin and Texas A&M, M. Smith on a former State Board of Ed member who may have violated state ethics law, Stiles interactively displays the effects of House redistricting and Tan on the Senate budget end game: The best of our best content from May 2 to 6, 2011. Full Story
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No time to follow all the happenings of the Texas Legislature? We've made it easier for you with our weekly recaps of the action under the dome. Full Story
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With the House set to take up a loser-pays bill for the second time tomorrow, Gov. Rick Perry has added an item to his emergency list: tort reform. Full Story
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Some of the thousands of untested rape kits lining evidence storage room shelves statewide would finally get testing under a bill the Texas Senate approved today. Full Story
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A bill to merge Texas' two state juvenile justice agencies is headed to the governor for a signature. Full Story
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Less than a month before his scheduled execution, Cary Kerr had no attorney. And the ones he had had up to that point, he argued, didn’t do him much good. Tonight, his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to stop his execution was turned down. Full Story
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At last Thursday's TribLive conversation, I interviewed Bill Powers and Bowen Loftin, the presidents of the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University, respectively, about the need for higher education reform, the impact of budget cuts, the predicament of middling graduation rates and more. Full Story
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At last Thursday's TribLive conversation, I interviewed Bill Powers and Bowen Loftin, the presidents of the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University, respectively, about the need for higher education reform, the impact of budget cuts, the predicament of middling graduation rates and more. Full Story
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At last Thursday's TribLive conversation, I interviewed Bill Powers and Bowen Loftin, the presidents of the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University, respectively, about the need for higher education reform, the impact of budget cuts, the predicament of middling graduation rates and more. Full Story
Aguilar and Weber on a subdued debate over homeland security, Galbraith on rising concern about natural gas drilling, Grissom on a controversial psychologist, Hamilton on the aftermath of the Rick O'Donnell episode, Philpott on the comptroller's apology, Ramshaw with more on the statewide database of child abusers, E. Smith interviews Lance Armstrong, M. Smith on what House budget cuts would mean for school districts, M. Stiles on how redistricting would change things for each House member, Tan on the Senate's wobbly attempts to approve a budget and my interview with David Dewhurst: The best of our best content from April 25 to 29, 2011. Full Story
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Texas youths who get crossways with the law could soon find themselves under the supervision of a new state juvenile justice agency whose main mission is to keep young offenders close to home and quickly headed in a more positive direction. Full Story
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