The latest criminal justice news from The Texas Tribune.
Judges across the state, and particularly in Harris County, are sending youth offenders to adult prisons even when they have few prior offenses, according to a study by a University of Texas criminal justice expert. Full Story
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The national criminal justice expert on how other states have handled controversial prison closings and reduced criminal justice costs and how the Right On Crime Movement might give lawmakers the political freedom to be more than tough when it comes to crime. Full Story
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The Tribune sat down recently with national criminal justice expert Marc Mauer, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based reform advocacy group The Sentencing Project, to get his advice about how Texas can continue on its so-called 'right on crime' path even as lawmakers slice millions from the state budget. Mauer, who was in Austin for the Barbara Jordan Symposium at the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs, talked about how other states have handled controversial prison closings, how others have reduced criminal justice costs and how the Right On Crime Movement — with support from conservative leaders like Grover Norquist and Newt Gingrich — might give lawmakers the political freedom to be more than tough when it comes to crime. Full Story
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A bill that would give brewpubs more flexibility to sell their ales has been given a boost by a compromise with an influential beer lobby. Full Story
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Those with a concealed handgun license, which currently means they must be 21 years old. Though it won't necessarily be that way forever, which raises another question: When it comes to gun safety, does age matter? Full Story
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No time to follow every twist and turn 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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A money-saving proposal to combine state agencies that oversee police and firefighter training and local jail operations has public safety officials statewide worried about their future. Full Story
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Supporters and opponents of allowing concealed handguns on college campuses packed a House committee room today where a number of bills that would allow it were being discussed. Full Story
The Texas Senate unanimously approved a bill today that would revamp eyewitness identification policies used by law enforcement agencies. Full Story
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Cleve Foster will be the first Texas inmate to receive the anesthetic drug pentobarbital — instead of sodium thiopental — in the three-drug cocktail that will be used in his execution on April 5. Full Story
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Legislation banning “sanctuary city” policies in Texas was voted out of the House State Affairs Committee today, sending the controversial bill to the full House for consideration. Full Story
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At our TribLive conversation last Thursday, Speaker Joe Straus talked about proposed legislation that would legalize concealed carry on college campuses in Texas. Full Story
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Sights and sounds from Huntsville when prisoners were released from the Walls Unit on March 4. Full Story
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Sights and sounds from Huntsville when prisoners were released from the Walls Unit on March 4. Full Story
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Criminal justice advocates say proposed cuts from rehabilitation and treatment programs would reverse years of reforms in Texas that have helped reduce recidivism and drive down the size of the prison population. Full Story
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In advance of today's bill filing deadline, lawmakers have introduced two bills that would require losing parties to pay attorneys' fees in a variety of civil lawsuits. Full Story
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Advocates say requiring the losing parties in litigation to pay their opponents’ legal fees is the cure for courts choked with the costs of “junk” lawsuits. Full Story
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The director of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown Public Policy Institute on the factors Texas lawmakers should consider as they seek to make budget cuts while continuing the reforms they started in 2007. Full Story
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The director of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown Public Policy Institute on the factors Texas lawmakers should consider as they seek to make budget cuts while continuing the reforms they started in 2007. Full Story
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At the Tribune's New Day Rising symposium on Feb. 28, four public policy experts talked about criminal justice, education, health care and other issues and the impact of the coming Hispanic majority. Full Story
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