Criminal justice

Lambda Legal has settled with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in the case of Passion Star, a transgender woman who claimed prison officials didn’t protect her from sexual and physical abuse while incarcerated in male prisons.

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For the first time in several years, Texas' most populous county freed fewer defendants who had been wrongfully accused of drug crimes. But Texas still led the nation in exonerations last year. 

 

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Seven of 13 sitting Texas district attorneys who faced 2018 primary challengers lost their races. Whether that's normal turnover or part of a larger focus on criminal justice reform, several experts say it's no longer safe to be an incumbent prosecutor.

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The device was used as punishment for refusing to answer a judge’s questions properly during his 2016 trial on charges of soliciting sexual performance from a 15-year-old girl. 

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More women are finding themselves in Texas prisons and jails, and one criminal justice reform group is urging lawmakers and local officials to enact policies to stop that trend.

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Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller narrowly won the Republican primary Tuesday night, overcoming a challenger who knocked her for her multiple ethical controversies.

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It's a striking contrast to their responses to then-President Barack Obama's gun control efforts, which were less aggressive in some areas than President Donald Trump's. 

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Judge Elsa Alcala of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is a zealous opinion writer and critic of death penalty law. But after seven years on the bench, she's stepping down. Here are the three Republicans who are vying for her seat.

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Texas death row inmates lost at the U.S. Supreme Court when the high court denied their petition to challenge the state's execution protocol.

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We wanted to know: Should the minimum age for buying semiautomatic rifles rise from 18 to 21? Should large-capacity magazines be banned? Here's how they answered. 

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Gov. Greg Abbott spared the life of a death row inmate less than an hour before his scheduled execution. 

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For the first time since 2009, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted to recommend a lesser sentence for a death row inmate. 

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As part of our ongoing efforts to engage people directly affected by policy issues, we want to learn more about what measures, if any, young Texans think should be taken to address mass shootings and school safety.

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President Donald Trump told U.S. Sen. John Cornyn on Friday that he backs efforts by Texas' senior senator to revamp the nation's background check system for purchasing firearms. 

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The Texas Department of Criminal Justice released information Thursday night on the state's execution drug inventory. The department had stalled release of the records, which show that the expiration date of four doses was changed from January to November. See more details here. 

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The Texas Department of Public Safety has reversed a controversial decision to lay off more than 100 older troopers employed under an agency program that allowed them to retire and then be rehired in order to collect retirement benefits and a salary.

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One day after a mass shooting at a South Florida high school, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, indicated Thursday that he was willing to sit down with a top Democrat to discuss gun policy.

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Earlier this month, defense lawyers claimed Texas was botching its executions with old drugs. Now, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has stalled the release of information on how many lethal doses the state has and when they expire.

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Baylor University officials pushed back forcefully Wednesday night against a brief filed in federal court earlier in the day that claims school leaders urged staff to destroy emails and other evidence related to a wide-ranging sexual abuse scandal.

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A federal appellate court on Wednesday mostly upheld a ruling claiming that Harris County’s bail practices unfairly discriminate against poor misdemeanor defendants.

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