Hemp is booming in Texas. Distinguishing it from marijuana is still a challenge.
In this video, The Texas Tribune dug into hemp and marijuana with lawmakers, crime lab scientists, criminal defense attorneys and hemp entrepreneurs. Full Story
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![A container of dried hemp plant with leaves and stems on Jan. 23, 2020.]()
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As the Texas prison population shrinks, the state is closing two more lockups
The closures are expected in the coming months, as the state faces dangerous understaffing in its prisons. Full Story
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![Telford prison in New Boston, Texas.]()
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Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Mike Bloomberg’s apology for “stop and frisk” was key to endorsement
Turner’s endorsement comes amid controversy over Bloomberg's “stop and frisk” policy during his time as mayor of New York City. Full Story
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![From left: Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.]()
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Three Texas inmates have died at the hands of prison officers as use of force continues to rise
The increase in altercations with inmates comes as Texas' prison population dwindles. In three years, three officers have faced criminal charges in prisoners' deaths. Full Story
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![Birds fly overhead at the Hilltop prison unit in Gatesville, Texas, Nov. 25, 2019.]()
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El Paso shooting suspect faces nearly 100 federal charges, including hate crimes
Patrick Crusius, the alleged gunman in the Aug. 3 massacre at a Walmart store, already faces state capital murder charges for the racially motivated shooting spree that also wounded dozens. Full Story
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![A shrine near the Walmart where 20 people lost their lives to a mass murderer.]()
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Texas executes Abel Ochoa, who killed five family members in Dallas shooting
Ochoa was sentenced to death after the slayings in Dallas of his relatives, including his two young daughters. His defense argued he was in a cocaine-induced delirium. Full Story
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![Abel Ochoa was sentenced to death for the murder of five relatives, including his wife and two young daughters.]()
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CBD, hemp, medical marijuana? Here's what you need to know about Texas' changing pot laws.
Marijuana and hemp are often indistinguishable by look or smell because they both come from the cannabis plant. But hemp is legal, and marijuana is not. Full Story
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![The Custom Botanical Dispensary in Austin on Jan. 16, 2019.]()
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Austin police chief: We will still ticket, arrest for marijuana
The day after the Austin City Council unanimously approved stopping arrests and tickets for low-level marijuana cases, police Chief Brian Manley said he will continue to enforce such laws. Full Story
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![Police chief Brian Manley speaks during a news conference near the scene where a woman was injured in a package bomb explo...]()
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Texas carries out nation's first execution of 2020 for domestic violence slaying in Collin County
John Gardner, 64, was put to death for the 2005 murder of his estranged wife. His lawyers had argued the crime wasn't eligible for the death penalty. Full Story
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![John Gardner was sentenced to death for the 2005 murder of his estranged wife, Tammy Dawn Gardner.]()
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Trump administration sets into motion return of online 3D gun blueprints
An Austin man posted blueprints for the world's first fully 3D-printed gun online in 2013. They've been blocked from the internet twice. Full Story
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![Gun parts at Defense Distributed, a Texas-based company developing and publishing open source gun designs for 3-D printing...]()
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Austin to consider stopping arrests, tickets in low-level marijuana cases after hemp law
Four progressive members of the City Council are pushing the proposal, which needs two more votes to pass. Full Story
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He spent a month in Texas jail accused of hauling 3,350 pounds of marijuana. But lab results say it was legal hemp.
The man had told a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper that his truck contained hemp, not weed. He was released from detention after a federal crime lab tested the cargo. Full Story
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![The Texas Department of Public Safety claimed last month that it seized more than 3,000 pounds of marijuana during a traff...]()
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Marijuana prosecutions in Texas have dropped by more than half since lawmakers legalized hemp
After Texas legalized hemp and threw marijuana prosecution into chaos last year, prosecutors filed far fewer criminal charges, police departments paid for private testing and public crime labs were struggling to catch up. Full Story
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Cesar Fierro spent 40 years on Texas death row. A court tossed his sentence Wednesday for faulty jury instructions.
Fierro was sentenced to death in El Paso in 1980 for the murder of a taxi driver. Full Story
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![Cesar Fierro has been on death row in Texas since 1980 for the 1979 murder of a cab driver in El Paso.]()
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Students face felony charges, expulsions as Texas schools ramp up fight against vaping
Caught off guard by the increase in teen vaping, schools are grasping every tool at hand, including expulsions and suspensions. In some districts, students can face harsh discipline and jail time for having a vape pen in their backpack. Full Story
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![Thomas Williams-Platt, 18, in the backyard of his aunt’s home in Georgetown on Nov. 22, 2019. Last December the then 17-ye...]()
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What is the "boyfriend loophole?" Houston's police chief wants lawmakers to prevent abusive dating partners from buying guns.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo made the remarks after one of his sergeants was killed while responding to a domestic violence incident. Full Story
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![U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Cour...]()
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Texas prison officials violated a judge's order to provide inmates with air conditioning. Now prisoners' lawyers get to investigate.
U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison said the lawyers can further probe the Texas prison agency's violations of a court order to provide air conditioning for some inmates — and agency officials’ false claims that they were in compliance. Full Story
![Telford prison in New Boston, Texas.]()
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Texas executed Travis Runnels for a prison murder. His lawyers said false testimony put him on death row.
A Texas court has twice overturned death sentences because of one man’s false testimony on restrictions placed on prisoners. Runnels argued the same man’s testimony should have stopped his death, too. Full Story
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![Travis Runnels was sentenced to death for the 2003 murder of prison employee Stanley Wiley.]()
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Prison health care costs are higher than ever in Texas. Many point to an aging prison population.
Although there are fewer people in prison than there were a decade ago, costs have surged along with the share of inmates who are older — and sicker. Full Story
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![The exterior of Huntsville Unit, a prison in Huntsville, Texas on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019.]()
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Rodney Reed's execution was set for Wednesday. A Texas court stopped it last week.
The Texas Tribune takes a look at Reed's case as it is sent back to the local court, which will review claims that he is innocent of the murder that put him on death row. Full Story
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![Rodney Reed was sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop.]()