FBI announces investigations into deaths at Harris County Jail
Since Jacoby Pillow’s death last month, at least three others have died at Harris County Jail. And the year before, the jail hit a record high of 27 in-custody deaths. Full Story
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![The Harris County Jail in Houston on Wednesday, April 1, 2020.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Judge rejects bid by families of plane crash victims to throw out deal letting Boeing avoid prosecution
The families say they were shut out of discussions over the deal between the federal government and Boeing. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor said courts don’t have authority to override it. Full Story
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![A Boeing 737 Max aircraft during a display at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough, Britain, July 20, 2022.]()
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Military justice reforms still leave some criminal cases to commanders with no legal expertise
The military resisted reforming its justice system for decades. Major congressional changes passed in 2021 promised to overhaul that system — but experts say they may have just made it more complicated. Full Story
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![A mural in honor of Army Spc. Vanessa GuillÈn in the Dove Springs neighborhood of South Austin. July 6, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas DPS scraps plan for $1.2 billion active-shooter training facility
The Texas Department of Public Safety is instead asking lawmakers for $381.5 million to upgrade its current facilities with better technology, dormitories and cafeteria for trainees from across the state. Full Story
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![Numerous Texas Department of Public Safety vehicles are parked at a Best Western hotel in Del Rio on July 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas DPS won’t discipline any more officers for Uvalde shooting response
The Department of Public Safety has finished its investigation into how officers responded to Texas’ deadliest school shooting. The agency has fired one officer and is in the process of firing another. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Public Safety officers guard the scene at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24, 2022.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Marco Bello -
Appeals court ruling says alleged domestic abusers have a constitutional right to keep their guns
Advocates for domestic violence victims were stunned by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, which continued a string of court decisions citing the Second Amendment to erase gun restrictions. Full Story
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![People hold signs in support of ending gun violence during a March for Our Lives event at the state Capitol in Austin on March 24, 2018.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Texans with mental illnesses are dying in Houston-area jails
A Houston Landing investigation found that nearly 180 people in Texas had been flagged as potentially mentally ill but died in jail instead of getting the care they needed. Full Story
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![Rowena Ward replaces flowers on the gravestone belonging to her son, Rory, last month at Klein Memorial Park Cemetery in Houston on Jan. 7, 2023. Rory died in 2021 after being beaten by a fellow inmate at the Harris County Jail — one of 52 people who died of unnatural causes in the custody of Houston area jails and had exhibited mental health concerns over the past decade.]()
Credit: Marie D. De Jesús/Houston Landing -
Man who killed 23 at El Paso Walmart pleads guilty to hate crimes
The gunman was mirroring rhetoric that continues to be used by some conservative political and media figures, saying that large-scale migration from south of the border is an “invasion” and part of a “great replacement” of white people by people of color. Full Story
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![A lone policeman outside the WalMart in El Paso where a mass shooting took place on Saturday, August 3, 2019.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Texas executes John Balentine for killing three teens in Amarillo
Though he confessed to the murders, Balentine’s lawyers argued he might have been spared a death sentence if not for pervasive racial bias at his trial. Full Story
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![Interior of Death Chamber in Texas.]()
Credit: Jenevieve Robbins/Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
After botched response to Uvalde massacre, Texas senator wants better mass shooting training for public safety entities
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, wants to prevent communication breakdowns like the ones that occurred in the botched response to the Uvalde school shooting. Full Story
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![State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, at a press conference with family members of the victims of the Robb Elementary school shooting to address gun violence in schools at the state Capitol in Austin on Jan. 24, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
State Sen. Charles Schwertner arrested on suspicion of drunken driving
Schwertner, a Georgetown Republican, was booked into the Travis County jail at 2:12 a.m. Full Story
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![State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, leaves the Travis County Jailhouse in Austin on Feb. 7, 2023. Schwertner was booked the previous night for dangerous driving while intoxicated.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas executes Wesley Ruiz despite ongoing fight over state’s use of old lethal injection drugs
Ruiz was convicted in the 2007 shooting death of Dallas police Senior Cpl. Mark Nix after a high-speed chase. Full Story
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![Texas' execution chamber in Huntsville.]()
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“We are humans back here”: As Texas hunger strike wanes, prisoners speak out against solitary confinement
After 21 days, the last of many Texas prisoners to consistently refuse food ended his hunger strike. In letters to The Texas Tribune, two prisoners spoke out on the dire solitary confinement conditions that led them to starve themselves. Full Story
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![Telford prison in New Boston.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: The fight against solitary confinement in Texas
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Jolie about a hunger strike in Texas prisons and a lawsuit seeking to reform the use of solitary confinement on death row. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville in 2013.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
In a Texas federal courtroom, families of those killed in Boeing 737 MAX crashes finally have their voices heard
The airplane manufacturer was accused of fraud for misleading federal regulators about the safety of its jets, but stayed out of court by making a deal with prosecutors. Victims’ families say they were cut out of the process. Full Story
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![An aerial photo shows Boeing 737 MAX aircraft at Boeing facilities at the Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington, September 16, 2019.]()
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Texas death row prisoners spend decades in solitary confinement. A lawsuit wants to end that “cruel” treatment.
Men sentenced to death in Texas are held in isolation until their execution dates, with little human contact, medical care or legal help, according to a lawsuit filed to improve treatment of the condemned. Full Story
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![The Allan B. Polunsky Unit in Livingston, TX.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
After fumbled Uvalde shooting response, Texas senator wants to make it easier to sue law enforcement officers
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a San Antonio Democrat, introduced a package of legislation that includes a bill that would end qualified immunity, which shields government officials from liability for constitutional violations. Full Story
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![Families of the victims of the Uvalde school shooting gather to attend a presser held by state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, where he introduced four new bills that will address qualified immunity for police officers, allow victims to sue the State of Texas, repeal the protection of the Lawful Commerce in Arms act, and create a permanent compensation fund for victims of school gun violence, at the state Capitol in Austin on Jan. 24, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Accused El Paso shooter will plead guilty to federal hate crime charges
The expected plea, announced by the accused shooter’s lawyer, comes after federal prosecutors took the death penalty off the table last week. Full Story
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![Guillermo and Yvonne González, right, release 23 doves during a memorial service on the third anniversary of the Walmart mass shooting that left 23 dead, at Ponder Park in El Paso on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Yvonne González’s parents, Maribel Hernandez and Leo Campos, were killed inside the Walmart.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
After 10 days, dozens of Texas prisoners remain on hunger strike protesting solitary confinement practices
Although the number of men refusing food has steadily declined, 38 are still starving themselves to protest Texas policies that often keep prisoners in isolation for years or even decades. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
After alleged sexual assault of two children living in state care, another foster shelter closes
Two girls in the care of Child Protective Services were allegedly sexually assaulted in October after sneaking out of a facility run by the state agency. Advocates say it’s a symptom of the Texas foster care systems’ problems. Full Story
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![Heart Galleries, portraits of adoptable children, on display at the Child Protective Services office at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in Austin on Nov. 14, 2019.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune