San Antonio to vote on progressive wish list on abortion, marijuana, low-level arrests
Proposition A on the May 6 ballot will test the city’s political climate and progressives’ ability to advance a controversial agenda. Full Story
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![Women sit in the waiting room after their appointments at Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services in San Antonio on June 14, 2022.]()
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U.S. Supreme Court lets Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed pursue DNA testing in bid to prove innocence
Reed has long said he was wrongfully convicted for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites. His lawyers will now be able to renew their legal fight for testing of crucial crime scene evidence. Full Story
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![Rodney Reed is scheduled to be executed next Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019.]()
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In overnight testimony, Uvalde victims’ family members call on Texas lawmakers to raise age to buy semi-automatic guns
The families of Uvalde shooting victims waited hours to testify at a House committee hearing in support of House Bill 2744, which would raise the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic guns from 18 to 21. Full Story
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![Friends and families of the victims of the Uvalde shooting wait in a members lounge as they wait for the Community Safety Committee to reconvene, at the state Capitol in Austin on April 18, 2023. The committee will hear numerous bills relating to gun reform, most notably HB2744 which seeks to raise the age required to purchase semiautomatic rifles from 18 to 21.]()
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Texas House committee debates firearms bills filed in response to Uvalde shooting
The House Select Committee on Community Safety is scheduled to hear testimony on bills that would change how people buy firearms and how authorities report those purchases. One of these bills would raise the minimum age to 21 years old to purchase certain semi-automatic rifles. Full Story
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![Patrons of the SAXET Gun Show look at handguns at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds in Robstown on Feb. 26, 2023.]()
Credit: Blaine Young for The Texas Tribune -
After years of little progress, Texas gun control and safety advocates see some small openings for dialogue at the Capitol
Many bills that would limit access to firearms or ammunition likely won’t become law anytime soon. But people who advocate at the Texas Capitol see emerging signs that there’s appetite for finding some middle ground. Full Story
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![Families of the victims of the Uvalde and Santa Fe school shootings gathered with state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, to show their support for legislation on gun safety laws at the state Capitol in Austin on Feb. 14, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Law enforcement says no explosives detected after bomb threat called in to state Capitol
The Texas Department of Public Safety did a sweep of Capitol grounds with K-9 dogs and found no explosive devices. Full Story
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![The Texas State Capitol on Mar. 29, 2023.]()
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Unsealed evidence shows racist comments, threats of violence made by Daniel Perry before killing of Austin protester
Gov. Greg Abbott has said he wants to pardon Perry, who was convicted by a Travis County jury last week. Full Story
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![Daniel Perry and his family walk to the 147th District Courtroom at the Travis County Blackwell Thurman Criminal Justice Complex on Thursday Mar. 23, 2023 in Austin. Perry is on trial for shooting and killing protester Garrett Foster during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in Austin.]()
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With tweet about a pardon, Gov. Greg Abbott injects politics into Texas’ criminal justice system
In an unprecedented use of his power, the Republican governor moved to pardon Daniel Perry less than a day after an Austin jury convicted him in the murder of protester Garrett Foster. Full Story
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![Daniel Perry during his first day of trial in the 147th District Courtroom at the Travis County Justice Center on March 28, 2023.]()
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Watch: While lawmakers consider legalizing fentanyl test strips, this volunteer isn’t waiting to distribute them to his West Texas community
Michael Prado, with the grassroots organization West Texas Harm Reduction, is on a mission to distribute fentanyl test strips, syringes and overdose-reversing drugs like naloxone to his community. Full Story
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![Michael Prado with West Texas Harm Reduction shows a "bleach and teach" kit for cleaning syringes from the back of his Dodge SUV before heading out to distribute supplies in Abilene on Feb. 21, 2023.]()
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Lawmakers’ attempts to tighten drug laws could saddle crime labs with an unsustainable workload
Texas lawmakers want tougher criminal penalties for possession of delta-8 and fentanyl. But that would mean much more work for the crime labs handling most of the drug testing for the state’s 254 counties. Full Story
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![Angelica Noyola, a forensic analyst in the seized drugs lab, prepares a tray of pills, which likely contain oxycodone, for a chemical spot test as the state grapples with the effects of the nation's growing opioid epidemic at the Houston Forensic Science Center in Houston on March 29, 2023.]()
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Texas House budgets $545 million for prison air conditioning. The Senate hasn’t offered anything.
Sweltering heat has killed inmates, driven away prison workers and cost taxpayers millions in lawsuits. The House budget would provide air conditioning for 46 prisons, but it’s unclear if the Senate will sign on. Full Story
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![Inmates walk down a hallway at Brazoria County's Darrington prison in July 2017.]()
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Texas House passes bill decriminalizing fentanyl test strips
The bill would take fentanyl test strips off the state’s “drug paraphernalia” list, meaning it would no longer be a crime to carry them. Full Story
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![Advocates for SB 868, a bill filed this legislative session that would decriminalize fentanyl test strips, on the steps of the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Feb. 15, 2023. Delegates from El Paso, Laredo, West Texas, San Antonio, Austin and Houston gave speeches to call for increased harm reduction in response to a spike in fentanyl deaths statewide.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
The Army increasingly allows soldiers charged with violent crimes to leave the military rather than face trial
A federal watchdog called for ending the practice nearly 50 years ago, but the military pushed back. Now, soldiers leave the Army with a negative discharge, avoiding possible federal conviction and with little record of the allegations against them. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott backs call for pardon for Daniel Perry, who killed Austin protester in 2020
The governor says he asked the Board of Pardons and Paroles to expedite review, recommend clemency one day after Perry was convicted of murder. Full Story
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![Daniel Perry is escorted to the 147th District Courtroom at the Travis County Blackwell Thurman Criminal Justice Complex in Austin on March 23, 2023.]()
Credit: Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman via REUTERS -
U.S. Army sergeant found guilty of murder in 2020 shooting of Austin protester Garrett Foster
Daniel Perry, who was driving for Uber, shot 28-year-old Foster during a protest against police brutality blocks away from the state Capitol in July 2020. Full Story
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![Daniel Perry at his trial for the murder of Garrett Foster at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin on April 5, 2023.]()
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Texas Senate approves bill that would create mandatory prison or probation terms for some gun crimes
Sen. Joan Huffman said the bill was in response to increased violent crime since 2019. Legislative researchers could not determine how the bill would affect the state’s prison population. Full Story
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![A handgun with a magazine which holds 17 rounds is displayed by an employee of McBride’s Guns in Central Austin on April 20, 2021.]()
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Sutherland Springs shooting victims reach tentative $144.5 million settlement with U.S. government
The U.S. Department of Justice also agreed to drop its appeal of a lawsuit in which a judge found the military mostly at fault for the 2017 mass shooting at a church. Full Story
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![The Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church, where 26 churchgoers were killed in a mass shooting on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017.]()
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Texas Republicans quickly blast Donald Trump indictment, calling it “catastrophic” and politically motivated
Trump became the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges, in his case over alleged hush money payments made to an adult film star. Many of his fellow Republicans in Texas lambasted the legal development. Full Story
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![Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Waco on March 25, 2023.]()
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Texas House passes bill barring the death penalty for some mentally ill defendants
The chamber has repeatedly passed legislation in recent sessions eliminating the death penalty in cases of severe mental illness, but this year the measure faced increased pushback from conservative lawmakers. Full Story
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![Interior of Death Chamber by Texas Department of Criminal Justice.]()
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Texas Republicans, once allied with prosecutors, seek to rein them in
Some local district and county attorneys have said they will not pursue abortion-related cases, or prioritize certain drug, property and election crimes. Full Story
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![The Texas Supreme Court on Jan. 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune