Delta-8 in Texas remains classified as "illegal" after judge denies request from hemp firm
Another hearing on the matter is scheduled for Nov. 5. Full Story
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![Products containing Delta 8 THC on the counter at GR8 Vapes in San Marcos on Oct. 20, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas says popular cannabis extract, delta-8, is illegal, sending retailers scrambling
The federal farm bill in 2018 made the substance legal because of its low THC content. Full Story
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![Products containing Delta 8 THC on the counter at GR8 Vapes in San Marcos on October 20, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Austin voters could put hundreds more police officers on the streets after last year’s budget cuts
A November vote on whether Austin should hire hundreds of new police officers is shaping up as a test of Austinites’ appetite for police reform. Full Story
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![The Austin Police Department building with the Austin skyline in the background on March 22, 2021.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Department of Justice investigating abuse, mistreatment at Texas’ juvenile lockups
The department says it’s looking into whether the Texas Juvenile Justice Department provides “reasonable protection from physical and sexual abuse by staff and other residents, excessive use of chemical restraints and excessive use of isolation.” Full Story
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![Detainees line up to leave the outdoor recreation area at the Travis County Juvenile Detention Center in Austin on June 24, 2013.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Texas prosecutor drops charges after migrants claim they were marched to private property, then arrested for trespassing
The Texas Department of Public Safety and U.S. Border Patrol insist the 11 men, arrested under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border initiative, weren’t set up for trespassing charges. But a county attorney decided the case was too muddled to prosecute. Full Story
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![A Border Patrol van and a Texas Department of Public Safety vehicle parked near a train depot in Spoffard on Aug. 25, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas board recommends George Floyd receive a posthumous pardon for 2004 Houston drug arrest
Gov. Greg Abbott must either approve or reject the parole board’s decision. The 2004 case involved a Houston officer later found to have lied to obtain a search warrant in a 2019 case. Full Story
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![People gather at the mural for George Floyd in the Third Ward in Houston on June 8, 2020.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
After delay, Texas to begin releasing migrants held in violation of state law under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border crackdown
The almost 250 detained men, whose immediate release was ordered three days ago, are expected to be turned over to federal authorities to be detained again, deported or freed in the United States while their cases are being resolved. Full Story
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![A group of migrants walk off a pick-up truck after being apprehended by Department of Public Safety officers at a train depot in Spofford on Aug. 25, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas court orders release of more than 200 migrants imprisoned in Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security clampdown
The men were arrested by state troopers and held for weeks without facing formal charges, a violation of state law. It’s the latest misfire in Abbott’s hastily assembled effort to involve Texas in patrolling the border. Full Story
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![A group of migrants wait near a private road after being apprehended by Department of Public Safety officers at a train depot in Spofford on Aug. 25, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas executes Pasadena double murderer in third lethal injection this year
Rick Rhoades was convicted of killing two brothers 30 years ago, the day after he'd been released from prison on parole. His attorneys argued that racial bias in jury selection denied him a fair trial. Full Story
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![Interior of Death Chamber by Texas Department of Criminal Justice.]()
Credit: Photo Illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Migrants arrested by Texas in border crackdown are being imprisoned for weeks without legal help or formal charges
Defense attorneys have started asking courts to set migrants free because local justice systems, overwhelmed by arrests under Gov. Greg Abbott's border security push, are routinely violating state law and constitutional due process rights. Full Story
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![A migrant is readied to board a law enforcement van after being apprehended by Department of Public Safety officers at a train depot in Spofford on Aug. 25, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Watch state Reps. Jeff Leach and Joe Moody discuss lawmakers’ criminal justice work at The Texas Tribune Festival
Leach, a Plano Republican, and Moody, an El Paso Democrat, co-chair the House Criminal Justice Caucus. Full Story
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![State Reps. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, and Joe Moody, D-El Paso.]()
Credit: The Texas Tribune -
Texas appellate justices appear skeptical of Attorney General Ken Paxton defense that he’s exempt from state’s whistleblower law
Paxton’s attorneys argued to a panel of Texas 3rd Court of Appeals justices on Wednesday that a lawsuit from former deputies should be thrown out. The ex-employees claim they were fired after reporting Paxton to law enforcement. Full Story
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![Attorney General Ken Paxton.]()
Credit: USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters -
Texas court tosses out conviction, death sentence after discovering a prosecutor also worked for the judge
Clinton Young was convicted in a 2001 Midland County murder in which he insists he was framed. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said he was denied the right to a fair trial and an impartial judge. Full Story
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![The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Jan. 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott adds property tax relief, bail to special session agenda
Abbott has faced pressure from his right to prioritize property tax relief. One of his challengers in the Republican primary has slammed him for not including it earlier in the agenda, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called it his top priority this session. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol on Aug. 13, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
After a Texas prosecutor dismissed dozens of migrant trespassing cases, some men were dropped at a border bus station
Officials said immigration authorities weren’t interested in taking migrants who had no criminal conviction into federal custody. But without documentation, at least one newly released migrant soon found himself back in detention. Full Story
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![A Texas Department of Public Safety official makes an arrest near the U.S. and Mexico border in Del Rio as a group of migrants watched on July 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas bill to require cash bail for those accused of violent crimes becomes law
Senate Bill 6 will bar those accused of violent crimes from being released from jail before trial unless they can put up cash. That provision of the bill will go into effect Dec. 2. Full Story
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![Ace Bail Bonds in San Marcos.]()
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U.S. Justice Department sues Texas over new abortion law that Attorney General Merrick Garland calls unconstitutional
Garland called the law a "scheme to nullify the Constitution of the United States." It prohibits the procedure before many people know that they are pregnant. Full Story
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![One of the six exam rooms at Haven Health Clinics in downtown Amarillo on Dec. 9, 2013. The clinic provides services for women and some men in the 26 county region of the Texas panhandle.]()
Credit: Stephen Spillman for The Texas Tribune -
Court allows Ken Paxton's criminal case to move forward in his home county, but prosecutors say they'll appeal
In May, a three-justice panel of the 1st Court of Appeals sent the case back to Collin, Paxton's home county. Prosecutors asked the full court to reconsider. Full Story
![Attorney General Ken Paxton.]()
Credit: USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters -
For third time in recent years, U.S. Supreme Court halts a Texas execution over rules for religious advisers in the death chamber
John Ramirez was scheduled to die Wednesday. His last request to the state had been to let his pastor hold on to him as he died, something the state denied. The high court wants to hear oral arguments on the matter later this year. Full Story
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![Interior of execution chamber.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Thanks to local politics and a railroad, rural Kinney County accounts for most of Texas’ migrant arrests
Under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security push, Texas state police have arrested hundreds of migrants in the conservative county, usually after spotting them on cargo trains or walking remote ranch lands. Sent to a state prison retooled as an immigration jail, many men were left without lawyers for weeks. Full Story
![A group of migrants walk off a pick-up truck after being apprehended by Department of Public Safety officers at a train depot in Spofford on Aug. 25, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune