Texas’ overcrowded and understaffed jails send people awaiting trial to other counties and states
Limits on who can be released without paying bail and difficulties hiring guards worsen the situation. Full Story
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![Sorcha Costigan holds up Jess Hampton’s army jacket in the bedroom of her home on Aug. 10, 2024 in Rosevine. “The goal is to get him out of jail, so he and I can both work on fighting this from the outside and get his name cleared,” Costigan said.]()
Credit: Hope Mora for The Texas Tribune -
Crews begin demolishing Sutherland Springs church where gunman killed more than two dozen in 2017
Some families wanted to preserve the sanctuary, which became the scene of the deadliest church shooting in American history. Full Story
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![Workers begin demolition of the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, where a gunman killed more than two dozen worshipers in 2017.]()
Credit: AP Photo/Eric Gay -
After Uvalde city officials end battle over shooting records, victims’ families say other agencies need to follow suit
The city’s release ends a legal battle with news outlets, but other government agencies are withholding materials. Full Story
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![Authorities gather outside of Robb Elementary School in Uvalde after a gunman entered and killed 19 students and two teachers on May 24, 2022.]()
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Texas executes Arthur Lee Burton for 1997 killing of Houston jogger
Burton was sentenced to death for killing Nancy Adleman, a mother of three, while she was jogging on a summer evening in Houston. Full Story
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![Interior of Death Chamber in Texas.]()
Credit: Jenevieve Robbins/Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
DPS reinstates Texas Ranger fired for Uvalde shooting response
Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw said he made the decision after the Uvalde district attorney found no criminal wrongdoing and asked that Ranger Chris Kindell be allowed to return to his job. Full Story
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![Texas Ranger Christopher Ryan Kindell outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24, 2022, when 21 people — 19 children and two adults — were killed by a gunman. Kindell was fired by DPS Thursday and said he plans to appeal.]()
Credit: Texas Parks and Wildlife bodycam -
Five years after mass shooting, El Paso dedicates a new memorial to the victims
Saturday marks five years since a gunman killed 23 people and injured 22 others in a racially-motivated massacre. Full Story
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![Tino Ortega, an artist who had previously painted a series of murals throughout El Paso to honor victims of the Walmart shooting, stands at the site of the new memorial that he designed for the City of El Paso, July 24, 2024. Ortega used granite pillars in the shape of a crown to evoke the strength and power of the community. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)]()
Credit: Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters -
Justice Department finds Texas juvenile detention centers violated youth offenders’ rights
The DOJ found that officers overused pepper spray, kept youths in prolonged isolation and failed to protect them from sexual abuse. Full Story
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![Giddings State School, a juvenile correctional facility managed by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, in Giddings.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Former Texas prisoners describe suffocating heat during trial over state’s un-air conditioned lockups
A lawsuit seeks to force Texas to fully air condition its prison system. Inmate advocacy groups say temperatures can push above 120 degrees in some units. Full Story
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![Prison staff and inmates move through the Darrington Unit's main hallway on Wednesday, July 12, 2017.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough/The Texas Tribune -
It promised to improve health care in jails. Dozens of its patients have died.
Health care contractor Turn Key serves nearly 70 counties across Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Colorado, Kansas and Montana. Full Story
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Credit: September Dawn Bottoms for The Marshall Project and Cassandra Giraldo for The Marshall Project -
State appeals court strikes down Austin’s marijuana decriminalization ordinance
A state appeals court ruled that Austin’s voter-approved ordinance obstructed the enforcement of state drug laws. The court rejected a similar ordinance in San Marcos last week. Full Story
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![A sign asking for the decriminalization of marijuana is posted outside of an event hosted by Ground Game in Harker Heights on Dec. 3, 2022.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribune -
The Rio Grande Valley’s pet population is out of control. Will a proposed limit in one city help?
Local leaders began debating a household limit on the number of pets after two residents were arrested for having 93 dogs and a cat in their home. Full Story
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![A dog rests in an area that has air conditioning and an access to the outside at Yaqui Animal Rescue, also known as Yaqui Ranch, in Sullivan City, Texas on July 26, 2024. This area is designated for the older dogs and for those who are sick.
Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune -
When the science crumbles, Texas law says a conviction could, too. That rarely happens.
Texas’ 2013 law that allows for new trials in cases with flawed scientific evidence was pioneering. But the state’s highest criminal court has rejected most of those challenges. Full Story
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Former Uvalde officer pleads not guilty to criminal charges over delayed mass shooting response
Adrian Gonzalez appeared in court Thursday after being indicted over law enforcement’s delay in confronting a gunman. Pete Arredondo previously pleaded not guilty. Full Story
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![The Uvalde County Courthouse on June 2, 2022.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune -
El Paso County officials say it’s time the state pays for Operation Lone Star arrests
County officials issued a disaster declaration Tuesday, saying the state’s mass arrests at the border have cost the county millions of dollars and overwhelmed its criminal justice system. Full Story
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![An undocumented Mexican migrant waits to board the vehicle where he will be transported after being arrested for trespassing private property by State Troopers as part of Operation Lone Star in Kinney County, on Nov. 9, 2021.]()
Credit: Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas for ProPublica/The Texas Tribune -
Texas attorney general can’t question Catholic Charities director over migrant services, court says
Wednesday’s ruling is the second time a Texas judge has ruled against the attorney general for investigating shelters helping migrants. Full Story
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![A table displayed with religious objects for sermons inside the Catholic Charities RGV Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen on April 22, 2021.]()
Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune -
Big price cut ordered for inmate phone and video calls across Texas
A new FCC rule means a cap of 5 cents a minute for most inmate phone and video calls in the state of Texas. Full Story
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![Guard towers are located around the Polunsky Unit on Jan. 31, 2024.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
Texas-based housing provider for migrant children engaged in sexual abuse and harassment, DOJ says
The Justice Department says Southwest Key employees, including supervisors, have assaulted children since at least 2015. Full Story
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![Southwest Key National Headquarters located in Austin, Tx, as seen on Oct. 4, 2019.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Abbott’s RNC remarks amplify his attack on Biden’s border policies
The Texas governor used his time on the Republican convention stage to praise Trump on border security and to challenge the Democratic president. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at the Republican National Convention, at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Mike Segar -
Supreme Court to review death penalty appeal challenging Texas’s DNA testing law
Ruben Gutierrez was sentenced to death for the 1998 Brownsville murder of an elderly woman. His execution was stayed in July. Full Story
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![The view of Texas' execution chamber from a witness viewing room.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Texas judge orders sheriff, school district to release Uvalde school shooting records
A group of news organizations including The Texas Tribune had sued for access to the records. Full Story
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![Robb Elementary in Uvalde, on July 11, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune
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