Superior HealthPlan’s CEO, whom lawmakers grilled about the company’s alleged hiring of private investigators, was reportedly fired after the inquiry was announced.
Criminal Justice
Get the latest Texas Tribune coverage on criminal justice, including crime, courts, law enforcement, and reforms shaping the state’s justice system.
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Criminal Justice
Federal judge rules prison heat conditions are unconstitutional, but doesn’t require air conditioning
About two-thirds of Texas prisons are not fully air conditioned, and dozens of inmates have died in the sweltering heat.
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Criminal Justice
After four prosecutors and nearly six years, El Paso DA decides it’s time to stop pursuing the death penalty for mass shooter
The new DA campaigned on seeking the death penalty for the 2019 massacre, but said he offered the gunman a plea deal of life in prison to avoid dragging out the case for several more years.
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El Paso shooting
Walmart gunman won’t face the death penalty, family says
The removal of the death penalty as an option could lead to a quick guilty plea and life sentence, as happened with federal charges in 2023.
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Criminal Justice
Forgotten in jail without a lawyer: how a Texas town fails poor defendants
People in Maverick County spend months in jail waiting to be charged with minor crimes. Some are simply lost in the system
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Criminal Justice
Olvidados en la cárcel sin abogado: Así le falla un pueblo de Texas a los acusados pobres
En el condado de Maverick, las autoridades pueden tardar meses en informar a los fiscales de una detención, mientras los acusados esperan en la cárcel. Rara vez se asignan abogados a quien los solicita.
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Criminal Justice
Texas prison staff falsified temperatures records, investigation finds
Two-thirds of the state’s roughly 100 jails and prisons in Texas are not fully air conditioned in inmate housing areas.
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Criminal Justice
Two men convicted in the smuggling deaths of 53 immigrants in San Antonio
The 2022 tragedy was the nation’s deadliest smuggling attempt across the U.S.-Mexico border.
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Criminal Justice
Texas lawmakers are pushing harsher criminal penalties while prison and jail populations soar
Proposed legislation includes increased penalties for retail theft, car burglaries and forgery, among others.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Legislature considers paying much more for school safety
Texas law requires an armed officer at each school. Districts are asking lawmakers to pay the full yearly cost, which they say is $100 per student.