Trump’s new directive that aims to increase death sentences clashes with some Texas lawmakers’ efforts to add guardrails to capital punishment.
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
An immigrant faces deportation after a routine traffic stop in Texas, sparking more fear
Advocates worry that rapidly shifting federal and state immigration initiatives will prompt more city police to funnel migrants without criminal records to federal agents.
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Criminal Justice
Abbott orders state police to help federal agents with immigration enforcement
According to the governor, 5,400 immigrants in Texas have a warrant for their arrest.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Republicans in Congress propose bills to codify Trump executive orders
Ending birthright citizenship, increasing oil drilling, and leaving WHO are just a few bills the state’s Republicans pushed in Congress this month.
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Criminal Justice
Bill to detain undocumented immigrants accused of even minor crimes passes with some Texas Democratic help
The bill, named for Laken Riley, a Georgia student killed by an immigrant, adds legislative muscle to President Trump’s immigration enforcement push.
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Criminal Justice
Fewer Texans sentenced to death, executed amid “evolving standards of decency”
Texas continues to lead other states on capital punishment. But the decline in new death sentences and executions reached a record low.
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Criminal Justice
More than 100 Texans active in the Jan. 6 insurrection among those pardoned
A Texan was the first to breach the Capitol and many others joined the assault. The presidential pardon helps cast all of them as folk heroes.
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Criminal Justice
State employees suspected of stealing from low-income Texans’ public assistance accounts
Seven human services employees were fired after a string of fraud and theft — and the largest data breach in agency history.
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Criminal Justice
Texas should close prisons and jails with staffing challenges, state oversight panel says
A report found up to 70% of guard positions were unfilled at some prisons. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has a 26% staff turnover rate.
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Criminal Justice
Gov. Greg Abbott appoints Democrat-turned-Republican Rep. Shawn Thierry to juvenile justice board
Thierry became a Republican cause celebré for breaking with Democrats over her views on transgender rights.