Four years after director Richard Linklater made a dark comedy about convicted murderer Bernie Tiede, the filmmaker and the film’s star-studded cast are planning a fundraiser to help pay for Tiede’s legal costs ahead of a new sentencing trial.
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
Prosecutors, Insurer Change Controversial Funding Deal
Big changes are coming to the controversial funding agreement between Texas Mutual Insurance and the Travis County district attorney’s office. The changes follow an investigation by The Texas Tribune and the Austin American-Statesman.
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Criminal Justice
Lawsuits, Big Dollars on the Border Top 2015 Immigration Headlines
If non-Texans were still unsure how much the state’s Republican lawmakers oppose President Obama’s immigration and border security policies, 2015 likely cleared that up.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Appeals Court Maintains Execution Stay
Death row inmate Randall Mays’ case will return to a Henderson County courtroom to determine whether he is competent enough to be executed after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals continued his stay of execution Wednesday.
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Criminal Justice
State Explores Flexing Muscles on Immigration
Crafted carefully, state laws can be written that would allow Texas to crack down on undocumented immigrants and illegal border crossers without running afoul of the U.S. Constitution, a state attorney told lawmakers recently.
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Criminal Justice
New Death Sentences in Texas Drop To 40-Year Low
Texas juries imposed new death sentences only twice in 2015 — the fewest since the death penalty was reinstated nationwide almost 40 years ago.
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Criminal Justice
Abbott Orders National Guard to Stay in Place on Border
Because of a recent spike in minors crossing the border illegally in the Rio Grande Valley, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday that he is ordering the Texas National Guard to stay in the area through December.
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Criminal Justice
Teacher in Maximum-Security Prison Almost Missed Her Calling
Every day, teacher Jody Addy walks through a metal detector, waits for a pat down, shows her ID and passes through locked gates before walking to her classroom in the middle of a maximum security prison in west central Texas.
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Criminal Justice
Jail Practices, Fingerprints Focus of House Immigration Hearing
The Dallas County Sheriff fired back at what she called inaccurate rumors on her immigration policies during an interim House committee hearing Thursday. Lawmakers also heard about an ill-conceived law that is hindering the state’s identification of criminals.
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Criminal Justice
Emotional Testimony Targets Plan to License Detention Centers
As state officials consider licensing two private detention facilities as approved residential centers for undocumented children, they heard several hours of testimony in opposition to the move Wednesday.
