The Texas Department of Criminal Justice on Friday shot down allegations that it is manufacturing its own hard-to-find execution drugs after federal defense attorneys in an Oklahoma death row case accused the Texas prison system of doing exactly that.
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
Former Lawmaker Sentenced to Six Days in Jail for Drunken Driving
A Travis County judge on Friday sentenced former state representative Jack Stick to six days in jail and a 90-day driver’s license suspension for driving while intoxicated, according to prosecutors.
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Criminal Justice
Dip in Prison Population Continues Trend
The number of men and women being held in Texas prisons fell by more than one percent in 2014, a slight dip that continues a downward trend aided by new diversion programs and a reluctance by state lawmakers to add more prison beds.
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Criminal Justice
Study: Concealed Handgun Permits Don’t Affect Crime Rate
Supporters insist that allowing people to legally carry concealed handguns reduces crime, but that has not been the result in at least four states that have tried it, including Texas, according to a newly published academic study.
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Criminal Justice
Tarrant County Defends Right to Charge Poor Petitioners
The Texas Supreme Court scrutinized the legality of court costs imposed on indigent plaintiffs — in this case, fees the Tarrant County clerk’s office charged six poor plaintiffs pursuing divorces — during oral arguments on Wednesday.
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Criminal Justice
Panetti Lawyers Want His Competence Evaluated
Lawyers for death row inmate Scott Panetti will get a chance Wednesday to argue that their client’s ongoing mental illness — and the state’s failure to evaluate his mental state — should forestall his execution for two 1992 killings.
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Criminal Justice
Indigent Court Fee Case Goes Before Supreme Court
When and how local clerks can make poor plaintiffs pay court fees to get divorced will be argued before the Texas Supreme Court Wednesday, with both sides hoping the justices provide clarity on the contentious issue.
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Criminal Justice
Judge Temporarily Halts Cuts to Children’s Therapy
Deep cuts to a therapy program for poor and disabled children will not take effect Oct. 1, a state district judge ruled Tuesday afternoon — the second such delay in recent weeks.
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Criminal Justice
Lawmakers Zero in on Jail Standards, Mental Health
To the better-known name of Sandra Bland — whose death by apparent suicide in the Waller County Jail this summer sparked national outrage — state Sen. John Whitmire on Tuesday linked three others with mental or emotional problems who have recently died in custody.
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Criminal Justice
Travis County Can’t Stop Privately Funded Prosecutions
Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt blasted the funding deal that allows a giant insurance company to pay for criminal prosecutions of its fraud cases, but said Tuesday that the Commissioners Court is powerless to stop it.
