At our 4/16 conversation, state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, and state Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond — the chairmen, respectively, of the Senate and House Higher Education committees — handicapped the prospects for passage of campus carry legislation.
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
DPS Chief: Resume Inquiry Into Border Security Contracts
Looking to clear the Texas Department of Public Safety’s name, the agency’s top official is asking the head of the state’s anti-corruption unit to renew a halted investigation into $20 million no-bid border security contracts.
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Criminal Justice
Lawmaker Says Death Penalty Could End if Drug Suppliers Revealed
If the names of the compounding pharmacies providing execution drugs to Texas officials are made public, it could end the death penalty, state Rep. John Smithee told a house committee on Wednesday.
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Criminal Justice
John Legend Targets Texas Incarceration Rates
Ahead of a trip to Texas to advocate for an end to mass incarceration, the Grammy and Academy Award-winning singer talked with the Tribune about why the state is so crucial to the criminal justice reform movement.
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Criminal Justice
Castro Asks Feds for Border Surge Details
A Democratic congressman has asked the federal government to do what the Texas Department of Public Safety has said it can’t: Provide information on what role federal agents have played during the state’s multimillion-dollar border surge.
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Criminal Justice
Lawmakers Skeptical of Body Cameras for Police — for Now
State Rep. Ron Reynolds made his case on Thursday for requiring cops in Texas to wear body cameras, citing the fatal police shooting of an unarmed man in South Carolina. But police advocates were skeptical.
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Criminal Justice
Collin County DA Asks Texas Rangers to Look Into Paxton Case
Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis has asked the Texas Rangers to look into Attorney General Ken Paxton’s violation of state securities law, Willis’ office said Thursday.
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Criminal Justice
House Passes Bill That Beefs Up Resources for Border Prosecutors
The Texas House on Thursday passed legislation that would codify the current policies and duties of the state’s Border Prosecution Unit.
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Criminal Justice
Lawmakers to Consider Body Cameras for Police
As a bystander’s video of a South Carolina cop shooting and killing an unarmed black man reignites a national debate over police brutality, Texas lawmakers are set to discuss police body cameras in a public hearing.
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Criminal Justice
Many Seek Safety From Juárez Valley Cartel War
Despite improvements in pockets of northern Mexico after years of bloodshed, instability still reigns in areas of Chihuahua state that continues driving people north to seek safe haven. What determines whether a person lives or dies near this part of the Rio Grande could be as simple as geography.
