The Texas Supreme Court will hear arguments Thursday morning in an online defamation case that could have far-reaching effects on individual freedom to post online.
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
Solitary Confinement Study Approved, but Funding Remains Elusive
Lawmakers passed a bill that requires a study of solitary confinement in Texas prisons, but the panel charged with hiring a third party to conduct the research does not have money to fund the study.
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Criminal Justice
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Selected for Drone Program
The Federal Aviation Administration has selected Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi as a test site to further study the uses of unmanned aircraft systems.
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Criminal Justice
Video: Veteran Appeals Death Sentence
John Thuesen and his lawyers are appealing his death sentence for a 2009 double murder, arguing that the former Marine’s post-traumatic stress wasn’t adequately explained to jurors.
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Criminal Justice
Considering Toll of War in a Death Penalty Debate
Lawyers for Iraq War veteran John Thuesen are appealing the former Marine’s death sentence for a double murder, arguing that his original trial lawyers didn’t adequately explain the post-traumatic stress that Thuesen had suffered.
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Year in Review 2013
Year in Review: Criminal Justice
Fallout from the high-profile Michael Morton exoneration along with more prison closures and growing concerns about the mentally ill in Texas prisons dominated criminal justice headlines in 2013.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Democrats See Judge’s Party Switch as Sign of Momentum
Democrats say the the decision by Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Lawrence Meyers to leave the Republican Party gives them something to build on for the 2014 elections. But GOP officials see no evidence of a sea change.
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Criminal Justice
Dewhurst Seeks Study on Intoxication Manslaughter Sentences
In his latest interim charge for lawmakers, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has directed the Senate Criminal Justice Committee to study sentencing in cases of intoxication manslaughter.
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Criminal Justice
Immigration Reform Advocates Open to Taking Piecemeal Approach
Steadfast supporters of comprehensive immigration reform say that to have a chance for any change in 2014, they may have to be content with legislation that only addresses some of their overall objectives.
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Criminal Justice
ACLU Lawsuit Targets Feds Over Search of U.S. Citizen
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union alleges that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in El Paso subjected a U.S. citizen to unwarranted searches, including vaginal probes and a CT scan.
