U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, is asking the state comptroller to update a study on the fiscal impact of Texas’ population of undocumented immigrants.
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
Complaint Targets Process Used by Truancy Court
A complaint being filed with the U.S. Department of Justice seeks to declare that a Dallas County court’s process of prosecuting truancy as a crime is unconstitutional. But officials in the county say the initiative has been a model of success.
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Criminal Justice
TDCJ to Close Two Privately Run Jails in August
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has decided to end operations at two privately run Texas prison facilities — the Dawson State Jail in Dallas and the Mineral Wells Pre-Parole Transfer Facility — on Aug. 31.
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Criminal Justice
Abortion-Related Legislation Added to Special Session Agenda
The special session’s agenda now includes the hot-button issue of abortion — which is sure to spark partisan warfare. Gov. Rick Perry also ordered the Legislature to take up a measure dealing with sentences for 17-year-olds convicted of capital felonies.
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Criminal Justice
Budget Plan for DPS Has Pay Hikes for Troopers
The 2014-15 budget plan for the Texas Department of Public Safety doesn’t include money for big-ticket items like gunboats or planes, but it does include money for troopers’ raises and retains funding for the agency’s fusion center.
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Criminal Justice
Water Treaty Concerns Trigger Lobbying Efforts, Calls for Changes
The Rio Grande Regional Water Authority has hired a PR firm to help urge the federal government to mandate that Mexico deliver water to the U.S. under a decades-old treaty. Legal experts say such conflicts would continue if the treaty isn’t amended.
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Criminal Justice
Complaint: Judge’s Death Penalty Remarks Show Racial Bias
Civil rights groups and ethicists allege that 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Edith Jones violated judicial codes of conduct during a February speech in which she reportedly said some minority groups are “predisposed to crime.”
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Criminal Justice
Cruz Outlines Opposition to Immigration Reform Bill
The immigration reform bill slated to go before the U.S. Senate next week is full of loopholes that fail to secure the border or address legal immigration, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz wrote in a letter to his colleagues on Tuesday.
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Criminal Justice
Video: Acquittals Leave 2004 Murder Unsolved
Megan Winfrey spent six years behind bars before she was acquitted of murder. Now, she is hoping to help solve the mystery of who brutally killed school janitor Murray Burr in 2004.
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Criminal Justice
Despite Acquittal, Winfrey Struggles Outside Prison
Megan Winfrey spent six years — nearly all of the 25-year-old’s adult life — behind bars before she was acquitted of murder. She faces the colossal challenge of starting her life without compensation for the years she lost in prison.
