The Trib captured every debate, tirade and joke uttered into the mikes in the House and Senate during the 82nd legislative session in our online transcripts. Our latest data apps help you identify when important debates occurred by visualizing the frequency of keywords.
Criminal Justice
Get the latest Texas Tribune coverage on criminal justice, including crime, courts, law enforcement, and reforms shaping the state’s justice system.
Inside Houston’s Harris County Jail
Lt. Ronny Taylor talks about some of the security measures in place to prevent inmates from escaping from the Harris County Jail in Houston.
In Texas, Jailbreaks Aren’t Like the Movies. Usually.
A favorite plot device on television and in movies, jailbreaks, at least in Texas, are pretty rare. But that doesn’t stop inmates from trying. And trying.
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Check our new Perrypedia — a home for stories and data about you-know-who, Ramshaw on health care in the colonias, Root’s look back at Rick Perry’s years as a Democrat, M. Smith on the pressures facing the TEA, yours truly on David Dewhurst’s impact on the U.S. Senate race, E. Smith’s panel discussion on the Cameron Todd Willingham case, Hamilton on Perry and higher ed, Murphy on who’s paying the pole tax, Grissom on Alto’s decision to close its police department, Aguilar on labor and security worries over trucking on the border and Galbraith on what government can’t do during a drought: The best of our best content from July 11 to 15, 2011.
A Naked Gamble That the Pole Tax Gets Stripped
Four years and one seemingly endless lawsuit after Texas lawmakers passed a $5-per-patron strip club fee, just 111 of the state’s 176 strip clubs have paid any money. (View our interactive here.)
Lawyers, Guns and Money
The Department of Justice’s decision this week to require firearms dealers in Texas and three other border states to report the multiple sales of long rifles will come down to a funding battle in Washington.
This Will Be on the Test
This week, Secretary of State Hope Andrade conducted a lottery that determined the order of the 10 new proposals on the November ballot. Each amendment already won approval from two-thirds of the House and Senate and now needs a nod from a majority of the voters. Here’s the rundown…
Updated: Shooting Victim’s Case Sent to Federal Court
Rais Bhuiyan is suing Gov. Rick Perry to stop the state from executing the man who shot him in the head 10 years ago.
TribLive: A Conversation About Cameron Todd Willingham
Following our Tuesday night screening of Incendiary: The Willingham Case, I talked about the science of fire and death penalty politics with the filmmakers, Steve Mims and Joe Bailey Jr.; former Forensic Science Commission Chairman Sam Bassett; former Texas Gov. Mark White; and acting Corsicana City Attorney Terry Jacobson.
Perry Blasts New Federal Gun Rules
Gov. Rick Perry is attacking new Department of Justice reporting requirements for gun dealers in states on the U.S.-Mexico border, calling the new rules “misguided” and “constitutionally questionable.”




