When Andrew Cuomo took office as governor of New York earlier this month, he ordered the removal of the security barricades limiting access to his state’s Capitol. “This Capitol has become a physical metaphor for the isolation and alienation of our people,” he said in his inauguration speech. He could easily have been talking about Texas.
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
TribBlog: Youth Justice Merger?
The Sunset Advisory Commission today unanimously recommended consolidating the Texas Youth Commission and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission into one single youth justice division.
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Criminal Justice
Dropping a Dime
Texas prisoners have made and received more than 4.7 million telephone calls and sent and received 1.8 million e-mails since 2009, when the state became the last in the nation to allow inmates phone and e-mail use. But all those calls and messages haven’t generated the amount of revenue the state expected. The issue is balancing greater access for prisoners and their friends and family and the need to ensure security.
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Criminal Justice
The General at War
Rick Perry might be the state official most publicly doing battle with the the federal government, but Greg Abbott is quietly leading the charge on behalf of Texas. The Attorney General, who was just sworn into his third term in office, talked recently with Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune.
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Criminal Justice
Misdemeanor Misbehavior?
The Texas criminal justice system is increasingly the destination for mischief-makers, some as young as 6, in the state’s public schools, according to a new study, which sheds light on what is a rapidly growing part of school budgets: campus security.
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Criminal Justice
Pomp, Circumstance, Consequences
The 82nd Texas Legislature convenes in Austin this week, and while it’s not as much fun as the circus — usually — it’s more important and does have its share of comedy and drama.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Case “Undetermined”
The Texas Forensic Science Commission heard testimony from four fire experts today to gather evidence about the reliability of the arson investigation that led to the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham. Half said investigators got it right, and half said they were wrong.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Abbott 1, Gay Divorce 1
Over the objections of state Attorney General Greg Abbott, an Austin appellate court has upheld the divorce of a lesbian couple married in Massachusetts.
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Criminal Justice
On the Records: The Bills So Far
A new word cloud visualizes the bills filed so far according to their Texas Legislative Council assigned categories. After education, which accounts for more than a quarter of the bills, the top categories are elections, criminal procedure, vehicles and traffic, and taxation.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Coalition Urges “Balanced” Budget Approach
A wide-ranging coalition of education, criminal justice, religious and charitable groups today called on Texas lawmakers to use more than a machete to balance the state budget this year.