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.
Criminal Justice
Get the latest Texas Tribune coverage on criminal justice, including crime, courts, law enforcement, and reforms shaping the state’s justice system.
Posted in
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.
Posted in
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.
Posted in
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.
Posted in
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.
Posted in
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.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Michele Deitch: The TT Interview
The jail conditions expert and professor at the University of Texas’ LBJ School of Public Affairs on why maintaining treatment programs that keep offenders in their communities and reducing some of the harsh, long-term jail sentences often doled out in Texas’ notoriously tough criminal justice system could be more cost-efficient and allow Texas to close prisons.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Court Says No to Texas in EPA Case
Texas’s bid to suspend a federal efforts to regulate greenhouse gases hit another roadblock today, when the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals turned down the state’s request for a stay of a move to force states to implement federal plans.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
An Exclusive Excerpt from “Incendiary
An exclusive excerpt from “Incendiary,” a forthcoming documentary about the Cameron Todd Willingham case.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Ramshaw on how hard it is to sue over emergency room mistakes, Galbraith on paying for roads in an era of fuel-efficient vehicles, Aguilar on a disagreement about gun regulation, my interview with tort reformer Dick Trabulsi, Grissom on Perry’s parsimonious pardoning, Hu and Chang interactively look at House committee chairs, M. Smith on an election challenge and who’ll settle it, Ramshaw and Stiles on Dallas County’s blue streak and Hamilton on a Valley school district that leads the nation in preparing kids for college: The best of our best from Dec. 20 to 24, 2010.