Mentally ill offenders and nonviolent criminals are crowding local jails to the point that the facilities could become health hazards and counties are struggling with the cost of housing and caring for the burgeoning population, according to a new report from the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition.
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
Adrian Garcia: The TT Interview
The first Hispanic sheriff in Harris County history on growing up as a child of legal immigrants, how his mom helped change his liberal views about illegal immigration and whether Houston is a sanctuary city.
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Criminal Justice
2010: Prosecutors Passed on TRS Charges
Travis County prosecutors who reviewed allegations of irregularities at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas decided months ago not to pursue the case.
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Criminal Justice
Data App: Even More Salaries
This week we added more than 20 new public agencies to The Texas Tribune’s government employee salary database. The application now features payroll data on more than 620,000 employees from 88 school districts, cities, community colleges, universities, state agencies and transit authorities.
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Criminal Justice
Rob Owen: The TT Interview
Texas Tribune interview with Rob Owen, lawyer for Hank Skinner and co-director of the University of Texas School of Law Capital Punishment Center
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Criminal Justice
Rob Owen: The TT Interview
The co-director of the University of Texas School of Law Capital Punishment Center, currently representing death row inmate Henry “Hank” Skinner before the U.S. Supreme Court, on what it’s like to try a case in front of the high court, how Texas has influenced capital punishment law, why Texas juries are more inclined to impose the death penalty and the impact of life without parole.
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Criminal Justice
On the Records: What Candidates Buy
A new rule that took effect this summer allows — for the first time — real categorization of campaign spending.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Willingham Inquiry Will Proceed [Updated]
As former Gov. Mark White ended his argument before the Willingham court of inquiry calling for a change in the way the state carries out the death penalty, an appellate court issued an order demanding that Judge Charlie Baird stop the hearing.
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Criminal Justice
Hank Skinner’s Last Chance
The U.S. Supreme Court heard testimony Wednesday in a case that could have far-reaching ramifications for criminal justice nationally. Lawyers for Henry “Hank” Skinner maintain that the Texas death row inmate has a civil right to access DNA evidence that could exonerate him in the 1993 murders of his live-in girlfriend and her two sons. Lawyers for the state argue that Skinner exhausted his opportunity to analyze potentially exculpatory evidence when his defense team declined to request testing at his original trial, fearing that the results might be incriminating.
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Criminal Justice
Community Property
The Texas Association of Community Colleges is accusing the University of Texas of siphoning money from programs that support community colleges into UT’s College of Education.