The idea appeared to die in the Texas House over the weekend, but senators kept it alive by grafting the proposal on to another piece of legislation.
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
Texas Legislature 2023
Lawmakers try again to bar hypnosis-induced evidence from Texas criminal trials
Despite its tendency to distort memories, hypnosis has been used on witnesses in numerous investigations, including death penalty cases. Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed a similar bill in 2021.
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Guns in Texas
Gun safety advocates see signs of progress in first session after Uvalde shooting even though raise-the-age bill stalled
Emotions often ran high over a proposal to limit young adults’ access to some firearms. Lawmakers have largely prioritized school safety measures, but there was still progress for some gun-related legislation.
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Uvalde school shooting
Watch: A Uvalde family remembers their 10-year-old through the mementos he left behind
Evadulia Orta’s son, Rojélio Torres, died in the school shooting in Uvalde last year. Her other children still collect Pokémon cards to add to his collection, and his cousins play with his football.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas House’s weekend off means key Senate bills die after missing a legislative deadline
Priority bills that died include a 10-year minimum sentencing for gun-related crimes, a ban on “critical race theory” at public universities and LGBTQ-related legislation. While the bills may be dead, lawmakers have a limited time to attach their ideas to legislation that is still alive.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas may soon have a process to remove local prosecutors who won’t pursue abortion, election cases
The bill would allow for the removal of prosecutors who adopt any policy to not pursue certain crimes, including some low-level theft and drug charges. The Senate’s version will need to be reconciled with the House, which had carved out some exemptions.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Final approval given to bill that would let prosecutors pursue murder charges in some fentanyl deaths
House Bill 6 has widespread bipartisan support and now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott, who has named the issue a priority.
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Criminal Justice
After Title 42’s end, Texas DPS pauses Austin patrols so officers can head to the border
Despite no major influx in border crossings, state troopers will be relocated to border cities. Austin and the Texas Department of Public Safety faced criticism for the racial disparities in state trooper arrests in the capital.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Bill striking unconstitutional state law that criminalized homosexuality fails to meet critical deadline in the Texas House
In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Texas’ law banning sodomy in 2003. It took almost 20 years for Democrats to get a bill to repeal the defunct ban on the House calendar.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas House passes ban on devices that modify handguns, but averts vote on increasing age to buy semi-automatic rifles
A Texas lawmaker introduced an amendment that would have revived a proposal to raise the minimum age to buy certain semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21 before it was ultimately withdrawn.