Texas Criminal Justice: Courts, law enforcement, and reforms- Page 8 of 416

Inmates shuffle past new fans in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Memorial Unit in Brazoria County on July 12, 2017. The prison was called the Darrington Unit until 2023.

Texas Legislature 2025

A bill to air-condition all Texas prisons likely to fail again in the Senate

By Stephen SimpsonMay 29, 2025

House Bill 3006 would have required the installation of climate control in state prison by 2032.

The measure failed in the House when critics argued that it would unfairly target migrants and violate due process.

Texas Legislature 2025

Automatic denial of bail for some migrants fails to pass Texas House

By Kayla GuoMay 28, 2025

Supporters said the proposal, which sought to amend the state constitution, would improve safety. Critics said it would violate due process and unfairly target minority groups.

Then-Texas Solicitor General Judd Stone II speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on April 26, 2022.

Criminal Justice

Top deputies to Attorney General Ken Paxton pushed out over sexual harassment allegations, lawsuit says

By Zach DespartMay 28, 2025

The harassment allegedly took place while the two were on leave from the agency working on Paxton’s impeachment defense.

Those opposing the bail measure said it would erode due process and they cited examples of Texans who have been wrongfully accused of crimes.

Texas Legislature 2025

Proposal to automatically deny bail to some previously accused of felonies falls in Texas House

By Kayla GuoMay 26, 2025May 28, 2025

Democrats declined to support Senate Joint Resolution 87, which sprinted through the Senate and needed 100 votes to clear the lower chamber.

A private gun buyer advertises cash sales outside the Alamodome parking lot where San Antonio hosted a gun buyback event in 2024.

Texas Legislature 2025

Texas Republicans want to block cities’ gun buyback programs

By Jayme Lozano CarverMay 26, 2025May 28, 2025

Much of the debate focused on the tense relationship between cities and the Texas Legislature. The bill is head to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.

Patrons of the SAXET Gun Show look at handguns at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds in Robstown on Feb. 26, 2023.

Texas Legislature 2025

“Anti-Red Flag Act” that would limit when guns can be taken from people advances in Texas House

By Zach DespartMay 27, 2025

Senate Bill 1362 would prevent officials from taking someone’s firearms if they haven’t been charged with a crime or aren’t subject to a protective order under the Texas Family Code.

A drone view of detainees forming the letters SOS with their bodies in the courtyard at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility, where Venezuelans at the center of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling are held in Anson on April 28, 2025.

Criminal Justice

Nearly flown to El Salvador, Venezuelans await an uncertain fate in Texas

By Kate Morrissey, Capital & MainMay 22, 2025

Detainees say they’re being held in solitary confinement after family members helped them post about their situation on social media.

Matthew Johnson is set to be executed in Huntsville on Tuesday for killing Nancy Harris, a 76-year-old Garland convenience store clerk, in 2012.

Criminal Justice

Texas inmate executed for killing woman he set on fire inside Garland store

By Ayden RunnelsMay 20, 2025May 20, 2025

Matthew Johnson, who testified he did not intend to kill the elderly clerk, received the death penalty in 2013. The execution is Texas’ fourth and may be the last for 2025.