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Morgan Smith was a reporter at the Tribune from 2009 to 2018, covering politics, public education and inequality. In 2013, she received a National Education Writers Association award for “Death of a District,” a series on school closures. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English from Wellesley College, she moved to Austin in 2008 to enter law school at the University of Texas. A San Antonio native, her work has also appeared in Slate, where she spent a year as an editorial intern in Washington D.C.
How Ken Paxton is paying for his high-octane legal defense team is one of the ongoing puzzles in the criminal case against the Texas attorney general. Paxton has said he is not using public money or government funds, but that leaves more questions than answers. Full Story
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The arrest of an undocumented immigrant in the U.S. kicks off a complicated interplay between local and federal authorities. Use this flowchart to see the different steps in the process. Full Story
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The federal government stands poised to deport immigrants who commit serious crimes in the United States — provided someone else catches them first. The success of federal efforts to detain criminal immigrants depends largely on local sheriffs. Full Story
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Bennett Ratliff lost his Dallas-area Texas House seat to Tea Party-backed Matt Rinaldi in 2014, and is running to win it back in a March 1 GOP primary that parses the definition of conservative. Full Story
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Bedford state Rep. Jonathan Stickland's challenger in the GOP primary for Texas House has dredged up more than 3,000 of Stickland's old posts on a fantasy football forum. It ain't pretty. Full Story
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Continued uncertainty over the provisions of a new state law allowing the open carry of handguns may prompt future legislative tinkering, Texas lawmakers said Tuesday. Full Story
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Supporters and opponents of two controversial new gun laws passed last year — open carry and campus carry — will update Texas lawmakers Tuesday on how the measures are working so far. Full Story
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More than 18,000 times over the last two years, local jails across the country — including in almost three dozen in Texas — failed to hand over deportable immigrants to federal authorities. Full Story
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Zoos that want to limit firearms on their property are walking a legal tightrope under a pair of new Texas gun laws. Full Story
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The state’s handgun license holders, who previously had to keep their firearms concealed, can now carry them openly. Across Texas, law enforcement officials, city leaders and business owners are bracing for lawsuits. Full Story
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