Texas Department Of Criminal Justice

20 Weeks in Which the Budget Held Sway

By Brandi Grissom, Reeve Hamilton, Ross Ramsey, Emily Ramshaw, Morgan Smith, Julián Aguilar and Kate Galbraith May 29, 2011

The 82nd Texas Legislature’s regular session ends as it started, with lawmakers arguing about a shrunken state budget and redistricting. Full Story

Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Evan Smith May 21, 2011

Root and Galbraith on a Dallas billionaire's radioactive waste dump victory, Grissom on the passage of eyewitness ID reform, Hamilton on the old grudges bedeviling the debate over higher ed, Philpott on the status of congressional redistricting, Ramsey on Rick Perry's un-campaign for president, Ramshaw on why medical schools are the scorned children of the state's education budget, my session-wrap interview with three veteran Democrats, M. Smith on why Rob Eissler can't pass mandate relief for school districts and Stiles on who's giving what to which Texas candidates in 2011-12 congressional races: The best of our best content from May 16 to 20, 2011. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
Eyewitness ID Reform Headed to Perry's Desk

By Brandi Grissom May 18, 2011

The Senate today approved a measure that would reform the way law enforcement officers conduct identification lineups, a measure that criminal justice advocates hope will mean fewer wrongful convictions in the future. Full Story

Credit: Bob Daemmrich
Senate Approves Anthony Graves Compensation Bill

By Brandi Grissom and Julián Aguilar May 18, 2011

The Texas Senate today passed a bill that would finally compensate Anthony Graves for the 18 years he spent behind bars convicted of grisly murders he did not commit. Full Story

Credit: www.anthonygraves.org
Budget Writers Agree to First Texas Prison Closure

By Brandi Grissom May 17, 2011

Lawmakers working on a final version of the state's two-year budget have agreed to close down a Texas prison for the first time in the state's history, according to a report from the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Full Story

Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller
Lawmakers Target Prison School for Makeover

By Brandi Grissom May 16, 2011

Texas could save money, and prisoners could get a better education, some lawmakers say, if inmate learning programs were provided online. But correctional education experts and teachers say lawmakers’ ideas — particularly about online programs — show a lack of understanding about prison life. Full Story

Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman
Ellis Urges Lawmakers to Act on Innocence Bills

By Aziza Musa May 11, 2011

Charles Chatman and other former prisoners who have been exonerated of their crimes are joining state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, in urging House lawmakers to act quickly and pass bills intended to reduce wrongful convictions. Full Story

Credit: The Dallas Morning News
Death Row Inmate Faces Same Prosecutors Who Committed Misconduct

By Brandi Grissom May 8, 2011

At a hearing Monday in a Bowie County state district court, lawyers for Delma Banks Jr. will ask the court to disqualify prosecutors who the U.S. Supreme Court ruled suppressed evidence and deliberately covered up mistakes in a 1980 murder trial that sent the young black man to death row. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Evan Smith May 7, 2011

Aaronson on the latest attack on Planned Parenthood, Aguilar previews the sanctuary cities debate, Grissom on a death row inmate's unsuccessful appeal, Hamilton on the UT System's faculty "productivity" data dump, Philpott on the prospect of lawsuits over education cuts, Ramsey on puppies and other distractions, Ramshaw on a tobacco fight, my interview with the presidents of UT-Austin and Texas A&M, M. Smith on a former State Board of Ed member who may have violated state ethics law, Stiles interactively displays the effects of House redistricting and Tan on the Senate budget end game: The best of our best content from May 2 to 6, 2011. Full Story

Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman
Senate Approves Rape Kit Testing Bill

By Brandi Grissom May 5, 2011

Some of the thousands of untested rape kits lining evidence storage room shelves statewide would finally get testing under a bill the Texas Senate approved today. Full Story

Credit: Todd Wiseman
Update: First Texas Execution Done With New Drug Protocol

By Brandi Grissom May 3, 2011

Less than a month before his scheduled execution, Cary Kerr had no attorney. And the ones he had had up to that point, he argued, didn’t do him much good. Tonight, his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to stop his execution was turned down. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Ross Ramsey April 30, 2011

Aguilar and Weber on a subdued debate over homeland security, Galbraith on rising concern about natural gas drilling, Grissom on a controversial psychologist, Hamilton on the aftermath of the Rick O'Donnell episode, Philpott on the comptroller's apology, Ramshaw with more on the statewide database of child abusers, E. Smith interviews Lance Armstrong, M. Smith on what House budget cuts would mean for school districts, M. Stiles on how redistricting would change things for each House member, Tan on the Senate's wobbly attempts to approve a budget and my interview with David Dewhurst: The best of our best content from April 25 to 29, 2011. Full Story
House Tentatively OKs New Juvenile Justice Agency

By Brandi Grissom April 28, 2011

Texas youths who get crossways with the law could soon find themselves under the supervision of a new state juvenile justice agency whose main mission is to keep young offenders close to home and quickly headed in a more positive direction. Full Story

Credit: Callie Richmond
Bill to Test Rape Kits Comes With Big Price Tag

By Becca Aaronson April 26, 2011

Thousands of untested rape kits could be examined for DNA evidence, but a bill considered today by a Senate panel carries a hefty price tag. The result could be that the boxes remain stacked on shelves in police storage rooms across the state. Full Story

Credit: Todd Wiseman
Cameron Todd Willingham: A Timeline

By Brandi Grissom, Becca Aaronson and Ben Hasson April 14, 2011

Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in 2004, convicted of igniting the 1991 blaze that destroyed his home and killed his three young daughters. Click here for a timeline of the major events in the Willingham saga. Full Story

Credit: Graphic by Ben Hasson
Senate Panel Considers DWI Deferred Adjudication

By Brandi Grissom April 12, 2011

For the first time in decades, first-time drunken-driving offenders could get deferred adjudication under a bill the Senate Criminal Justice Committee considered Tuesday. Full Story

Credit: Jacob Villanueva
Panel Considers Decriminalizing Homosexual Conduct

By Andrew Weber April 5, 2011

A House panel today considered bills that would decriminalize homosexual sex in Texas. Full Story

Credit: Bob Daemmrich
Supreme Court Stays First Pentobarbital Execution

By Brandi Grissom April 5, 2011

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a 30-day stay for death row inmate Cleve Foster, who was scheduled tonight to become the first Texas inmate executed using the state's new three-drug lethal injection cocktail. Full Story
Appeals Court Denies Request to Delay Execution

By Brandi Grissom April 4, 2011

The 3rd Court of Appeals today denied two death row inmates' request to stop the state from using a new lethal injection drug. Full Story
ACLU: Texas Law Protects Lizards More Than Humans

By Brandi Grissom April 4, 2011

Texas laws more strictly regulate euthanasia of animals than the lethal injection of death row inmates, according to a report released Sunday by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas and the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University Law School. Full Story