Authorities fatally shoot convicted murderer who killed family of five while on the lam
Authorities say Gonzalo Lopez killed a man and his four grandchildren in Leon County. He escaped from a prison bus nearly three weeks ago. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville in 2013.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Four days after audacious escape from prison bus, Texas still hasn’t found convicted murderer
Officials are still trying to piece together how Gonzalo Lopez managed to cut through a metal door and hijack a prison bus Thursday. An extensive manhunt continues in Leon County. Full Story
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![A Texas Department of Criminal Justice bus at the William G. McConnell Unit in Beeville.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Spared execution once, Texas prisoner Kenneth Foster could face death penalty again after cellmate's death
Foster had been the getaway driver, not the triggerman, in a killing that first put him on death row. Former Gov. Rick Perry commuted his death sentence to life in prison in 2007. Full Story
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![The exterior of Huntsville Unit, a prison in Huntsville, on Nov. 14, 2019.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Supreme Court justices appear reluctant to loosen restrictions on religious advisers during Texas executions
The latest Texas execution protocols forbid spiritual advisers from praying aloud or touching prisoners as the prisoners are killed. Some members of the high court said they feared overturning the rules would lead to a flood of requests for other religious accommodations during executions. Full Story
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![Supreme Court police officers walk alongside protective barriers in Washington D.C., on Nov. 1, 2021.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Supreme Court weighs religion’s place in the Texas death chamber
After halting three Texas executions because of limits placed on spiritual advisers in the death chamber, the high court will hear arguments today over what religious rights the state must accord inmates as it kills them. Full Story
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![The Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 1, 2021.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
For third time in recent years, U.S. Supreme Court halts a Texas execution over rules for religious advisers in the death chamber
John Ramirez was scheduled to die Wednesday. His last request to the state had been to let his pastor hold on to him as he died, something the state denied. The high court wants to hear oral arguments on the matter later this year. Full Story
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![Interior of execution chamber.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Converted Texas prison gets first immigrant detainees as Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security effort ramps up
Border-crossing immigrants are being arrested by Texas troopers on state charges like trespassing, and they’re starting to trickle into a prison emptied to house them. Full Story
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![The Dolph Briscoe Unit in Dilley on July 1, 2021.]()
Credit: Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune -
Almost 150 guards are staffing an empty Texas prison as state officials work on Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to use it for immigrants
While many Texas prisons are understaffed, some dangerously so, the emptied-out Briscoe Unit in Dilley is in "maintenance mode" as officials scramble to implement the governor's plan to increase the state's role in border enforcement. Full Story
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![The Dolph Briscoe Unit in Dilley on July 1, 2021.]()
Credit: Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune -
Texas executes John Hummel for murdering his family in 2009
A civil liberties group had tried to delay Hummel's death after reporters were excluded from the state’s last execution. Full Story
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![Interior of Death Chamber by Texas Department of Criminal Justice.]()
Credit: Photo Illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Dozens who died in Texas prisons during the pandemic had been granted parole, new report shows
At any given time, thousands of Texas prisoners have been approved for parole but not yet released. At least 42 of those people died in the 12 months after the coronavirus first swept the state. Full Story
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![Female prisoners line up inside a state jail.]()
Credit: Brandon Thibodeaux for The Texas Tribune -
For the first time in more than 40 years, media were not allowed to witness a Texas execution
On Wednesday, the state executed Quintin Jones, 41, for the Tarrant County murder of his great-aunt in 1999. Full Story
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![Interior of Death Chamber in Texas.]()
Credit: Jenevieve Robbins/Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
After sweltering temperatures killed Texas prisoners, lawmakers vote to install air conditioning
The bill approved by the House aims to cool all of Texas’ prisons before 2029. But even if it is signed into law, the lockups will only be air conditioned if lawmakers provide funds for installation. Full Story
Credit: Martin do Nascimento for The Texas Tribune -
Texas prisons reverse course, will allow religious advisers in execution chamber
The U.S. Supreme Court has twice stopped Texas executions over claims that previous prison policies were discriminatory and violated religious freedoms. Full Story
![Interior of execution chamber.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Texas prisons stopped in-person visits and limited mail. Drugs got in anyway.
Agency data shows officers are finding just as many drugs — and writing up even more prisoners for having them — despite the restrictions. Contraband is most often brought in by staff, according to prisoners and employees. Full Story
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![According to prisoners and employees, contraband is most often brought into prisons by staff.]()
Credit: Illustration by Molly Magnell for The Marshall Project and The Texas Tribune -
Hundreds of Texas prisoners are getting vaccinated — months after many became eligible
Almost 2,000 vaccine doses have gone to qualifying prisoners as of Thursday, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Full Story
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![Telford prison in New Boston.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Texas prisons have doled out thousands of COVID-19 vaccine doses — but none have gone to prisoners, who get the virus at high rates
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has been allocated nearly 9,000 doses. The agency vaccinated prison health care workers, then correctional staff in infected areas. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republican asks state to rename several of the state's prisons honoring slave owners
There are 99 state prisons and jails in the state, and several of which are named after people with racist and sometimes violent histories, according to The Marshall Project. Full Story
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![Prison staff and inmates move through the Darrington Unit's main hallway on Wednesday, July 12, 2017.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough/The Texas Tribune -
Texas hasn’t said when or how inmates will receive the coronavirus vaccine
Texas officials have not detailed when jails and prisons — known hot spots of the coronavirus' spread — will receive doses of the vaccine. And many on the inside remain wary of getting the shot in prison. Full Story
![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Texas to shutter three more prisons as units face critical staffing shortages
Three units across the state will be at least temporarily closed this month, according to the Texas prison system. The agency hopes it will help with dangerously low staffing levels. Full Story
Credit: Martin do Nascimento for The Texas Tribune -
Federal court orders Texas prison system to provide hand sanitizer for some geriatric inmates during pandemic
Texas has had more inmate deaths related to the coronavirus than any other prison system in the nation. Its death toll of at least 162 inmates outranks every other state as well as the federal prison system. Full Story
![Telford prison in New Boston.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune
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