The latest courts news from The Texas Tribune.
Sharon Keller, the longtime presiding judge of Texas' Court of Criminal Appeals, has tried to move on from several past ethical controversies — including blocking the last-minute appeal of a 2007 execution. A primary challenger hopes voters will reconsider them. Full Story
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It was round two in New Orleans on Tuesday for attorneys for the state of Texas and opponents of the state’s anti-“sanctuary cities” law, Senate Bill 4. Full Story
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Attorneys for the state of Texas are set to head back before the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Tuesday to defend the state’s new immigration enforcement law. Full Story
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Texas has a host of high-profile legal battles in the works, ranging from voting rights to political maps. Full Story
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The top prosecutor in Harris County is proposing a new way for Texas to determine if a death-sentenced inmate is intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for execution: use the current clinical books. Full Story
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Arguments began Thursday in a trial over a state ban on dilation and evacuation abortions, the most common second-trimester abortion procedure. Full Story
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Ryan Patrick, who worked as a state district judge until losing a re-election campaign this past November, would become the top federal prosecutor in one of the busiest districts in the country. Full Story
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A 1995 murder of a Houston woman led a case to the nation's highest court Monday. The U.S Supreme Court heard arguments on the issue of federal funding in death penalty investigations during the appeals process. Full Story
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Kaufman County District Attorney Erleigh Wiley said her office had closed its investigation into whether Attorney General Ken Paxton acted illegally in accepting a $100,000 gift from a CEO whose company was under investigation for fraud. Full Story
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the federal government over a law that seeks to keep Native American children from being separated from their families. Full Story
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Dozens of minors in jail or on probation in Harris County are facing new hurdles after Hurricane Harvey. A local nonprofit is expanding to help youth in the criminal justice system who've lost everything in the storm. Full Story
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Days after a three-judge panel ruled that an undocumented teen in Texas would not immediately have access to an abortion, the American Civil Liberties Union is asking all 10 judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reconsider. Full Story
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“The President is determined, first and finally, to build a wall at the border,” Sessions said during a 20-minute speech in downtown Austin in which he praised state Republicans who approved an anti-"sanctuary" law earlier this year. Full Story
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The execution of Clinton Young, convicted in a 2001 Midland-area murder, was stopped by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The courts will look into claims that Young's co-defendant lied in his testimony against Young. Full Story
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A federal judge ruled Wednesday that a pregnant, undocumented teenager under federal custody in Brownsville has the right to access abortion services in Texas. Full Story
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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz on Wednesday pressed U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on why the Trump administration was still operating under a "catch-and-release" policy for undocumented immigrants in federal custody. Full Story
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Anthony Shore, a convicted serial killer, is set to be executed Wednesday evening. His murders in the 1980s and 1990s went unsolved until 2003. Full Story
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The man convicted in a 1999 prison guard's murder always said he was framed by corrupt guards and inmates. After rounds of DNA testing that were deemed inconclusive, he was executed Thursday night. Full Story
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Last month, President Donald Trump said he is nominating Dallas attorney James Ho to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Years of his writing show a strong interest by Ho in the thorny issue of birthright citizenship. Full Story
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Robert Pruett faces his execution Thursday in the 1999 murder of a Texas prison guard. Pruett has consistently argued his innocence in the case, pushing for multiple rounds of DNA testing on crime scene evidence. Full Story
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