The latest criminal justice news from The Texas Tribune.
To add transparency to the state's capital punishment system, the Tribune is unveiling a new tool for readers: Faces of Death Row. It profiles all 261 inmates facing execution, summarizes their crimes and allows filtering by race, age, sex and years spent on death row. Full Story
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In a bill-signing ceremony at a popular Central Texas gun store, Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday praised pro-gun groups and lawmakers for helping Texas ensure that the Second Amendment is alive and well in the Lone Star State. Full Story
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The numbers of unaccompanied children and families illegally crossing the border into Texas have fallen dramatically, but Gov. Greg Abbott says the state is still justified pumping about $800 million into beefing up border security. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill Wednesday that requires state agencies and institutions of higher education to use the federal electronic employment verification system known as E-Verify. Full Story
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More than three weeks after Waco police arrested 177 bikers following a deadly shootout, none have been charged in the killings, nearly half remain in jail and legal experts — including some former prosecutors — wonder what McLennan County is doing. Full Story
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Long used to enrapturing friendly crowds in the reddest parts of beet-red Texas, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz came to the Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday with a less familiar task: finding a receptive audience in one of the state's few remaining Democratic bastions. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday signed House Bill 11, capping off the final piece of a massive effort by lawmakers to bolster the ranks of state police, increase technology and establish intelligence operations units on the Texas-Mexico border. Full Story
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Texas lawmakers are celebrating news that Mexico will soon allow U.S. agents to carry guns while inspecting cargo on Mexican soil. The change should help speed trade between the two countries. Full Story
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As an inquiry broadens into whether Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton violated securities law, a special prosecutor involved in the investigation indicated Thursday that he might have more time to pursue the issue than previously expected. Full Story
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In a Houston speech Thursday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to call for expanded early voting across the country, and criticize states like Texas that have passed restrictive election laws. Full Story
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Former Gov. Rick Perry will formally step into the presidential race still under indictment for two felonies. The case, which once made Perry a cause célèbre in some circles, has become more of a headache as he seeks money and votes in a crowded GOP field. Full Story
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A death row inmate who has proclaimed his innocence for three decades was executed Wednesday night in Huntsville. Lester Bower, 67, became the oldest death row inmate executed in Texas after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene. Full Story
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Seven months after a rag-tag group of local activists scored a surprising victory over the state’s powerful oil and gas industry when Denton voted to ban hydraulic fracturing, a natural gas company Monday resumed operations under a state law passed to overturn Denton's ban. Full Story
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Though campaign promises to enact immigration-enforcement measures and repeal in-state tuition for undocumented students didn't see the light of day, Republicans who championed the measures said they'll be back next session to try again. Full Story
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Legislation that reforms the state's grand jury system now awaits Gov. Greg Abbott's signature after the House on Sunday approved a compromise between the two chambers. Full Story
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The Texas Senate took a final vote Saturday to approve legislation requiring the state’s public universities to allow handguns in dorms, classrooms and campus buildings. The House is scheduled to vote on the issue on Sunday. Full Story
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Texas politicians are on the verge of creating a new system for prosecuting a unique type of white-collar crime — the type that involves them. Full Story
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House and Senate negotiators are sending a version of "campus carry" back to their chambers that gives universities more say over where and how concealed handguns are permitted on campus. Full Story
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With one Texas county facing a federal investigation into how it punishes chronic school-skippers — and Texas one of only two states that prosecute truants in adult courts — lawmakers are weighing two House measures that would decriminalize truancy. Full Story
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After a months-long staring contest between the House and the Senate, the lower chamber gave a final blessing Thursday to House Bill 11, a sweeping border security bill. Full Story
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