The latest criminal justice news from The Texas Tribune.
Almost 157,000 inmates in the Texas prison system were counted by the U.S. Census Bureau as living where they're incarcerated and not as residents of their home counties — a policy that some opponents argue has dire political and economic consequences. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Census-in-a-Prison.jpg)
I hit the campaign trail with Rick Perry, E. Smith starts off the fall TribLive series by interviewing Attorney General Greg Abbott, Stiles on the most congested roads in Texas, Ramshaw's interview with former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, Grissom on the perils of talking too much if you're the head of the state's jail standards board, M. Smith on Congressman Chet Edwards' fight for political survival in a Republican year, Philpott on counties worried the state's budget woes will trickle down, Hamilton on whether Texas should be in the movie-vetting business, Aguilar on a Mexican journalist seeking asylum from his country's drug violence, Galbraith on green energy and Texas college football, and excerpts from former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby's new book, How Things Really Work: Lessons from a Life in Politics: The best of our best from August 30 to September 3, 2010. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Tribweek_09_03_2010.jpg)
The state court of appeals says two men can't turn their Massachusetts marriage into a Texas divorce. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/gaymarriage.png)
The head of the state's Commission on Jail Standards could do time for being too open about a suicide in the Nueces County lockup. Is the indictment of Adan Muñoz retaliation by a sheriff his lawyer describes as a "crazy little bastard"? Regardless, an open government advocate calls it "outrageous." Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/prisoners_CM.jpg)
The Democratic nominee for attorney general on how long of a long-shot campaign she's mounting, the incumbent’s predilection for “show lawsuits” and whether she's willing to debate her opponent (we'll give you one guess). Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/BAR-2008-1.jpg)
The full interview and audience Q&A with the Texas Attorney General. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/449ec7d6dea11eec4a202c1caeb90913/BD%20INC%20Greg%20Abbott%20Archival%202010)
For the 11th event in our TribLive series, I interviewed the attorney general of Texas on the politics and constitutionality of gay marriage, why he's suing the feds over health care and why he filed a brief in support of the Arizona immigration law. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/abbott.jpg)
Hu compares and contrasts the official schedules of four big-state governors (including Rick Perry) and picks the 21 Texas House races to watch, Ramshaw on a 19-year-old with an IQ of 47 sentenced to 100 years in prison, Stiles on Perry's regent-donors, Galbraith on a plan to curb the independence of the state's electricity grid, Thevenot on the turf war over mental health, Grissom on whether the Texas Youth Commission should be abolished, Aguilar on a crucial immigration-related case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, Ramsey's interview with GOP provocateur Debra Medina and M. Smith on how changes to campaign finance law will affect judicial elections in Texas: The best of our best from August 23 to 27, 2010. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TT-tribweek_8-23to27-10.png)
Do two recent U.S. Supreme Court opinions have the far-reaching effects on Texas judicial elections that some in our legal community fear? Or do the state's current campaign finance laws adequately address the issues presented by both cases? Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/BIllBoyce_CommiteeMembers.jpg)
The first female district attorney of Harris County on the massive scope of her job, softening her office's tough-on-crime reputation, the link between mental health care and criminal justice, why she set up a Post-Conviction Review Section and what she's learned from innocence cases so far. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/LykosPat001-CR.jpg)
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/YouthinHandcuffs.jpg)
At this morning's TribLive interview, Attorney General Greg Abbott wouldn't say whether he'll square off against his Democratic opponent, Barbara Ann Radnofsky. "That is going to be up to the people who run my campaign," he said. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/37aaad70bf483fba4c445f065e63e84a/BD%20INC%20Abbott%20TT%20Event%202010)
He can't read or write, struggles to speak, and at age 19 has an IQ of 47. Yet a judge in the northeast Texas town of Paris still sentenced Aaron Hart to 100 years in prison for performing sexual acts on a 6-year-old neighbor. An appeals court overturned Aaron's conviction this spring. Now he sits in jail facing the same charges a second time, and his family is praying for a different outcome. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/HartAaron001.jpg)
The Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense today approved money to help establish a public defender's office in Harris County — the largest urban area in the nation without one — along with a slate of measures meant to prevent innocent people from serving time. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/tim.cole_3.jpg)
Texas Appleseed and a key state lawmaker think that may be the only way to address persistent reports of violence, poor living conditions, and subpar education and mental health care at youth lockups across Texas. Full Story
When Bill White criticized Rick Perry in June for "working part time" after his schedule for the first six months of 2010 showed an average of seven hours of state business per week, Perry responded that he doesn’t write down much of his work for the state. By contrast, Perry's counterparts in California, New York and Florida do write down what they do, and they make their schedules readily available to the public. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Governors-calendars.jpg)
An IBM official has penned a strongly-worded reply to the state's claims that the IT powerhouse has failed to meet its contractual obligations. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/computerclassroom.jpg)
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/whiteperry.jpg)
BP's problem-plagued Texas City refinery — where a 2005 explosion killed 15 and injured 170 — now faces two civil lawsuits stemming from its release this spring of more than 500,000 pounds of cancer-causing pollutants over 40 days. One suit seeks $10 billion on behalf of 2,000 exposed workers; the other, filed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, seeks more than $1 million in fines. Both aim to punish the company for one of the largest chemical emissions events the state has ever seen. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/BPPlant-TXcity.jpg)
The Department of Information Resources appears to be giving up on IBM — once and for all. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/1237883_54023528.jpg)