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Posted on · The agency is so understaffed that teens have reported spending up to 23 hours locked in their cells, using water bottles to go to the bathroom. A staggering number have hurt themselves or been placed on suicide watch.
Posted on · Migrants arrested under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security push have been imprisoned for weeks or months waiting to appear before a judge. About 90 were finally to receive hearings this week, but court proceedings were canceled.
Posted on · The department says it’s looking into whether the Texas Juvenile Justice Department provides “reasonable protection from physical and sexual abuse by staff and other residents, excessive use of chemical restraints and excessive use of isolation.”
Posted on · Rick Rhoades was convicted of killing two brothers 30 years ago, the day after he'd been released from prison on parole. His attorneys argued that racial bias in jury selection denied him a fair trial.
Posted on · Defense attorneys have started asking courts to set migrants free because local justice systems, overwhelmed by arrests under Gov. Greg Abbott's border security push, are routinely violating state law and constitutional due process rights.
Posted on · Abbott’s announcements come as thousands of migrants — mostly from Haiti — have gathered under an international bridge in Del Rio.
Posted on · If the House Democrats who skipped town to block voting legislation don’t return before the special session ends, the Senate bills will languish without becoming law.
Posted on · 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.
Posted on · As he was fighting for the Legislature to change state bail laws, the governor continued his emergency order to restrict no-cost jail releases during the pandemic. At least several Texas courts have deemed the order unconstitutional.
Posted on · House Bill 20 would have made it harder for arrestees to get out of jail without cash and limited charitable bail funds’ ability to post bond for people. Gov. Greg Abbott said bail legislation will be included in a special session.
Posted on · On Wednesday, the state executed Quintin Jones, 41, for the Tarrant County murder of his great-aunt in 1999.
Posted on · “If this doesn’t push it, we don’t know what will,” says Debbie Bush. She has been fighting for greater accountability for police violence since her nephew was shot in the back by a San Antonio officer seven years ago.
Posted on · Senate Bill 21 would require cash bail for people who have ever been convicted of a violent crime.
Posted on · Texas officials knew winter storms could leave the state’s power grid vulnerable, but they left the choice to prepare for harsh weather up to the power companies — many of which opted against the costly upgrades. That, plus a deregulated energy market largely isolated from the rest of the country’s power grid, left the state alone to deal with the crisis, experts said.
Posted on · Texas' energy grid operators warned of rolling, short-term power outages. Millions of homes have been without power since early Monday morning.