Criminal Justice

Texas executes Robert Fratta after high courts reject challenges to expired lethal injection drugs

Posted on · Fratta was convicted in the 1994 murder-for-hire of his wife. Lawyers unsuccessfully challenged Texas’ routine of extending the expiration dates of its lethal drugs, a practice begun when many pharmacies began refusing to provide doses for executions.

Criminal Justice

U.S. Department of Justice investigating abuse, mistreatment at Texas’ juvenile lockups

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.”

Immigration

Migrants arrested by Texas in border crackdown are being imprisoned for weeks without legal help or formal charges

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.