Criminal Justice

Convicted murderer Syed Rabbani, ‘abandoned’ by previous defense attorneys, to be removed from death row after 35 years

Posted on · Rabbani, 58, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1988 in the shooting death of 21-year-old Mohammed Jikar Hasan. His 1994 request for a new punishment phase of his trial was granted earlier this fall, and Harris County prosecutors are no longer asking for the death penalty as Rabbani is in a vegetative state, according to his new defense attorney.

Criminal Justice

Alan Dershowitz, Jewish groups lead last ditch clemency appeal for death row prisoner Jedidiah Murphy

Posted on · Murphy, who was convicted of the 2000 carjacking and murder of an elderly woman, is one of at least two Jewish individuals on Texas’ death row.

Huntsville Prison Fire

Criminal Justice

Fire at Huntsville state prison prompts evacuation of 600-plus inmates from their cells

Posted on · No injuries were reported among prisoners or staff, according to a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, who said everyone at the facility was accounted for and in a secure location.

Houston Matters

What Artemis I taught us (Dec. 12, 2022)

Posted on · On Monday's show: NASA's Artemis I mission returned to Earth on Sunday. We discuss how the mission went and what was learned from it. And we examine how a lack of proper staffing and security contributed to a deadly Texas prison escape.

Immigration

Gov. Abbott Orders South Texas Prison To Make Room For Undocumented Immigrants, TDCJ Says

Posted on · The Texas Department of Criminal Justice began moving incarcerated people from the Dolph Briscoe Unit in Dilley on Wednesday as part of the governor's Operation Lone Star initiative, announced in March.