Category: News

texas juvenile justice dept

A series of sexual misconduct cases has led to a call from campaigners for the closure of all secure facilities for young people run by the state. Advocates from a wide range of groups pulled few punches in their demand for the closure of the controversial facilities. The Texas Tribune reported the groups wrote a…

cat hair evidence

A Texas woman is accused of mailing potentially deadly homemade bombs to then-President Barack Obama as well Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in 2016 last year. She was arrested due to evidence that included cat hair, a cigarette box and a partially destroyed shipping label. Julia Poff, a 46-year-old woman, is accused of mailing the dangerous…

Garland Crime Lab interior

Courts and juries place credence on forensic evidence in cases. However, this is not always reliable and can be subject to human errors. Recently, misleading testimony from a Texas crime lab analyst led to changes in how this evidence is treated in court. The Dallas Morning News reported how unreliable testimony from a state crime…

rifles

Under federal law, it is a crime for anyone with a domestic violence conviction to buy or own a gun. The system broke down with tragic consequences on Nov. 5 when Devin Patrick Kelley killed 26 worshipers and injured 20 more at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs in Texas. Kelley, 26, was convicted…

US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

One in three people has a criminal record, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidance forbids discrimination against people based on their records, but Texas has sought to set this aside. An article in The Nation noted how Texas wants to make the process of firing people with criminal records…

execution texas killer postponed amid concerns confess another murder

A series of proposed executions in Texas have been delayed or derailed over the last year due to legal appeals or other circumstances. The latest death row inmate to face an 11th hour reprieve was Houston serial killer, Anthony Shore, who was just hours away from execution when the process was halted. Officials stopped the…

department public safety issues advice people stopped texas police

Police stops in Texas have proved controversial in recent years. In a high profile case, Sandra Bland, an African American woman, took her life after a routine traffic stop with a state trooper led to an argument. The Sandra Bland case and other controversies led to a new law in Texas that will provide training…

texas flag

Cybercrime is one of the fastest-growing areas of criminality in the United States and Texas. It’s an area of expertise for Dallas’ likely new top federal prosecutor who has spent her career battling cybercrime, the Dallas Morning News reported. Erin Nealy Cox is a former federal prosecutor in Dallas and a cybersecurity expert. She was…

mcallen prison

Severe heat at Texas prisons has been linked to deaths and lawsuits. Now Texas plans to move about 1,000 Texas prisoners to cooler cells. Last week, Texas submitted a plan under a court order to move 1,000 inmates who are sensitive to heat from the Pack Unit near Navasota to other state jails and prisons…

social icons on keyboard

Controversial laws that prohibit sex offenders from using social media have been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court as being in violation of the Constitution. On June 19, the Supreme Court ruled 8-0 that a North Carolina law making it an offense for convicted sex offenders to use social media violated the First Amendment…