Category: News

transgender bathroom

Texas is the next state to look at a controversial “bathroom bill,” – a measure that ran into trouble when it was introduced in North Carolina. The state’s Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is proposing a bill that will prevent transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice, reported The Guardian. A similar bill was…

life sentence

The case of Miguel Navarro, a Hispanic teenager, who was sentenced to 99-years in an adult prison before he could drive or reach high school, has highlighted Texas’ controversial juvenile justice system. Navarro was just 15 in 2007, when he stabbed a 20-year-old during a fight in Katy, Texas. A Houston Public Media report pointed…

bite mark evidence

Bite mark evidence as a forensic science technique used at crime scenes has been under fire for some time. Now a new paper has urged law enforcement agencies to discontinue its use. The paper in Journal of Law and the Biosciences outlines the legal basis for the rise of the bite-mark identification technique and its…

Supreme Court to Consider Whether Texas Should Execute Inmate with Intellectual Disability

The U.S. Supreme Court is to look at whether Texas should put to death a convicted killer with an intellectual disability. Attorneys for 57-year-old Bobby James Moore argue the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest court in the state, disregarded existing medical standards in favor of outdated ones when it decided Moore wasn’t mentally…

criminal-lineup

Sexual assaults on children are understandably abhorrent to society and juries and taint a defendant’s reputation for years afterwards. However, there are many factors that can lead young witnesses to make false statements. Children are susceptible to a wide range of factors and can be manipulated by prosecutors. A case in point is that of…

no more hate crimes logo

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has reiterated his determination to make violence against police officers a hate crime after a law enforcement officer was shot dead in San Antonio. Detective Benjamin Marconi, a 50-year-old police officer, was shot in the head on Sunday after he pulled over a vehicle near San Antonio police headquarters building in…

arrested

The Texas Department of Public Safety has classified thousands of arrests on the Mexican border as “high-threat criminals” as it justifies additional measures to strengthen border security. However, an article in the Associated Press has taken issue with the classification, pointing out drunk drivers, low-level drug offenders and people who have not paid child support…

scary clown stories

Clowns are no longer a laughing matter after creepy clown threats have been made across the country including in Texas. Although many have been hoaxes, there have been 12 arrests nationwide linked to clown activities, reported the New York Times. But has clown paranoia got out of control? The clown episodes have divided opinions with…

stop violence against women

Four cities in Texas have ranked among the most dangerous in the country in terms of crimes committed against women. The data was released this month by the insurance and management site valuepenguin.com. It stated one in six women will be a victim of rape or attempted rape at some time in her life. The…

For almost 100 years, Texas has classified 17-year-olds who are charged with crimes as adults. That may be about to change as lawmakers consider redefining who is classified as an adult in the criminal justice system. The state’s politicians are now considering increasing the juvenile age to 18, reported CBS. That would mean those under…