Emily DePrang

Emily DePrang is a staff writer at The Texas Observer, where she covers public health and criminal justice. Her reporting has appeared in The Atlantic, Black Book, Bitch, Nerve, FHM, and others. A former nonfiction editor of the Sonora Review, DePrang has an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Arizona and a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. In 2013, DePrang won the Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society of Professional Journalists for public interest magazine journalism and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for an essay published in Fourth Genre.

Report: Listing Child Sex Offenders Violates Human RightsMay 01, 2013
Human Rights Watch released an extensive report that makes a case for exempting minors from the requirements that lump juvenile sex offenders in with adults. Full Story
Want Not: Homeless Vet Ticketed for Looking for Food, Houston City Council Okay With ThatApr 18, 2013
Pop quiz. Which is worse: A) someone starving to death, or B) littering? If you answered B), you might want to run for Houston [...] Full Story
Direct Quote: Taking No BullApr 08, 2013
Kevin Woodson, 56, never saw a black cowboy when he was growing up, but he was determined to become one himself. Full Story
Conservative Think Tank Supports Less Sex Offender DisclosureApr 03, 2013
Texas lawmakers have filed more than a dozen bills this session that augment or add restrictions to the behavior of registered sex offenders, of [...] Full Story
With Revised Welfare Drug-Testing Bill, Nelson Thinks of the ChildrenMar 26, 2013
At a brisk hearing today of the controversial senate bill that would subject welfare applicants to drug screening, bill author Jane Nelson of Flower Mound seemed to understand that barring kids from benefits for life if their parent fails three drug tests is totally messed up. Full Story

Direct Quote: Taking No BullApr 08, 2013
Kevin Woodson, 56, never saw a black cowboy when he was growing up, but he was determined to become one himself. Full Story
Direct Quote: Fishing For a Living On the Texas CoastMar 04, 2013
Mauricio Blanco has made a life on the Texas coast as an oysterman, though drought and pollution make it harder to earn a living every year. Full Story
Death at Dawson: Why Is Texas’ Worst State Jail Still Open?Feb 26, 2013
Horrific stories of medical neglect continue to emerge from Dallas's privately run Dawson State Jail. As damning reports are released one after another, a bipartisan coalition is asking how Dawson isn't closed yet. Full Story
Direct Quote: Never Forget a FaceFeb 11, 2013
Ken Pridgeon, 77, is on a mission to memorialize every Texas serviceperson lost in Iraq and Afghanistan with a 3’-by-4’ portrait, Full Story
If It Were Up To Us…Jan 06, 2013
We detail a dozen items that deal with the biggest problems in the state. Some of them are liberal fantasies (ahem, income tax) but others are sound public policy ideas that Texans of all ideologies support because they would improve the lives of millions of people. Full Story