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

Relieving the Burden of Choice: Perry Helps Open Crisis Pregnancy CenterSep 19, 2012
Gov. Rick Perry showed up last night for a photo op in a poor part of Houston expensively made up to conceal its poverty. [...] Full Story
Organizing Low-Wage WorkersSep 05, 2012
Elsa Caballero knows only one way to make a living: fighting for other people’s rights. Caballero is the state director for Service Employees International [...] Full Story
Palin and Cruz Take The WoodlandsAug 01, 2012
Friday night, I was in The Woodlands ™ to see Sarah Palin, the tea party’s hot ex-girlfriend who sometimes calls just to make sure [...] Full Story
The Oddest Race in TexasJul 30, 2012
As Ted Cruz whips up unprecedented excitement for the July 31 run-off election, one side effect may be a Texas Supreme Court win for [...] Full Story
Life On the ListMay 31, 2012
When Josh Gravens was 12 years old, he made a terrible mistake. He and his sister, who was 8, had sexual contact, twice. “Like, [...] Full Story