The Shadow of the Son
by Melissa del Bosque / Posted on | 4 CommentsCan Sheriff Lupe Treviño’s legacy survive the indictments and accusations of corruption in his department?
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Death Row Inmate Appeals, Cites Report Showing Racial Bias in Harris County
by Priscila Mosqueda / Posted on | No CommentsThe study found that from 1992 to 1999, Harris County prosecutors sought the death penalty for African-Americans more than three times as often as they did for whites with similar cases. Hispanics fared even worse—the DAs pushed for capital punishment four times as often for Hispanics as they did for whites.
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Death at Dawson: Why Is Texas’ Worst State Jail Still Open?
by Emily DePrang / Posted on | 7 CommentsHorrific 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.
Read full postSome Lawmakers Hope to Salvage Dwindling Legal Aid Funding
by Beth Cortez-Neavel / Posted on | No CommentsWe’re in the midst of a funding crisis for legal aid, according to the Texas Access to Justice Foundation. Last session the Legislature gave $17.5 million to civil legal aid, less than it spent in 2009. This session’s House and Senate budget proposals would each shrink that even further, to $13 million.
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Houston’s New DA Brings Back “Trace” Felonies, the Eighties
by Emily DePrang / Posted on | No CommentsHouston’s old DA made having less than 1/100 gram of crack a misdemeanor. The new DA brought back the trace felony, and questions about unequal enforcement.
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