Anthony Zurcher
By Anthony Zurcher:
Last Train to Texas
The Bushies are back in town.
Nearly eight years ago, President-elect George W. Bush led an exodus of Texans to help fill out the ranks of his administration in Washington. There was Bush’s so-called “iron triangle” of advisers: Karen Hughes, Karl Rove, and Joe Allbaugh, known … Read More
License to Vote
The U.S. Supreme Court gives new life to the Texas GOP’s effort to pass a voter identification bill.
For sheer drama, the battle over a bill requiring Texas voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot at the polls had no equal in last year’s legislative session. Shouting matches. Angry walkouts. A gravely ill Democratic senator roused … Read More
Sticking Point
International treaty obligations are keeping Josè Medellin off the death house gurney
In all likelihood, the state of Texas will eventually kill José Ernesto Medellin. Even the best possible outcome of his recent U.S. Supreme Court case will leave the convicted murderer’s fate in the hands of the Texas Criminal Court of … Read More
Hitting the Bottlers
A baffling Texas Supreme Court ruling could make juries irrelevant
The soft drink business in East Texas was a relatively friendly affair when Jerry Dudley started out 40 years ago. Family-owned companies bottled colas and fruit drinks, and sold them to local grocers or mom-and-pop convenience stores. There was competition, … Read More
Relief Denied?
Two new Supreme Court justices control the fate of Texas' condemned
At least three lives, and possibly another 44, hung in the balance when Texas Solicitor General R. Ted Cruz stood before the U.S. Supreme Court in mid-January. As much as the state would like to execute Jalil Abdul-Kabir, Brent Brewer, … Read More
Helping Yankees Understand Molly
Molly Ivins is gone, and her words will never grace these pages again—for this, we will mourn. But Molly wasn’t the type of woman who would want us to grieve. More likely, she’d say something like, “Hang in there, keep … Read More