Michael Barajas
By Michael Barajas:
Deputies Go Unpunished for Invasive Cavity Search on Houston Roadside
Houston City Employees are Fighting to Uphold Marriage Equality in Texas
Couples turn to the federal courts after Texas’ highest court ruled against benefits for same-sex spouses of government employees.
Two years after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling legalizing same-sex marriage across the country, Texas couples are still fighting for marriage equality in court. On Thursday, three married couples from Houston filed a lawsuit in federal court … Read More
Meet the Expert Who Helps Texas Cops Justify Extreme Behavior
Gilbert Flores’ hands were raised when two Bexar County deputies shot and killed him. A former cop who’s trained thousands of state police officers explains why he thinks that’s OK.
Gilbert Flores was already taunting the cops when his mother called 911 the morning of August 28, 2015. “My son, he’s gone crazy, I think he’s on drugs, I’m not sure but he’s crazy,” she told the dispatcher. She’d heard … Read More
‘Bathroom Bill’ Opposition Mounts after Trans Activist is Brutally Attacked
Opponents, including activist Stephanie Martinez and Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, say the ‘bathroom bill’ would further fuel anti-trans violence.
Stephanie Martinez told police she met the guy online. Seventeen-year-old Rayshad Deloach, or “Jay” as she knew him, said he wanted to know more about transgender issues. So Martinez — a transgender woman, LGBT activist and familiar face at the … Read More
Why Dallas is One of the Few Places Killer Cops Could be Held Accountable
This summer, Dallas County officials took the rare step of indicting killer cops — twice.
Something extraordinary happened in Dallas County this month: A grand jury returned a murder indictment against a police officer who shot and killed someone. On April 29, Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver fired his assault rifle into a car … Read More
Trans Texans, Advocates Swarm Texas Capitol to Oppose ‘Bathroom Bills’ (Again)
On Friday, more than 250 people signed up to testify, and the overwhelming majority spoke in opposition.
Hundreds of people formed a line that snaked through the Texas Capitol’s basement early Friday, waiting to testify as lawmakers continue to push a so-called bathroom bill targeting transgender Texans. LGBT activists and allies swarmed the Senate State Affairs Committee … Read More
Trump DOJ: Trust Texas to Fix Racist Voter ID Law Without Court Oversight
The new legal brief is a sign of the Justice Department’s dramatically different take on voting rights under the Trump Administration.
Under the Obama administration, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) waged legal war against the voter ID rules Texas lawmakers passed in 2011, saying the new restrictions would disproportionately impact minority voters. That finding was later validated by multiple federal … Read More
‘Bathroom Bills’ Get Second Life in Special Session
Three different proposals to discriminate against transgender Texans await lawmakers in what critics have dubbed the “Session of Oppression.”
In late May, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick monkey-wrenched the 85th Texas Legislature as lawmakers entered the final days of the regular session, threatening to hold must-pass legislation hostage unless he got his way on a couple of red-meat conservative items. … Read More