Civil Rights
New Contract Could Give Austin One of the Most Transparent Police Departments in the Country
In Harris County, the ‘Slow Erosion’ of a System That Keeps People in Jail Because They’re Poor
The case to end cash bail puts Harris County judges and magistrates under a microscope.
The young woman muttered “yeah” when asked if she wanted a court-appointed lawyer. That wasn’t good enough for Harris County magistrate Eric Hagstette, wh...Read More
Lawsuit Questions How Port Arthur Police, Hospital Staff Respond to Mentally Ill Patients
Family claims police and hospital guards cornered a schizophrenic man then smothered him to death when he refused to remove his underwear.
The Delacruz family realized Manuel was dangerously sick somewhere on the highway as they passed San Antonio. It was the summer of 2016 and they were coming bac...Read More
New Report Finds — Surprise — Indigent Defense Attorneys Shouldn’t be Under the Control of the State Prison System
The Texas prison system controls an agency tasked with defending poor inmates accused of crimes inside Texas prisons. What could possibly go wrong?
A new report by a committee of the State Bar of Texas aims to draw attention to a glaringly obvious conflict of interest at a little-known indigent defense syst...Read More
Problems Hide in Plain Sight at Texas’ Youth Lockups
Critics say Texas’ five remaining juvenile prisons not only fail to rehabilitate young people but “actually make them worse.”
It was spring break 2017 at the McLennan County State Juvenile Correctional Facility, and the young inmates were more restless than normal. Some of the teens ro...Read More
What Does Discrimination Look Like to Fifth Circuit Judge Edith Jones?
Despite repeat rulings that Texas passed voter ID with racist intent, judge tells opponents from the bench, “You have nothing.”
Before any of the attorneys even uttered a word, Judge Edith Jones already sounded irritated. She called the case before her and the two other Fifth Circuit jud...Read More
Dallas Grand Jury Indicts Cop Who Shot Unarmed Man Mistaken for Burglar
Former Mesquite Police Department officer Derick Wiley, who shot Lyndo Jones last month, is the third Dallas-area cop to face criminal charges for an on-duty shooting in 2017.
On Wednesday, a Dallas County grand jury indicted the officer who shot an unarmed black man who police mistook for a car burglar last month, marking the third D...Read More
Texas Continues to Litigate Marriage Equality Amid Inaction from Federal Courts
The U.S. Supreme Court won’t intervene in Houston case challenging benefits for same-sex spouses of city employees.
Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that made marriage equality the law of the land more than two years ago, Texas’ anti-LGBT crusaders continue to wage legal...Read More
Man Mistaken for Burglar, Shot by Police then Shackled to Hospital Bed and Barred from Seeing Family
“Victims of police brutality and their families should not be treated this way.”
After mistaking him for a burglar and shooting him twice, police charged Lyndo Jones with evading arrest, shackled him to his Dallas hospital bed and blocked fa...Read More
Lawsuit: City of Port Isabel Blocked Public Housing for Latinos Displaced by Hurricane Dolly
After the 2008 hurricane, city officials refused to issue permits so that public housing could be rebuilt in an affluent neighborhood, the complaint says.
City leaders in Port Isabel “repeatedly thwarted” efforts to rebuild public housing overwhelmingly used by Latinos after Hurricane Dolly hit the Rio Grande ...Read More