Tag Archives: Dallas
Has Pete Sessions Marinated in D.C. Too Long for Texas Voters?
In the 2008 presidential election, John McCain won Texas’ Congressional District 32 by 11 percentage points, and in 2012, Mitt Romney won it by 15. It was not...Read More
Why Don Huffines’ Destiny May Depend on Other Districts (and ‘Dragon Ball Z’)
Don Huffines won state Senate District 16 from incumbent John Carona in a bitterly contested Republican primary in 2014, when no Democrat ran, so this will be H...Read More
Dallas Democrat Colin Allred on his Bid to Unseat Pete Sessions
The former NFL linebacker talks about protests during the national anthem, North Texas activism and the likelihood of a presidential impeachment.
Texas’ 32nd Congressional District sprawls across the northern suburbs of Dallas and includes some of the most affluent neighborhoods in the state. The region...Read More
Can Beto O’Rourke Harness the Elusive Power of the College Student Vote?
Many have tried; few have succeeded. But the latest political phenom thinks he’ll be more effective at courting young voters.
With the Retama Auditorium filled to capacity, hundreds of students packed outside the entrance, hoping to get a glimpse of Beto O’Rourke as he swung through...Read More
Civil Rights Groups are Changing Bail Practices in Texas, One City at a Time
On Thursday, a federal judge ruled against Dallas County’s strict reliance on cash bail, saying it discriminates against poor people and violates their equal protection rights.
If police arrest and charge you with a misdemeanor in Dallas County, and you can’t afford bail, you’ll likely be stuck in jail somewhere between four to 10 ...Read More
How the Police Shooting of Botham Jean Disrupted Dallas’ Reputation for Reform
The brain-twisting shooting of a man inside his own apartment is yet another example of both police escalation and the flexibility often afforded cops who commit egregious acts.
UPDATE: Dallas Police Department Chief U. Renée Hall fired officer Amber Guyger on September 24, about two weeks after she was charged with manslaughter for t...Read More
Leaving the Gay Place Lights a Candle for the Patron Saint of Austin’s Counterculture
Tracy Daugherty’s new biography of The Gay Place author Billy Lee Brammer is part poetic ode, part oral history — and always a wild ride.
The greatest novel ever written about Austin was penned by a man from Dallas, and it did not mention the capital city by name. Still, when Billy Lee Brammer’s...Read More
Videos of Dallas Bail Hearings Show Assembly-Line Justice in Action
Footage obtained by the Observer shows cursory bail hearings that routinely last fewer than 15 seconds.
Abolishing cash bail is a key part of the movement to end mass incarceration because money still largely determines who remains in county jail, which is itself ...Read More
The Murder Conviction of Dallas-area Cop Roy Oliver is Nothing Short of Extraordinary
The case illustrates the high bar that prosecutors must clear for a conviction, particularly in Texas, where prosecutions for on-duty killings are virtually unheard of.
Police are justified in maiming, shooting or killing you if another “reasonable” officer would’ve done the same thing. That’s the malleable, snake-eatin...Read More