The Adoption Trap
Private foster care and adoption agencies in Texas are brokering contracts for moms to turn over their children in a murky legal world, spawning protracted civil custody battles.
Harris County
Crime, Statistics, and the Harris County Judge’s Race
In Texas’ most populous county, funding for law enforcement takes center stage.
Christian Menefee Aims to Bring Polluters to Justice
The youngest-ever Harris County attorney is making the environment top priority. His next target: creosote contamination in Houston's Fifth Ward.
In Texas, County Commissioners Are Free to Harvest Contractor Cash
Loose campaign finance laws permit politicians in Harris County to hide relationships between top campaign donors and the contracting firms paid with public funds.
Editorial: Defund the Constables
The office of constable may have made sense back when Texas was a sprawling frontier. Instead, constables basically now run their own little personal fiefdoms.
In a Pandemic, Poor Defendants Could Pay With Their Lives
COVID-19 lays bare the fundamental inequalities that a cash bond system creates, and highlights the unsafe conditions our jails and prisons have designed.
Texas Prosecutor Races Offer Competing Visions for Criminal Justice Reform
In Harris County, Kim Ogg’s more cautious approach to reform wins big while Travis County’s incumbent DA still faces a challenge from the left.
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Alec Karakatsanis on the ‘Usual Cruelty’ of the Criminal Justice System
In his book, Karakatsanis argues that lawyers and judges have become numb to the cruelties of the criminal justice system—and ultimately stand in the way of changing it.
Reform Candidates are Trying to Change the Definition of a ‘Progressive Prosecutor’ in Texas
Kim Ogg’s primary challenge for Harris County District Attorney is one of several prosecutor races in Texas that could redefine the bounds of criminal justice reform in the state.
Can a $2.5 Billion Bond Deal Fix Harris County’s Inequitable Flood Control?
The uneven patchwork of drainage infrastructure in Harris County means that some of Houston’s poorest neighborhoods are still waiting for basic flood protections.