Tag Archives: Senfronia Thompson
Death Penalty Reform Bill Gets Watered Down to ‘Nothing’ Before Passing Senate
After passing the House, HB 1139, meant to reform how Texas decides whether a defendant is too intellectually disabled to execute, was significantly softened in Senate committee.
A House bill meant to reform Texas’ death penalty procedures for intellectually disabled defendants was amended in the Senate to the point that criminal justi...Read More
The Sandra Bland Act Was Stripped of the Provision That Could’ve Prevented Her Arrest. Now It Has a Chance.
“I believe this is the legislative session that we come together, in bipartisan fashion, to pass a bill to prohibit this practice that can have life-altering consequences,” one lawmaker said.
On July 10, 2015, on a quiet road near Prairie View A&M University, a hot-headed state trooper stopped Sandra Bland for changing lanes without a turn signal...Read More
Texas Prison Reformers Demand Dignity for Incarcerated Women
Bills addressing the basic needs of incarcerated women bolster the larger call for reform in the state prison system this session.
Like four out of five women incarcerated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Maggie Luna was a mother when she went to prison. And like most women in p...Read More
How 50 Years of Feminism in the Texas Legislature Shaped the Fights We See Today
Legislators began tackling issues like funding family planning, equal economic opportunity for women and justice for sexual assault survivors in the early 1970s. Their work continues a half-century later.
Legislators began tackling issues like funding family planning, equal economic opportunity for women and justice for sexual assault survivors in the early 1970s...Read More
Senfronia Thompson Says #MeToo: Texas Lawmaker on 45 Years of Sexism, Racism at the Capitol
"I tell God all the time, 'These sons of bitches make me so mad. I want to cuss ’em out, ooh Jesus.'"
As the longest-serving woman and African American in the Texas Legislature, state Representative Senfronia Thompson, or Ms. T as she is affectionately known, ha...Read More
Texas Democrats Push For At Least $10.10 Minimum Wage
New proposals aim to boost the state’s minimum wage by nearly 40 percent, which could give a pay raise to about 2.4 million of Texas’ lowest-paid workers.
New proposals aim to boost the state’s minimum wage by nearly 40 percent, which could give a pay raise to about 2.4 million of Texas’ lowest-paid workers....Read More
Democrats Vow to Fight, Kill Dan Patrick’s Bathroom Bill
Pro-LGBT Houston Lawmakers Discuss Lieutenant Governor's Anti-Transgender Proposal
One Democratic state lawmaker pledged Wednesday to “fight like hell” against Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s anti-transgender bathroom bill, while anoth...Read More
A Runoff Campaign with Conviction in Fort Bend County
If Texas state Representative Ron Reynolds loses his fight against a 2015 conviction for ambulance chasing, the popular Fort Bend County Democrat may go to jail...Read More
Resurrecting the Legacy of Selena
When I imagine a present-day Selena, I see the star power packed in her smile, the feminine power in her hips, and I hear the love in her songs. But mostly, whe...Read More