Criminal Justice
Lost in Limbo in the Hays County Jail
Legislation to Abolish ICE Indicates Movement is Gaining Mainstream Traction
After agents ask to leave ICE, three Democratic lawmakers filed legislation to abolish the agency.
Three Democratic lawmakers gave a boost to the “Abolish ICE” movement Thursday, seizing on an effort by the agency’s criminal investigative division to sp...Read More
College Degree Options Are Disappearing for Women in Texas Prisons
In Texas, four-year degree programs for imprisoned women are expiring, even as more of them end up in the prison system.
The only bachelor’s degree programs available to women incarcerated in the Texas prison system are ending. By 2020, Texas A&M University-Central says it w...Read More
After Years of Working with ‘Ritmo’ Detainees, I Know the Inhumane Facility Doesn’t Deserve a Second Chance
A facility with such horrible history should not be allowed to reopen under the same management.
The news that Management & Training Corporation (MTC) plans on reopening its detention center to house immigrants for the Trump administration in Raymondvil...Read More
Williamson County Votes to End Contract with Detention Facility Holding Separated Mothers
In the face of activist pressure, commissioners voted to end the county’s involvement in the incarceration of immigrant mothers and women at the 512-bed T. Don Hutto Detention Facility.
In a victory for immigrant advocates in a conservative, law-and-order community, the Williamson County Commissioners Court on Tuesday voted to cut ties with a d...Read More
Texas Officials Allow 15 Immigrant Shelters to Hold More Kids than Licenses Permit
To accommodate Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, Texas officials have allowed at least 15 shelters to hold more than 700 additional kids, records show.
In recent months, Texas officials have granted permission to at least 15 immigrant youth shelters to cram in more kids than their child-care licenses allow, acc...Read More
Waco Immigrant Mom Locked Up for 2 ½ Years, Alleges Sexual Assault by Guard
Estela Fajardo, a prominent Waco business owner, is stuck in a web of criminal and immigration issues that’s torn her from her four kids. Now, the county says she’s lying about sexual assault.
Estela Fajardo, a prominent Waco business owner, is stuck in a web of criminal and immigration issues that’s torn her from her four kids. Now, the county says...Read More
In Austin, ‘Discretionary’ Arrests for Petty Crimes Skew Blacker, Browner Than City Population
Austin Police Department officers used their discretion to arrest black defendants at a rate more than double that of either whites or Latinos last year.
In Texas, the consequences of getting caught with pot are a crapshoot. While the state has some of the most draconian and nonsensical marijuana laws on the book...Read More
Something Has Changed in the Gun Debate in Texas
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has discovered a more palatable response to mass shootings, but how far beyond “thoughts and prayers” is he willing to go to curb gun violence?
Thoughts and prayers aren’t good enough following Texas’ latest mass shooting, not even for some of the state’s gun-loving officials. “We need to do mor...Read More