The latest criminal justice news from The Texas Tribune.
Lawmakers on Tuesday took their first crack at a bill designed to ban texting while driving, including reviewing statistics suggesting that bans in other states have not reduced accidents and are difficult to enforce. Full Story
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Andre Thomas' case raises critical questions about how the justice system deals with mentally ill defendants who commit heinous crimes and whether they should be exempt from the death penalty. Full Story
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Andre Thomas is among thousands of mentally ill inmates in a sprawling state prison system that is struggling to keep pace with the increasing need for mental health care. Medical staff say they need more state funding. Full Story
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Hospitals don't have authority to detain people in mental crisis who voluntarily enter their facilities. Advocates for reform say that is one of many holes in the state’s nearly 30-year-old mental health code. Full Story
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Grissom begins a gripping series on mental health and criminal justice, Hamilton and White on the Senate’s defense of UT-Austin, Murphy’s interactive look at public school test scores, Ramshaw finds the governor digging in on the Medicaid expansion, Rocha and Dehn visit a weapons maker with Ted Cruz, M. Smith explores another angle on unpopular standardized testing, Batheja on a car that drives right past state laws, Aguilar reports on the other immigration problem, Aaronson on a break in the race for a cancer cure: The best of our best for the week of February 18-22, 2012. Full Story
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During his troubled adolescence, lawyers for death row inmate Andre Thomas say he never received the mental health care he needed. In Texas, there are few mechanisms to diagnose and treat youths who suffer from mental illness. Full Story
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Texas has a long and unhappy history when it comes to mental health care. From the days of state-run asylums to underfunded local mental health services, those who have mental illness have faced daunting challenges finding care. Full Story
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Texas Appleseed and the Brazos County branch of the NAACP have filed a federal complaint against Bryan ISD, saying the school district's reliance on ticketing as a form of discipline "disproportionately harms" black students. Full Story
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A union representing Texas prison employees is calling on the Legislature to consider a pay raise for correctional officers, citing a rise in drilling jobs that can be more lucrative than prison jobs. Full Story
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A Texas Supreme Court Justice and several lawmakers are pushing to raise the amount of money that can be given by the attorney general's office to indigent legal aid services groups. Full Story
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The case of death row inmate Andre Thomas offers a lens through which to examine the effects of a long underfunded mental health system and raises important questions about how Texas punishes the mentally ill. Full Story
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This timeline provides an in-depth look at some of the key moments in the case of Andre Thomas, a mentally ill death row inmate who began exhibiting signs of mental illness as a boy and committed a brutal triple murder in 2004. Blind because he pulled out both of his eyes while behind bars, Thomas awaits a federal court's decision on whether he is sane enough to be executed. Full Story
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For the second consecutive year, seizures of methamphetamine in the Laredo customs district — the country’s busiest land port — climbed significantly. Full Story
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Calling President Obama’s recent gun control initiatives “cynical” and “wrong,” U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said on Tuesday that lawmakers “should focus our efforts on deterring and punishing violent criminals." Full Story
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Texas has paid 89 exonerees nearly $61 million since 1992, according to data from the Texas comptroller's office. Use this interactive to see how much money the state has paid to exonerated prisoners by fiscal year. Full Story
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A bill filed by state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, on Monday would require prosecutors and defense lawyers in criminal cases to open their files to their opponents. It could have momentum in the wake of Michael Morton's exoneration. Full Story
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Harris County prosecutors will seek a new execution date on Monday for death row inmate Duane Buck. His defenders say race played a role in his death sentence. Prosecutors say courts have "thoroughly reviewed" and rejected his claims. Full Story
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Through a program operated by a Houston nonprofit, some Texas inmates who will soon be released get a chance to learn business skills and work on plans to start their own businesses. Full Story
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The Prison Entrepreneurship Program at the Cleveland Correctional Center trains selected inmates, who will soon be released, to design their own businesses. Here's a series of photographs from a recent class. Full Story
At Thursday's TribLive conversation, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson — a passionate defender of the Second Amendment — explained his opposition to universal background checks, an assault weapons ban and other gun control measures. Full Story
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