Will a Texas law that overturns convictions based on bad science save this death row inmate?
The 2013 law was credited with stopping Robert Roberson's execution two years ago, and his conviction is now under review in county court. Full Story
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![Robert Roberson in court for the review of his 2003 conviction in the death of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in Palestine on August 14, 2018. His attorneys are asking for a new trial based on new scientific evidence.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott proposes bail reform after death of DPS trooper
Abbott said he wanted to fix a flawed system in Texas that allowed the man suspected of killing a trooper last year to get out of jail on bond despite having been previously accused of assaulting a deputy. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott. joined by DPS Director Steve McCraw (seated, left) and Kasey Allen, widow of Damon Allen, speaks at a press conference in Waco on August 7, 2018. Abbott announced a proposal to reform the bail system in Texas. The proposal is in honor of State Trooper Damon Allen, who was killed while on duty in 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Prospects for "red flag" gun law in Texas plummet as Abbott sees "coalescence" against it
Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday he sees a "coalescence" against the idea of having a so-called "red flag" law in Texas, further dooming the proposal's chances in the Legislature. Abbott asked lawmakers to consider the idea as part of the school safety plan he released earlier this year after the deadly Santa Fe High School shooting. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott gives the keynote Friday speech at the Republican Party of Texas convention in San Antonio on June 15, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
After $7 million legal fight over air conditioning, Texas prison system touts new heat safety policies
Following a legal settlement, the prison system has added temporary air conditioning to one unit and made other statewide changes. But the road to change wasn't cheap. Full Story
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![Inmates shuffle past new fans in the TDCJ Memorial Unit in Brazoria Co. on July 12, 2017. The prison was called the Darrington Unit until 2023.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough/The Texas Tribune -
The government has lost track of hundreds of migrant parents, likely delaying reunifications
For the second time, it looks like the government's efforts to reunify separated migrant families will be stymied by its own bureaucratic failings. Full Story
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![Immigrants, many wearing ankle monitors, are dropped off at the McAllen Central Station, where they are they are given bus tickets to other parts of the country. On Saturday, June 23, 2018. Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal -
Advocacy groups call for outside watchdog of Texas prisons after guard indictments
The groups say recent felony charges against prison employees highlight the need for external, independent oversight of the department. Full Story
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![Telford prison in New Boston on March 21, 2018]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
As Thursday deadline approaches, reunification remains uncertain for hundreds of migrant families
A federal judge has ordered immigration officials to reunite all migrant children 5 and older with their parents by Thursday — but officials' own data shows that will be near impossible. Full Story
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![Mercedes (right), a Salvadoran asylum seeker, is reunited with her daughter, Maria in Corpus Christi on July 13, 2018. The two were separated by U.S. authorities after crossing the Texas-Mexico border in mid-May.]()
Credit: Eddie Seal for The Texas Tribune -
After loss at state Supreme Court, Texas keeps fighting to conceal its execution drug supplier
With new execution drugs in stock, the state is fighting a June Texas Supreme Court decision that would identify a 2014 supplier, claiming it would disrupt the state's ability to carry out the death penalty. Full Story
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Federal government has reunited 450 migrant children over 5, leaving 2,000 still separated
The government has a court-ordered deadline of July 26 to reunify the rest of the children. But last time it came up against a deadline, the government declared almost half the children "ineligible." Full Story
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![Immigrant families enter the Catholic Charity in McAllen on June 29, 2018.]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune -
Police interventions spike in Texas schools after shootings in Santa Fe and Parkland
Students have been referred to law enforcement in dramatically higher numbers after the school shootings in Parkland and Santa Fe. A study suggests the arrests show a return to zero-tolerance policies that can harm students. Full Story
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![Police tape in front of Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on May 20, 2018.]()
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Texas executes Chris Young, who fought the state parole board in a final appeal
The death row inmate claimed that the parole board likely rejected his clemency petition because he was black. The argument highlighted a long-standing criticism of clemency in Texas. Full Story
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![Chris Young, sentenced to death for the 2004 shooting of Hasmukh Patel.]()
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Texas schools that want to arm their employees have two choices
Schools can pick between programs known as the school marshal program and the Guardian Plan. Here are four things to know about the two existing initiatives that allow school districts to arm their employees. Full Story
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![Mock weapons used to train educators in Harrold, Texas. The North Texas school district was the first to allow educators to carry guns on school grounds in 2007.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Federal judge wants to know if Mexican reporter and son were needlessly targeted by ICE
Emilio Gutiérrez Soto faced death threats for reporting on cartel crime and government corruption and fled to the U.S. with his son. A judge has set a hearing to determine whether the government has detained them in violation of the First Amendment. Full Story
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![Mexican reporter Emilio Gutiérrez has sought asylum in the United States since 2008.]()
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Families of Chris Young and the man he killed call for a halt to his execution
At a small rally in San Antonio's main plaza, faith leaders joined Chris Young's aunt and the son of the man he killed to call for a stop to Young's execution next week. Full Story
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![Valerie Harris, aunt and spiritual advisor of Christopher Young, speaks during a press conference for on Main Plaza in San Antonio on July 10, 2018. Young is scheduled for execution next week.]()
Credit: Robin Jerstad for The Texas Tribune -
Texas buys new execution drugs before current doses expire
Last month, Texas seemed to be running out of execution drugs. But records show that it has obtained 14 new doses and extended the expiration date of eight more doses already in its possession. Here's a look at the state's current supply, which is now adequate to handle all scheduled executions. Full Story
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Detained migrant parents have to pay to call their family members. Some can't afford to.
Detainees trying to contact their family members are stymied by long wait times, confusing instructions, dropped calls and sometimes per-minute phone charges that critics say are exorbitant. Full Story
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![Children at the tent city erected in Tornillo make phone calls while supervised by a staff member. The faces are blurred in the government issued photograph.]()
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Analysis: What sees us through
In a steady rain of bad news — shootings, immigrant family separations, harsh political differences — one thing stands out. We're tenacious. Full Story
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![Jai Gillard, a freshman at Santa Fe High School, writes a message on a cross at a makeshift memorial left in memory of the victims killed in a shooting in Santa Fe, on May 21, 2018.]()
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Danny Bible executed for a 1979 rape and murder, despite claims that he was too sick for lethal injection
The death row inmate argued that officials likely wouldn't be able to find a vein, and he proposed that the state instead use a firing squad or nitrogen gas. His execution proceeded with no indication of trouble injecting the drugs. Full Story
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![Danny Bible received the death sentence in 2003 after confessing to the 1979 slaying of Inez Deaton.]()
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Former state Sen. Carlos Uresti sentenced to 12 years in prison
The San Antonio Democrat's sentence comes after he was convicted of 11 felonies in connection with FourWinds Logistics, a now-defunct oilfield services company found to have perpetrated a Ponzi scheme against investors. Full Story
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![Former state Sen. Carlos Uresti after his sentencing hearing in San Antonio on June 26, 2018.]()
Credit: Robin Jerstad for The Texas Tribune -
Cultural split is evident at Texas committee hearing on gun proposals
Gun rights advocates and student protesters at the Capitol on Monday argued over possible legislation to remove guns from people deemed dangerous and to mandate safe storage of firearms. The hearing was held after Gov. Greg Abbott requested legislators look at gun and school safety after the fatal Santa Fe school shooting. Full Story
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![The state House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence listens as former Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson testifies on potential gun legislation after the Santa Fe school shooting, on June 25, 2018.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough / The Texas Tribune