True Crime
November 7, 2022
The DWI Lawyer Who Represented Cocaine Traffickers—and Paid the Price
Austin attorney Jamie Balagia, a.k.a. “the Dude,” thought that he’d finally hit the big time. Then everything fell apart.
Criminal Justice
Politics & Policy
September 23, 2022
During a Summer of Record Heat, Many Prisoners in Texas Struggled to Make It Through the Day Without AC
Seventy percent of Texas prisons do not have AC, except for a small number of ill and elderly inmates, an issue that the Legislature has repeatedly punted on.
News & Politics
September 23, 2022
Bearing Witness at Texas’s First Execution by Lethal Injection
In 1982, Dick J. Reavis chronicled the first government-led lethal injection in world history—and the last moments of Charlie Brooks's life.
Politics & Policy
August 1, 2022
A New Book Exposes the Junk Science That Leads to Wrongful Convictions. Its Unlikely Hero Is a Texan.
On Wednesday in Austin, the head of the Texas Forensic Science Commission will interview the author of the latest forensic-science takedown.
True Crime
January 24, 2022
How San Antonio’s Baby-Killing Nurse Finally Got Justice
Pediatric nurse Genene Jones may have murdered "up to sixty" babies in the 1980s. It took three more decades to ensure she'd stay locked up for life.
News & Politics
December 21, 2021
Two Teens in Klan Outfits Used a Stun Gun on a Black Classmate. Now They Face Hate-Crime Charges.
Some Refugio County locals say it was “kids being kids.” For others, the incident has reopened old wounds.
News & Politics
December 10, 2021
You Can Stand Your Ground in Texas. Even When You Kill a Cop.
When a homeowner shot and killed a police officer in Midland, the court case that followed pitted two core Texas values against each other.
News & Politics
November 11, 2021
What Do We Owe Those We’ve Condemned to Die?
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether John Henry Ramirez, a Texan convicted of murder, is entitled to have his pastor by his side when he’s executed.
News & Politics
October 26, 2021
Why Doesn’t Texas Execute People Anymore?
Texas will put only three inmates to death in 2021. So much for our hang-’em-high reputation.
News & Politics
October 20, 2021
The State of Texas Tried to Kill Ernest Willis. But He Still Had a Lot of Living to Do.
The wild times of a gentle roughneck who beat the Texas criminal-justice system.
News & Politics
October 20, 2021
A Brazoria County District Clerk Sorted Jurors by Race. A Black Man Convicted Under Her System Wants a New Trial.
The first defendant to request a new trial because of Rhonda Barchak’s system had a hearing last week.
Politics & Policy
September 7, 2021
Who Killed Criminal Justice Reform in Texas?
Texas was once a model of how to safely and economically move away from mass incarceration. Now the old politics of “law and order” are back.
News & Politics
May 24, 2021
The Ghosts of Comanche Crossing
In 1981 three Black teenagers drowned while in law enforcement custody during a Juneteenth gathering at Lake Mexia. Four decades later, Texas’s proudest Emancipation Day celebration still hasn’t recovered.
News & Politics
May 19, 2021
Appeals Court Finally Exonerates Lydell Grant—Two Years After DNA Evidence Cleared Him
And 18 months after the police, district attorney, and trial judge all declared the Houston man innocent.
News & Politics
April 29, 2021
What Good Is a Posthumous Pardon for George Floyd?
Seventeen years after Floyd’s arrest by a notorious Houston cop, his family is seeking a pardon.
Film & TV
February 2, 2021
In El Paso, Joining Border Patrol Offers a Rare Path to Financial Security. But for Some Immigrant Kids, It’s Complicated.
The new documentary ‘At the Ready’ follows the members of Horizon High School’s criminal justice club as they train for Border Patrol careers—and grapple with what that means.
Books
January 28, 2021
Why Is the Death Penalty on the Decline in Texas?
Maurice Chammah’s “Let the Lord Sort Them” is a searing history of the rise and fall of capital punishment.
News & Politics
November 18, 2020
A Bad Cop’s Best Friend?
One morning in late January 2019, Rhogena Nicholas texted a prayer to her mother, Jo Ann Nicholas, just as she did every day. A widow in her eighties, Jo Ann could no longer make the four-hour drive from Natchitoches, Louisiana, to visit her daughter and her son-in-law, Dennis Tuttle, at
Film & TV
November 6, 2020
Did Melissa Lucio, the First Hispanic Woman on Death Row in Texas, Kill Her Daughter? An Uneven New Documentary Raises More Questions Than Answers.
‘The State of Texas vs. Melissa’ creates empathy for Lucio, but the film lacks a clear and balanced exposition of the deeply troubling facts of the case.
Books
October 28, 2020
This Lawyer Works to Free Incarcerated Victims of the War on Drugs. It All Started With Her Mom’s Arrest.
In a blistering memoir, attorney Brittany K. Barnett explores the traumatic aftermath of the war on drugs.
Politics & Policy
October 22, 2020
Who Is Austin’s Citizen Police Academy Meant to Serve?
Graduates say the 14-week program illuminates challenges that cops face, but glosses over issues of brutality and racism. Records show the alumni association enlists members as public advocates for APD.
True Crime
October 21, 2020
“It’s the Most Outrageous Thing I’ve Ever Seen. It Makes No Sense.”
DNA evidence proved Lydell Grant's innocence. So why won't the state’s highest criminal court exonerate him?
Politics & Policy
October 6, 2020
Jonathan Price Was Wolfe City’s Hometown Hero. On Saturday, He Was Killed by Police.
His friends, both Black and white, confront the reality of police brutality in their quiet hometown.
News & Politics
August 11, 2020
Faulty Cell Locks Are a Problem in Texas Prisons—Especially During COVID-19
After a riot at a prison in Dilley, corrections department employees confirm that many imprisoned across the state are able to “pop out" of their cells.
Politics & Policy
July 22, 2020
After the Protests: Four Perspectives on the State’s Criminal Justice System
While demonstrators marched in cities and towns across the country, a police union rep, an activist, a legislator, and an attorney sat down to discuss how to break the deadlock and bring about better policing.
News & Politics
July 16, 2020
“Black Austin Matters” Is an Artistic Challenge to the City
Activists say the city can’t yet claim that “Black Austin Matters,” given its record, and that’s why they painted the street installation.
Politics & Policy
July 16, 2020
“Your Butt Is Perfect”: Those Austin Police Department Thank-you Cards Are Even Stranger Than You Thought
An APD tweet went viral after internet sleuths theorized that the cards were a police stunt. We got ahold of documents to find the truth.
Politics & Policy
July 14, 2020
Facing a Tough Runoff Election, Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore Discusses Her Record on Race and Police Brutality
After running second in the Democratic primary to a progressive challenger, Moore argues that her critics haven’t done their homework.
Politics & Policy
July 13, 2020
How a New Jersey Divinity Student Helped Transform the Texas Criminal Justice System
Jim McCloskey, the godfather of the innocence movement, changed the way we think about crime and punishment.
Criminal Justice
July 7, 2020
‘Outcry’ Offers a Nuanced Look at a Wrongful Conviction in Central Texas
The five-part Showtime docu-series avoids the worst pitfalls of the true-crime genre, favoring character over sensationalism.
Health
July 2, 2020
When COVID-19 Hit the Smith County Jail, One Tyler Activist Became a Citizen Watchdog
Dalila Reynoso, who started a friendship with Sheriff Larry Smith at Whataburger, now monitors local jails to keep him accountable.
Texas History
June 25, 2020
“A Watershed Moment”: How Scholarship and Activism Finally Toppled a Texas Ranger Statue in Dallas
The removal of the statue is part of a larger reappraisal of the role of the Rangers in Texas history.
Politics & Policy
June 17, 2020
Remembering William S. Sessions (1930–2020), the San Antonian Who Ran the FBI During the Branch Davidian Standoff
From bringing down the “Duke of Duval” to becoming the first FBI director to be fired, Sessions was a lawman to his core.
News & Politics
June 10, 2020
Photo Gallery: Black Lives Matter Protests in Texas
Demonstrations and vigils took place all over the state—from major cities to small towns.
Politics & Policy
June 5, 2020
“There Are No Checks and Balances”: Two Texas Criminal Justice Experts on the Fight for Police Reform
Scott Henson and Chas Moore have been working for years to stop police brutality. They say that sweeping, systemic change is needed.
Politics & Policy
June 2, 2020
How San Marcos Went From ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policing to Requiring That Officers Release Low-Level Offenders
Despite opposition from the local police union, the city passed Texas's most expansive ‘cite-and-release’ policy.
News & Politics
June 1, 2020
‘How Can They Expect Peace When They Won’t Give Us Peace’: A Weekend of Demonstrations in Dallas Over Police Killings
Protesters took to the Dallas streets, joining nationwide demonstrations over the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
News & Politics
May 19, 2020
Domestic Violence Calls Spike in Texas Cities, While Falling in Rural Areas
"When you're in a rural community, it's difficult to receive services and be very discreet about it. … Those complexities are amplified at this time."
True Crime
May 11, 2020
Five Judges Say Rosa Jimenez Was Wrongly Convicted. So Why Is She Dying in Prison?
First came the sound of someone running hard on the breezeway outside, then a banging on the apartment door. Irene Vera opened it to see her neighbor, twenty-year-old Rosa Jimenez, holding a little boy who lay limp in her arms. “Help me! Help me!” Jimenez cried hysterically in Spanish. The
News & Politics
May 4, 2020
Prisons Are Coronavirus Hot Spots. Palestine’s Got Five of Them.
A COVID-19 outbreak in a maximum-security unit has created rifts between the local government and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
The Stand Up Desk
March 18, 2020
From the Editor, April 2020: The Hunger to Know
Robert Draper, like the people he interviewed for this month's cover story, is driven by a need to understand the past.
News & Politics
March 2, 2020
No Glitter, No Glue . . . No Meth? Texas Bans Greeting Cards in Prison
Texas prison officials think they can curb contraband by banning greeting cards, but prisoners say the drugs come in through guards, not mail.
Politics & Policy
February 19, 2020
Criminal Justice Reform Moves Pretty Fast. Just Ask Harris County DA Kim Ogg.
Four years ago, Ogg won election by promising to reform the county’s justice system. Now she’s getting primaried by two of her former prosecutors, who say she hasn’t done enough.
Politics & Policy
January 22, 2020
Art Acevedo Can’t Say That, Can He?
Not long after criticizing Ted Cruz and John Cornyn for ignoring gun violence, the Houston police chief sat down to talk about his headline-making comments, why he’s a RINO, and the balance between criminal justice reform and public safety.
News & Politics
January 16, 2020
“Angel of Death” Nurse Pleads Guilty to a New Murder
Genene Jones, suspected for decades of killing multiple children, was sentenced to life after accepting responsibility for a second San Antonio death.
Politics & Policy
December 30, 2019
The Best Texas Monthly Longform of 2019
Settle in for a by-no-means comprehensive list of some of the most popular stories in our pages this year.
Criminal Justice
December 19, 2019
He’s One of the Best Young Prosecutors in Texas. He Also Could Get Kicked Out of the Country.
Pedro Villalobos handles felony cases in Travis County, but his own legal status could be in jeopardy.
Politics & Policy
December 9, 2019
Who Gets to Live and Die When the State Relies on False Testimony in Death Penalty Cases?
A.P. Merillat helped send at least 15 people to death row. On Wednesday, Travis Runnels will become the third this year to be executed, even though a former prison official calls Merillat’s testimony “bullshit.”
Politics & Policy
December 5, 2019
How Houston Is Leading the Way on Keeping Poor Defendants Out of Jail
In a landmark legal case, Harris County has agreed to release the vast majority of misdemeanor arrestees instead of locking them up. But reformers aren’t done yet.
The National Podcast of Texas
November 18, 2019
The West Memphis Three’s Jason Baldwin Fights for the “Hopelessly Innocent” After 18 Years in Prison
On this week’s National Podcast of Texas, the cofounder of Austin nonprofit Proclaim Justice on inequality in the justice system and the Rodney Reed saga.