Border & Immigration
May 10, 2016
The Cost Of Justice
Welcome to the Texas border, home of the two busiest federal court districts in the nation.
Criminal Justice
Politics & Policy
April 25, 2016
Max Soffar Dies in Death Row Hospital
The sixty-year-old spent 35 years on death row for a crime many believe he didn't commit. He died Sunday from natural causes.
Meanwhile, in Texas
April 20, 2016
Meanwhile, in Texas . . .
Some crazy stuff went down in Texas in the past thirty days. Here are some of the headlines you may have missed.
The Daily Post
April 14, 2016
Ethan Couch, Affluenza Sufferer, Has Been Sentenced To Two Years In Jail
There’s been a lot of news around the subject of the notorious ”affluenza” defense this week.
Politics & Policy
March 30, 2016
Why Scrutinizing District Attorneys Is A Necessary Part Of Improving The Criminal Justice System
Reform doesn’t mean only addressing police brutality.
The Daily Post
March 29, 2016
Investigation Shows APD Trainer Doesn’t Emphasize The Importance Of De-Escalation
Citizen Review Panel of APD’s investigation into the shooting of an unarmed, naked teen advises that an APD cadet trainer be removed.
The Daily Post
February 10, 2016
Austin Police Shot An Unarmed Black Teenager While He Was Naked
The details continue to come out, the story looks bad on the surface.
Sports
February 9, 2016
Johnny Manziel Isn’t A Joke To The Woman He’s Accused Of Beating Up
Football fans have had their fun with the struggling quarterback, but it’s time for the conversation to shift.
Health
January 26, 2016
Everything You Need To Know About The Planned Parenthood Videographer Indictments
That’s definitely not how anyone saw that investigation going.
The Daily Post
January 8, 2016
Brian Encinia Charged With Perjury In Sandra Bland’s Case
Brian T. Encinia, the police officer who arrested Sandra Bland, has been charged with perjury—and that’s likely to be the extent of the criminal justice system’s involvement in the case.
True Crime
December 23, 2015
False Impressions
How the once troubled Texas Forensic Science Commission put the state at the forefront of the criminal justice reform movement.
Film & TV
December 23, 2015
Richard Linklater, Matthew McConaughey, and Jack Black Are Holding A Fundraiser For Bernie
Tiede, not Sanders.
The Daily Post
December 15, 2015
Stories Of Police Sexually Assaulting Women Are Depressingly Common In Texas
Last week, former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw was convicted on 18 charges, ranging from rape in the first degree to forced oral sodomy, after being accused of sexually assaulting 13 women. The case ended up making national headlines, and the details of how Holtzclaw raped so many women–and
Film & TV
November 19, 2015
‘True Conviction’ Follows Group of Texas Exonerees Investigating Wrongful Conviction Cases
Who better to investigate wrongful conviction cases than exonerees?
Infographic
November 18, 2015
Life and Death
A death penalty in decline.
The Daily Post
November 11, 2015
Who Can Get Away With Jaywalking?
After an incident last week saw several young black people on Sixth Street punched by police, the question of who’s allowed to misbehave in Austin’s bar district is especially relevant.
The Daily Post
November 2, 2015
Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg Is Appealing The Ruling On Charles Kleinert’s Federal Immunity
One of the more tragic cases in Texas in recent memory continues its journey through the legal system.
The Stand Up Desk
October 30, 2015
The Mineola Child Sex Case Gets the Movie Treatment
”Booger Red,” a film by Berndt Mader and based on a Texas Monthly story, premieres at the Austin Film Festival.
Health
October 27, 2015
The FDA Confiscated A Supply Of Execution Drugs Texas Is Thought To Have Imported Illegally
With the increased difficulty of maintaining a pentobarbital supply, Texas and Arizona are accused of importing an unapproved drug.
Film & TV
October 22, 2015
The Texas Law Hawk Is the Internet’s New Favorite Lawyer
Fort Worth defense attorney Bryan Wilson lands a body blow in his quest to claim the ”most ridiculous lawyer in Texas” crown.
True Crime
October 21, 2015
The Outcast
A dark incident almost twenty years ago put Greg Torti on the sex offender registry for life. But the real story, he insists, is much more complicated.
Criminal Justice
October 20, 2015
Another Texas Exoneration Calls Bite Mark Evidence Into Question
Critics denounce this arm of forensic science as bogus and subjective.
The Daily Post
October 15, 2015
Round Rock High School Video Sparks A Familiar Debate
Video footage of a teenage boy placed in a chokehold by school resource officers adds a new layer to an ongoing debate.
Border & Immigration
October 7, 2015
The Sheriff At The Infamous Sierra Blanca Checkpoint Isn’t Interested In Enforcing Marijuana Laws Anymore
Come back through, Willie/Snoop/Nelly/Fiona Apple!
Politics & Policy
September 30, 2015
The Trials of Susan Hawk
The district attorney of Dallas County is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. What happened?
The Daily Post
September 22, 2015
Why Would It Matter If Deputy Goforth Was Having An Affair?
The personal life of the slain sheriff’s deputy is no one’s business, but it could be important to his alleged killer's defense.
The Daily Post
September 21, 2015
The Dallas Judge Who Said A Raped Teenager “Wasn’t The Victim She Claimed To Be” Has Been Formally Reprimanded
A panel determined that District Judge Jeanine Howard undermined public confidence after a controversial statement.
Business
September 17, 2015
Whataburger Employee Refused To Serve Police Officers, Adding To Its PR Woes
Whataburger landed itself in another pickle—but not the kind on its tasty burgers.
Bum Steers
September 17, 2015
Do You, Defendant #SC100313, Take This Woman . . .
A curious case of courthouse nuptials.
Sports
September 17, 2015
Path to Justice
Baylor, bared.
The Daily Post
September 16, 2015
An Undocumented Harris County Woman Faced Deportation After Being Arrested At Her OB-GYN
According to Blanca Borrego's family, she was taken into an exam room where sheriff's deputies were waiting for her.
The Daily Post
September 16, 2015
Irving Ninth Grader Handcuffed, Suspended For Bringing A Homemade Clock To School
What Ahmed Mohamed's case tells us about the American dream.
News & Politics
September 14, 2015
Four Decades, Three Trials, Two Death Sentences, One Exoneree. Almost.
Thirty-eight years after Kerry Max Cook was convicted of murder, he continues to seek exoneration. And now he might finally have a chance to convince the courts of his innocence.
The Daily Post
August 26, 2015
The Street Where Sandra Bland Was Pulled Over Has Been Renamed After Her
Over a month after Sandra Bland’s death, the local city council voted to rename a road Sandy Bland Parkway.
Sports
August 21, 2015
Sam Ukwuachu Sentenced To Ten Years of Probation For Second-Degree Sexual Assault
The sentencing phase of the trial began immediately after Ukwuachu was found guilty Thursday night, and reached its conclusion Friday afternoon.
Sports
August 20, 2015
Silence at Baylor
A much-talked-about football player at Baylor University—whom coaches “expect back” this fall—is currently on trial for the sexual assault of a fellow student. Questions now swirl around what the program knew and when they knew it.
The Daily Post
August 12, 2015
The Arlington Police Department Takes A Different Approach After Christian Taylor’s Death
Transparency and action after an officer-involved shooting could indicate a fundamental shift.
The Daily Post
August 10, 2015
What We Know About Christian Taylor, The Unarmed Black Texas Teenager Killed By Police
An Angelo State football player was shot and killed by police in Arlington over the weekend, and questions remain.
Politics & Policy
August 10, 2015
Crossing the Line
The hard truth behind police misconduct in Prairie View and McKinney.
The Daily Post
August 7, 2015
Scenes From The Waller County Jail
In the wake of Sandra Bland's death, activists have spent their summer in the heat, holding signs, and declaring that "as long as there's injustice in the world, people need to be sitting somewhere."
The Daily Post
August 5, 2015
Jesse Jacobs Died In Police Custody Of “Natural Causes,” But His Family Says Otherwise
We can't ignore law enforcement's failure to secure proper medical treatment.
The Daily Post
July 29, 2015
Race and Housing in McKinney: What Is Changing After The Pool Party Incident?
How new low-income housing and a SCOTUS decision could shake things up, and why they desperately needed it.
The Daily Post
July 24, 2015
On ‘Contempt Of Cop,’ Jailhouse Suicide, And Sandra Bland
The last few days of the life of Sandra Bland tell us things about ourselves, and the culture we’ve built, that we’d rather not know.
Chat
July 23, 2015
True Grits
Innocence Project of Texas executive director Scott Henson says his organization is about more than DNA evidence.
Behind the Lines
July 23, 2015
Time and Punishment
Pamela Colloff writes about the first prosecutor to be disbarred under a new law in Texas.
The Daily Post
July 16, 2015
Family And Friends Question The Story Of How Sandra Bland Died In Police Custody
Officials in Waller County say that the woman’s death was a suicide. Her friends and family don’t believe it. And there are 64 other deaths in Texas this year make it harder to trust the official story.
Critters
July 15, 2015
A Tyler Man Is Suing the City After He Was Arrested for Swearing When He Picked Up His Missing Bird
A colorful man with a colorful bird had a hard time in the Tyler police station.
The Daily Post
June 12, 2015
Ex-DA Who Sent Exoneree Anthony Graves to Death Row Is Disbarred
A small measure of justice was served when the State Bar of Texas stripped Charles Sebesta of his law license and formally disbarred him.
The Culture
June 11, 2015
“Odor! Odor in the Court!”
District judge Carter Tinsley Schildknecht, of Dawson County, was reprimanded by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for, among other offenses, holding a fifteen-hour court session that ran until four in the morning, during which she allowed no formal meal or bathroom breaks.
The Daily Post
June 9, 2015
What Is There to Say About This Austin Police Video?
A mounted police officer grabs the camera of a man filming a tense incident on Sixth Street, and a fellow officer steps in to shoot a stream of pepper spray into the man’s face. But how many videos of police behaving badly can we handle?