Texas can schedule Robert Roberson’s execution — but lawmakers still expect his testimony first
Roberson was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter in a “shaken baby” case that many say led to an innocent man’s death sentence. Full Story
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![Robert Roberson seeks a new trial for the 2003 conviction of the murder of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in Palestine, Texas on August 14, 2018.]()
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Search the newly updated Texas state employees salaries database
The Texas Tribune’s database of Texas state employees’ compensation is updated to represent salaries as of October 1. Full Story
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Texas prison system’s staffing crisis and outdated technology endanger guards and inmates
A new state report says the prison population will outgrow capacity by the end of next year. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville on November 1, 2013.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Texas prisons and jails are recruiting more teenagers to shore up guard shortage
Two counties house training programs in local high schools as officials pitch corrections jobs as gateways to criminal justice careers. Full Story
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![19 year-old Detention Officer Justtice Taylor of the Smith County Sheriff's Office, on September 10, 2024, at the Smith County Jail in Tyler.]()
Credit: Michael Cavazos for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ prison guard shortfall makes it harder for inmates to get reprieve from extreme indoor heat, critics say
About 25% of Texas’ correctional officer positions are unfilled. Inmates say the shortages make it harder for them to get respite during hot summer months. Full Story
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![Mountain View prison in Gatesville on September 19, 2019.]()
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Former Texas prisoners describe suffocating heat during trial over state’s un-air conditioned lockups
A lawsuit seeks to force Texas to fully air condition its prison system. Inmate advocacy groups say temperatures can push above 120 degrees in some units. Full Story
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![Prison staff and inmates move through the Darrington Unit's main hallway on Wednesday, July 12, 2017.]()
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Search the newly updated Government Salaries Explorer
The Texas Tribune’s database of Texas state employees’ compensation is updated to represent salaries as of July 1. Full Story
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When Texas jails issue tablets, it comes at cost for inmates and families
A handful of Texas jails have issued electronic tablets to inmates. Counties can make money off their use. Full Story
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![A man plays a game in the Brothers in Arms cell block, a new veteran-focused program, at the Harris County Joint Processing Center on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Houston.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribunne -
Feds accuse Texas prison agency of discriminating against employee for wearing a headscarf
A federal lawsuit asserts that the Texas agency terminated a state prison clerk who refused to remove a head covering in line with her Ifa faith. Full Story
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Search the newly updated Government Salaries Explorer
The Texas Tribune’s database of Texas state employees’ compensation is updated to represent salaries as of April 1. Full Story
![Government Salaries Explorer]()
Credit: Photo Illustration by Ben Hasson / Texas Tribune -
Texas inmates are being ‘cooked to death’ in extreme heat, complaint alleges
With the threat of another hot summer ahead, advocates asked a federal judge to declare 100-degree-plus conditions in uncooled Texas facilities unconstitutional. Full Story
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![Telford prison on Tuesday, March 21, 2017, in New Boston.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Texas inmate Syed Rabbani taken off death row after original appeal was left pending for decades
A prosecutor called delays in Rabbani’s long-standing appeal “a due process disaster.” Full Story
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![Joshua Reiss, a division chief with the Harris County District Attorney's Office, at right, hands Judge Lori Chambers Gray a copy of Syed Rabbani’s original trail transcript during a hearing for Rabbani at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, in Houston. Rabbani was issued the death sentence in 1988 after a jury found Rabbani guilty of killing a fellow Bangladeshi immigrant, 28-year-old Mohammed Hasan, at a Houston convenience store. (Antranik Tavitian / Houston Landing)]()
Credit: Antranik Tavitian/Houston Landing -
Texas’ top criminal court halts William Speer’s execution hours before he was scheduled to die
Speer has been on death row for decades after strangling another inmate at a Texas prison. The victim’s sister and faith leaders have both called on the parole board to halt the execution. Full Story
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![Interior of Death Chamber in Texas.]()
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Texas inmate killed by cellmate during a statewide prison lockdown
The killing of inmate Billy Chemirmir in the Coffield Unit occurred during a statewide lockdown of prisons, promoted by a rise in inmate homicides. A day before the lockdown, another incident at the same prison resulted in the firings of seven correctional officers and the resignations of another six. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville in 2013.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Texas prison system issues statewide lockdown to combat illegal drugs, inmate violence
The state has canceled all visits to Texas prison inmates until a comprehensive search of all 100 correctional facilities for contraband has been completed. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville in 2013.]()
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As the death toll in stifling Texas prisons climbs, congressional Democrats ask for investigation
Most Texas prisons lack air conditioning. At least 41 prisoners have died of heart-related or undetermined causes since the unrelenting heat wave began. Full Story
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![A thermometer is pictured inside a mock prison cell during a "Beat the Heat" awareness event at the Capitol on March 12, 2019.]()
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A prison guard says she was forced to stay at her post during labor pains. Texas is fighting compensation for her stillbirth.
The seven-months-pregnant officer reported contraction-like pains at work, but said she wasn’t allowed to leave for hours. The anti-abortion state is fighting her lawsuit, in part by saying her fetus didn’t clearly have rights. Full Story
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![Prisoners work outdoors at the Dr. Lane Murray Unit, a women's prison that's part of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.]()
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Facing sex discrimination claims, Texas begins jailing migrant women under border crackdown
Operation Lone Star originally targeted single men suspected of crossing the border illegally in mass trespassing arrests, but some claimed that not arresting women violated equal protection laws. Full Story
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![Asylum seekers who have just crossed the border are led by a National Guard troop to be apprehended by Customs and Border Protection in Roma on Aug. 3, 2021.]()
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Prisoners’ relatives and former inmates plead for help as deaths mount in sweltering Texas prisons
Several lawmakers supported a call for Gov. Greg Abbott to bring lawmakers back immediately to approve air conditioning for prisons, which the Legislature declined to do during its regular session. Full Story
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![Tona Southards, whose 36-year-old son died in a Texas prison during the June 2023 heat wave, falls to her knees as she leads a prayer circle outside the Texas Capitol on July 18, 2023. Southards and other prison rights advocates called for Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session to install air conditioning in Texas prisons.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough/The Texas Tribune -
Investigation finds no fraud by Texas prison contractor that was paid despite cutting inmate therapy services
Management & Training Corporation had been accused of defrauding the state by charging for services it didn’t provide and directing prisoners to falsify paperwork about their treatment. Full Story
Credit: Martin do Nascimento for The Texas Tribune
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