Criminal Justice

The measures, all authored by Houston Sen. Joan Huffman, include a proposed constitutional amendment that would bar people in the country without legal status from being released on bond if accused of a range of serious felonies.

More than 1,000 criminal cases will be reviewed in Texas because of the problems with Qiagen DNA tests.

The appeal includes new testimony from experts who say Roberson’s daughter died of natural causes, and cites the court’s exoneration of a man in another shaken baby syndrome case out of Dallas County.

Many of Lubbock's city leaders traveled to the Texas Capitol for "Lubbock Day," to meet with members of the legislature and discuss West Texas issues that they feel should be addressed in Austin. The Texas Newsroom's Nina Banks reports the Texas Senate also passed three bills yesterday aimed at tightening the bail system in Texas.

Members of the Texas Senate's Criminal Justice Committee heard testimony Wednesday on five bail-related bills aimed at tightening rules on who gets bail and how it's set.

The Supreme Court upheld the federal law that bans domestic abusers under protective orders from having guns in the Rahimi case. But enforcement varies by state.

Yesterday, the City of Lubbock recognized January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month and January 23rd as Texas Blue Sand Project Day. Our reporter Samantha Larned has more on local advocacy for victims of human trafficking. On Monday, the "Grandmother of Juneteenth" Opal Lee wrote an open letter to President Trump, asking him to choose unity over division.

The Texas Indigent Defense Commission is asking the Legislature to allocate millions of the state's general revenue to rural public defense attorneys and offices.

Ahead of the 89th Legislative session in Texas' congress, the Texas Newsroom’s Blaise Gainey reports state lawmakers will find out today just how much money they’ll have to work with when crafting the state’s next 2-year budget. KERA's Toluwani Osibamowo reports a new Texas A&M report shows rural counties are short on criminal attorneys who represent low-income defendants.

Recreational marijuana is still illegal in Texas. The socially conservative legislature has voted it down year after year. And yet, with its exploding market for largely unregulated consumable hemp, Texas has inadvertently become the new Republic of THC.