Story archive for April 2007

Monday, Apr. 30

• Texas House looks at using drivers license magnetic strips for routine commerce

Sunday, Apr. 29

• Penalty hikes could thwart design overhaul of Texas criminal justice system

Saturday, Apr. 28

• Senate looking to beef up no-pass, no-play bill
• Texas Senate prescribes voluntary needle exchange programs

Friday, Apr. 27

• Texas Senate prescribes voluntary needle exchange programs
• TCJC: Good criminal justice bills moving in the home stretch
• Texas criminal justice items from around the web

Thursday, Apr. 26

• Will Texas budget conference committee build new prisons?
• Drug courts, stronger probation clears Texas House
• Governor should veto anti-accountability bill: Don’t close DPS misconduct records

Wednesday, Apr. 25

• Texas prisoners’ access to phones may expand
• Texas Senate approves Jessica’s Law

Tuesday, Apr. 24

• Priorities: Mentally incompetent inmates languishing in Texas county jails

Monday, Apr. 23

• ‘Not guilty,’ said the jury; ‘go to prison,’ said the parole board - examining the limits of eyewitness testimony
• Texas COs to Lege: Don’t Build New Prisons

Sunday, Apr. 22

• Want new Texas prisons? Why not just take the money from blind children?
• Wiretapping de-regulation a big waste: Texas judges approve few warrants for phone surveillance

Friday, Apr. 20

• Texas Solicitor General: ‘A great many people’ suffer from mental illness in prison
• Expanding use of questionable evidence in Texas
• Wiretapping, probation, TYC highlight busy Texas Lege week

Thursday, Apr. 19

• Texas Senate says “OK” to wiretapping your cellphone
• Important treatment, progressive sanctions bill clears Senate, plus bad homeland security bill

Wednesday, Apr. 18

• State Senator wants to ban use of Salvia divinorum drug by teens

Tuesday, Apr. 17

• What is a deadly weapon in Texas?
• Prison money in Texas Senate budget taken from blind kids - TDCJ budget possibly written in puppy blood

Monday, Apr. 16

• Texas likely to join list of states rejecting REAL ID Act
• Secrecy, wiretapping turns homeland security bills on Texas Lege agenda into Big Brother

Sunday, Apr. 15

• Texas House Corrections bills would shuffle agencies authority

Saturday, Apr. 14

• Where was the media coverage on these stories about the Texas Legislature?
• Busy committees clear bills on prison rape, parole, TYC, medical release, gun rights, and local jail diversion

Friday, Apr. 13

• Texas House shouldn’t close DPS misconduct records
• Perry moves to consolidate intelligence gathering in Governor’s office
• UPDATED: Dr. Deuell prescribes needle exchange bill for Texas

Thursday, Apr. 12

• UPDATED: Dr. Deuell prescribes needle exchange bill for Texas
• Texas Motion Picture Alliance announces victory with passage of House Bill 1634
• Lewisville Senator proposes bill to require P.E. in schools through 8th grade
• Debating Texas criminal penalty increases

Wednesday, Apr. 11

• Today’s criminal justice action at the Texas Legislature
• Texas Senate panel approves two-year moratorium on toll-road projects

Tuesday, Apr. 10

• TYC fixes would close 3 units
• Texas House Corrections bill would increase use of criminal background checks during college admissions process

Monday, Apr. 9

• Focus of Texas Senate subcommittees to be innocence, and elderly or pregnant inmates’ healthcare

Sunday, Apr. 8

• Easter reflections and roundup on TYC

Friday, Apr. 6

• New York Times spotlights report on guns, traveling and the Texas Legislature

Wednesday, Apr. 4

• Texas Senate Transportation bills worsen problems they aim to solve

Tuesday, Apr. 3

• Tuesday at the Texas Legislature
• Texas Criminal Jurisprudence Committee to focus on jail overcrowding and enhancements

Monday, Apr. 2

• Today’s criminal justice committee hearings at the Texas Legislature
• Faith Summit on Poverty revisits Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III’s “Bill of Rights for the Poor”
• Enhancments, drug court funding and probation highlight Texas Senate Criminal Justice agenda