AltWeeklies Wire
The Burden of Proofnew
For every person exonerated for a crime they didn't commit, there are many like James Legate: questionable cases, bulldozed through a flawed system, with no recourse left. Only a miracle could free him—and his wife is working, and hoping, for no less.
The Texas Observer |
Laura Burke |
05-17-2011 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: Prisons, James Legate
Texas Still Executes Mentally Retarded Criminals ... For Nownew
Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ban, Texas has continued to send mentally retarded criminals to death row. Will Daniel Plata's case correct this injustice?
The Texas Observer |
Renée Feltz |
04-19-2011 |
Crime & Justice
Did Texas Execute An Innocent Man?new
DNA tests undermine key evidence in the 2000 death penalty case of Claude Jones.
The Texas Observer |
Dave Mann |
11-12-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: Death Penalty, Claude Jones
A Woman's Touchnew
Juvenile inmates can make inviting targets for sex offenders--and women are the most frequent perpetrators.
The Texas Observer |
Laura Burke |
09-13-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: Texas Youth Commission
The Case of Otty Sanchez Exposes Holes in Texas' Mental Health Care Systemnew
Andrea Sanchez was suffering from postpartum psychosis, a rare but severe form of postpartum depression. Sanchez had been enduring a mental-health crisis for at least a week, but when she reached out for help—like so many Texans with severe mental illness—she was left to fend for herself.
The Texas Observer |
Dave Mann |
01-21-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Will Mexican Immigrant's Case End Texas' Exectutions of the Mentally Disabled?new
A lack of oxygen had damaged his brain during birth, so an hour into his life, and 20 years before he would be sentenced to die in Texas, Daniel Plata was already being tested for mental retardation.
The Texas Observer |
Renée Feltz |
01-21-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Did a False Confession and Faulty Arson Science Land Alredo Guardiola in Prison for 19 Years and Counting?new
A six-month Observer investigation of the case -- using new research into arson and false confessions -- shows that he is probably innocent.
The Texas Observer |
Dave Mann |
10-14-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Ed Graf May Be a Victim of Flawed Arson Sciencenew
Ed Graf was sentenced to life for burning his two young stepsons alive. Two decades later, science may exonerate him.
The Texas Observer |
Dave Mann |
06-03-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Curtis Severns Is Serving 27 Years for an Arson He Almost Certainly Didn't Commitnew
Over the past 15 years, many unscientific assumptions about how fire spreads have turned out to be wrong. Using newer methods, an arson expert has helped exonerate dozens of people wrongly convicted of arson. He believes Severns was railroaded.
The Texas Observer |
Dave Mann |
04-08-2009 |
Crime & Justice
The Texas Criminal Justice System is Embracing 'The Life Penalty'new
In the execution capital of the free world, death sentences have declined dramatically, thanks in part to the institution of life-without-parole sentences in 2005.
The Texas Observer |
John Moritz |
12-03-2008 |
Crime & Justice
One Man's Painful Journey Through South Texas' Addiction to Asset Forfeiturenew
In October 2005, Javier Gonzalez struck out from Austin toward Brownsville, carrying $10,000 in cash to pay for his dying aunt's funeral. He never made it. Gonzalez was stopped in Jim Wells County for a minor traffic violation, and the county anti-drug task force confiscated his cash.
The Texas Observer |
Jan Reid |
05-21-2008 |
Crime & Justice
The Power of Drug Courtsnew
People who complete drug-court programs rarely tumble back into substance abuse. But as drug courts become more widespread, it appears that -- like the narcotics they were created to fight -- the courts can be abused.
The Texas Observer |
Dave Mann |
12-03-2007 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: crime & justice
Give Me Shelternew
For a citizen turned drug-addict turned killer, Lady Justice doles out penance through the same vein. Murder ... is just a shot away.
The Texas Observer |
Andrew Papke |
11-19-2007 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: crime & justice
Life and Death in a Cold, Lonely Cellnew
Cells like the one I sit in are designed to confine prisoners for extreme terms of isolation in harsh, inhumane, and animalistic conditions.
The Texas Observer |
Sid Hawk Byrd |
11-19-2007 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: crime & justice
Sticking Pointnew
International treaty obligations are keeping Jose Medellin off the death house gurney.
The Texas Observer |
Anthony Zurcher |
11-05-2007 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: crime & justice
