AltWeeklies Wire
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 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
Texas Creates Task Force on Sexual Slavery as One Trafficking Case Wraps Upnew
Despite the fact that three out of four victims of sex trafficking in the United States are U.S. citizens, House Bill 4009, now awaiting Governor Rick Perry's signature, would be the first state-level legislation to assist domestic victims.
San Antonio Current |
Greg Harman |
06-17-2009 |
Crime & Justice
In Texas, Restitution for Victims is Nothing but a State-Sanctioned Scamnew
More than 90 percent of Texas parolees walk away without paying off what the state ordered them to.
Houston Press |
Chris Vogel |
12-09-2008 |
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
Gangsters Thriving in Bacliff, Texasnew
The unincorporated town is up to its elbows in youth gangs, poverty and crime.
Houston Press |
John Nova Lomax |
09-16-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Gone to Hell: Mental Illness and Harris County Jailnew
Even though Alexander Hatcher is bipolar and schizophrenic, he wasn't given his meds for his first three months in jail. He got in fights with the guards. Now he's sentenced to prison for a long, long time.
Houston Press |
Paul Knight |
08-26-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Lethal Rejection: Karl Chamberlain's Execution is Overnew
On Feb. 21, Karl Chamberlain received a rare greeting card from his half-sister, Liberty Chamberlain: "Happy Death Day," it read. "Glad you're still with us." Chamberlain, the first to receive an execution date once Texas reopened the execution chamber after a Supreme Court ruling, was executed by lethal injection on June 11.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Dave Maass |
06-19-2008 |
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
Putting a Face on Texas' Death Row Populationnew
Shooting through the glass of interview cubicles, photographer and investigator John Holbrook has made eloquent portraits of some of the men -- and one of the women on Texas' Death Row.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Gayle Reaves and John Holbrook |
05-08-2008 |
Crime & Justice
A Former Death-House Chaplain Talks About Capital Punishmentnew
From 1982-95, Reverend Carroll Pickett presided over the executions of 95 inmates. After his retirement, Pickett became an anti-death-penalty advocate and began working with the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. At the Death House Door, the documentary following his emotional career, premiered at the SXSW film festival in March.
San Antonio Current |
Kiko Martinez |
04-30-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Only One Texas Inmate Has a Standing Execution Datenew
Across the country, death-row inmates have filed for, and uniformly received, stays of execution as the US Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of the three-chemical lethal injection method employed in 37 states. Yet, no lawyer has so far filed for a stay for Karl Chamberlain.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Dave Maass |
01-24-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Tango Blast: Not Your Father's Prison Gang of Oldnew
This is a new breed putting a fresh twist on an old idea, permeating the social fabric like no such group ever has before -- members proudly advertise their affiliation all over MySpace and YouTube, and people who have never even been to prison wear the gang's tattoos and symbols.
Houston Press |
Chris Vogel |
08-21-2007 |
Crime & Justice
Conman.com: Robert Paisola and His Online Version of Three Card Montenew
With a rap sheet including convictions for insurance fraud and possession of kiddie porn, Robert Paisola finds it tough to land real work. So he's created a special new hustle: a game of endlessly multiplying websites and his own form of electronic extortion against those who try to shut him down.
Salt Lake City Weekly |
Stephen Dark |
05-23-2007 |
Crime & Justice
Prison Escapee Tells Story of Mass Jailbreaknew
After Andrew Heim and five other convicts emerged from the tunnel that brought them out of Western Penitentiary in 1997, the adrenaline didn't wear off until they were halfway across Ohio.
Pittsburgh City Paper |
Marty Levine |
07-20-2005 |
Crime & Justice
