Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One app.

Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles. One news app.

The Latest Breaking News from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Texas Prisons Ask for $298 Million to Cool 15,700 Beds as Heat Illness Risk Persists for Older Inmates

Texas prisons want $298 million to cool 15,700 more beds. Why indoor heat above 100 degrees endangers older and chronically ill inmates and staff.

Medical Daily

$Texas prisons seek $298 million for air conditioning. That’s a fraction of what’s needed.$

Texas prisons seek $298 million for air conditioning. That’s a fraction of what’s needed.

It would cost $1.5 billion to fully cool all prisons, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice estimates.

The Texas Tribune

Texas prison agency names senior official as its next chief

Bobby Lumpkin, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s COO, will take over the the top role on Sept. 1, following Bryan Collier’s retirement.

The Texas Tribune

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

Most Texas prisoners don’t have AC access and it’s unclear when they will get it

Despite receiving substantial state funding to air-condition prisons in the last few years, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has stayed mum on when it will install cooling across the system.

The Texas Tribune

Bill requiring air conditioning in all Texas prisons wins House approval

House Bill 3006 would require the installation of climate control in state prison facilities by 2032.

The Texas Tribune

An Inside Look at Taser Use in Texas Prison

The sound of electricity sizzling and crackling broke the silence. To me, it looked like the electric chair was officially back in the prisons.

Texas Observer

Inmates in this Texas program are leaving prison with jobs — and lower chances of reincarceration

Faced with more immediate funding needs, state officials haven’t asked for more money for rehabilitation programs, such as STRIVE, next budget cycle.

The Texas Tribune

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

Texas should close prisons and jails with staffing challenges, state oversight panel says

A report found up to 70% of guard positions were unfilled at some prisons. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has a 26% staff turnover rate.

The Texas Tribune

Attorney General Ken Paxton files motion to block death row inmate Robert Roberson from testifying

The motion escalates a tense standoff between Paxton and a bipartisan Texas House committee, which had subpoenaed Roberson to testify at the Capitol on Friday.

The Texas Tribune

Texas lawmakers issue new subpoena for death row inmate Robert Roberson's testimony

A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers have issued a new subpoena that would require the state’s prison system to allow death row inmate Robert Roberson to testify in person on Friday about the state’s junk science law

The Independent UK

Texas House panel subpoenas death row inmate Robert Roberson a second time

The new subpoena comes after lawmakers say Ken Paxton’s office stalled a previous effort to get Roberson’s legislative testimony about his conviction in “shaken baby” case.

The Texas Tribune

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.

The Texas Tribune

Ex-juror in ‘shaken baby’ case tells hearing Texas death row inmate should not face execution

Robert Roberson was scheduled to be executed on Thursday for the murder of his own daughter – but received a last-minute reprieve amid widespread concerns that she died of natural causes

The Independent UK

Texas man apologizes to victims and breaks into song as he is executed for 1989 murder of twin teenage girls

Garcia White delivered a chilling final address in front of the victims’ families before breaking out into hymnsong moments before a lethal injection was administered

The Independent UK

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

The Guardian - US

‘It’s torture’: brutal heat broils Texas prisons, killing dozens of inmates

Legal action aims to force criminal justice department to air condition prisons, where 85,000 are at risk of heat illnesses

Texas Observer

Taking Prison to Court: Fighting for the Right to Sleep

Michael Garrett sued the Texas Department of Criminal Justice more than a decade ago, and he’s working from inside to keep the case alive.

The Texas Tribune

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.

Latin Times

Advocates seek to protect Texas inmates from uncooled imprisonment, say they're being 'cooked to death'

A complaint against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice says that lack of air conditioning in the premises amounts to cruel punishment

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

WEKU

Who performs a lethal injection in the U.S.? In some states, they're volunteers

A failed execution in Idaho has put a spotlight on the teams of people that prisons use to impose the ultimate penalty on condemned inmates.

The Independent UK

A convicted child sex offender is back behind bars after breaking out of Texas jail

Robert Yancy, Jr was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2022 for continuous sexual abuse of a child

The Texas Tribune

Texas executes David Renteria for 2001 murder of El Paso girl

Renteria’s attorneys unsuccessfully argued that the El Paso District Attorney’s Office violated his constitutional rights by not releasing all documents in his case. He was the eight person executed in Texas in 2023.

The Independent UK

A Texas killer says a prison fire damaged injection drugs. He wants a judge to stop his execution

Attorneys for a condemned Texas killer say drugs he is to be injected with next week were exposed to heat from a fire and have asked a federal judge to stop his execution

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.

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.

The Texas Tribune

Despite budget surplus, Texas Legislature makes little money available for prison air conditioning

Stifling heat has killed inmates and exacerbated employee turnover in Texas prisons. But funding for air conditioning was whittled down in the draft budget released Thursday.

People

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

Organisations

the Texas Supreme Court

Texas House of Representatives

58 stories

STRIVE

31 stories

the Texas Department of Criminal Justice

25 stories

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

Topics

Places

Fourteen days free

Download the app

One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.