A Texas man wrongfully convicted in 1987 of murdering his wife is scheduled to be officially exonerated on Monday.
That is no longer so unusual in Texas, where 45 inmates have been exonerated in the last decade based on DNA evidence. What is unprecedented is the move planned by lawyers for the man, Michael Morton: they …
December 27, 2011 Tags: news, TX
Category: Exonerated, Reform No Comments 
The state of Texas comes in third behind Illnois and New York in the number of exonerations in the United States since 1989, according to data compiled by Mother Jones.
With the help of the Center on Wrongful Convictions and the Innocence Project, reporters Beth Schwartzapfel and Hannah Levintova built a state-by-state data set of exoneration …
December 12, 2011 Tags: IL, news, NY, TX
Category: Exonerated, Reform No Comments
A proposed ordinance being weighed by Amarillo officials to restrict where some sex offenders live echoes similar laws across the state and around the country, but the benefits are murky.
Studies into the laws’ impact have found that sex offender residence restrictions do not significantly deter repeat offenses by sex offenders.
“We found that proximity is not …
December 5, 2011 Tags: news, TX
Category: Sex-offenses No Comments
In 29 states a loophole in a federal law allows juveniles facing prosecution as adults to be kept in county jails instead of juvenile detention facilities, possibly placing them in cells with hardened criminals.
But in Texas, a new law passed by the Legislature allows district judges to order juveniles certified to be tried as adults …
