Texas lawmakers are pushing over 100 bills to increase criminal penalties, which could lead to overcrowding of jails and prisons, and strain law enforcement resources.
Category: Texas Tribune
Posted inTexas Tribune
Orator, conscience, advocate: State lawmakers honor Sylvester Turner with bipartisan accolades in Capitol ceremony
Former U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner was honored with a memorial service in the Texas House chamber, where lawmakers remembered him for his oratory, advocacy for his constituents, and his relationships with his colleagues, highlighting his commitment to bipartisanship and his legacy as a public servant.
Posted inTexas Tribune
Feds are opening more detention centers in Texas as Trump administration steps up deportations
The Trump administration has reopened a South Texas Family Residential Center to hold migrant families facing deportation, adding thousands of beds to Texas’s 21 detention centers, which currently hold the most immigrants of any state.
Posted inTexas Tribune
Robert Morris, former Texas megachurch pastor and Trump adviser, indicted for child sex crimes
Robert Morris, the former spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump and pastor of Gateway Church in Dallas, has been indicted in Oklahoma for child sex crimes that date back to the 1980s.
Posted inTexas Tribune
Texas House bill would weaken renters’ rights, advocates say
House Bill 32 aims to help property owners deal with squatters by speeding up the state’s eviction process, making it easier for landlords to find judges who will side with them in eviction cases, and making it harder for low-income tenants to obtain legal assistance.
Posted inTexas Tribune
In Texas, private firms cash in on property tax late fees, piling debt onto struggling homeowners
Texas has one of the most punitive systems in the nation for property tax debt, where private law firms can charge up to 20% on top of existing base taxes, penalties, and interest, resulting in billions of dollars in revenue for the firms.