Monday, April 12, 2021

A dirty, uncomfortable feeling: TCOLE Sunset bill lame, inadequate, and kicks can down the road on the biggest police accountability issues

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After staff at the Texas Sunset Commission issued a scathing assessment of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, the legislation enactin...
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Sunday, April 11, 2021

Two decades after Tulia, corroboration requirement for police in drug cases may finally have its day

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Debates around the Texas George Floyd Act have revived discussions of accountability in drug enforcement that first arose two decades ago fo...
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Yes, Mr. Schaefer, police violence is a problem, even in Tyler

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Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler), who represents my hometown, said at the Homeland Security and Pubic Safety Committee hearing the other day tha...
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Tarrant medical examiner who led Forensic Science Commission found to have misled jury in murder case

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After an initial, failed run led by a tough-on-crime prosecutor, Texas' Forensic Science Commission has oddly been led by medical examin...
1 comment:
Saturday, April 10, 2021

Ridding South Texas of DPS part of forgotten populist agenda for the region

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Many Democrats were surprised in November when their candidates lost ground in Texas border regions, but Grits was not: The party has no sub...
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Thursday, April 08, 2021

Abstract 'sweet spot' imagined on bail reform probably doesn't exist

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Your correspondent has mostly stayed out of bail debates this year at the Texas Legislature for two simple reasons: 1) There are many opport...
4 comments:
Tuesday, April 06, 2021

Podcast: When is slavery profitable? Texas' "Law of Parties," why traffic enforcement doesn't make us safer, and breaking down the #TexasGeorgeFloydAct

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Here's the April 2021 episode of Just Liberty's Reasonably Suspicious podcast. co-hosted by me and Mandy Marzullo. This is Part Two ...
Saturday, April 03, 2021

Texas radically reduced traffic enforcement with no noticeable impact on road safety

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What's the relationship between traffic enforcement by police and roadway safety? Arguably not much. Over the last decade, the number of...
9 comments:
Wednesday, March 31, 2021

For cruelty's sake: Texas prisons lose money every year to keep prisoners picking cotton, other field crops

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Texas ended "convict leasing" - essentially hiring out prisoners as slave labor - just more than a century ago, but the prison sys...
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Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Proposed no-knock warrant ban not quite a ban, but a good conversation starter

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Your correspondent testified yesterday on behalf of a couple of bills ostensibly banning no-knock search warrants, although a committee subs...
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Tuesday, March 23, 2021

If conservatives are liberals who've been mugged, maybe liberals are just conservatives who enjoy government power a bit too much

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Grits must admit, I don't get it. For years, Republicans in Texas have complained about high taxes, which at the local government level ...
4 comments:
Sunday, March 21, 2021

Committee that will hear the #TexasGeorgeFloydAct has seen concerning police episodes in their districts

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Art by Nia Palmer On Thursday in the Texas House, the Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee will consider   the Texas George Floyd A...
1 comment:
Saturday, March 20, 2021

Arrested for pot, then dead; capital murderer sent out to write tickets; fired cops won't stay fired; bail-legislation updates, and other stories

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Here are a few odds and ends that merit readers' attention while mine is focused at the Texas Legislature: Say his name, folks: Marvin S...
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Monday, March 15, 2021

Data: When Texas ↓ pot prosecutions, the system focused more on violent crime

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Grits has been tracking what I've called " The Great Texas Hemp Hiatus ," referring to the Texas Legislature's legalizatio...
Friday, March 12, 2021

For journalists: How to read a Texas racial profiling report, or, a case study demonstrating discrimination through police search patterns in Amarillo

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Grits has started to see local reports on law enforcement racial profiling data from Texas traffic stops, but it's evident most local re...
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Forensic hypnosis largely dead in Texas but junk evidence still travels like zombies through the court system thanks to the CCA

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Exciting news: Texas DPS has ended the use of forensic hypnosis among the Texas Rangers, the Forensic Science Commission's Lynn Garcia t...
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Monday, March 08, 2021

On Class C arrests and a "duty to intervene," James White on "colonizing" Austin PD, and Anthony Graves on how bad prison food ruins prisoners' health: Part One of Special Podcast on #TexasGeorgeFloydAct

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The Reasonably Suspicious podcast is back after a largely health-driven hiatus. Mandy and I are diving back in with Part One of a special, t...
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