What We're Reading
News that caught our attention or cited the Texas Justice Initiative from across the Lone Star State and beyond.
Dead Man Waiting: A brief profile of deaths in Texas prisons among people approved for parole release
Published on June 18, 2021A report by researchers at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin found an increase in the number of people who had been approved for parole and died while still incarcerated in Texas during the coronavirus pandemic.
For a second year, most U.S. police departments decline to share information on their use of force
Published on June 9, 2021For the second time, the data that agencies voluntarily submit to the FBI on use of force is unusable because of low participation. The Washington Post reports that only 27% of departments across the country – and about 3% in Texas – participated in the data collection effort.
Latinos are disproportionately killed by police but often left out of the debate about brutality, some advocates say
Published on June 2, 2021The Washington Post's Silvia Foster-Frau reports on the in custody deaths of Latinos in the U.S. She writes: "a review of databases that track police killings shows that while their cases have largely gone untold in the national discussion of police violence, Latinos are killed by police at nearly double the rate of White Americans."
KXAN investigation leads to first-ever 100% racial profiling report compliance in Texas
Published on June 1, 2021After KXAN looked into compliance with the state's racial profiling law, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement took action to change things. For the first time, all agencies filed their required racial profiling reports this year – including 15 agencies whose heads were reprimanded for filing late.
A year after George Floyd's murder, only a few of Texas lawmakers' police reform measures appear likely to become law
Published on May 25, 2021Reporter Jolie McCullough provides an update on proposed legislation that is being considered by the Texas Legislature one year after the murder of George Floyd.