texasobserver.org

Archived at web.archive.org/…/small-town-politics-national-co…

Until now, injustice has impeded serious faults, abuses, and negligence from that night from coming to light. These actions contributed to the fatalities that occurred inside the overcrowded locked cell without fire extinguishers, ventilation, fire sprinklers, and working smoke detectors, a death trap for migrants from...

Archived at web.archive.org/…/criminal-justice-prison-sleep-t…

The increase reverses a 15-year trend. And unwanted pregnancies will rise, researchers predict....

A 15-year decline in Texas teen birth rates slid to a stop—and converted into a modest increase in 2022, the year after the state Legislature implemented what was the nation’s strongest ban on abortion, according to new report from the University of Houston’s Institute for Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality.

The majority opinion, authored by Judge Edith Jones, appointed by former President Ronald Regan, finds that local officials were reasonable when they used an obscure Texas law to arrest Gordiloca and thereby criminalize a wide range of what has been considered basic accountability journalism. The ruling applies in Texas,...

In January 2023, about 10 months after it was forced to close, the Refuge reached a settlement with [the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC)] that allowed it to reopen on probation. The conditions included implementing a reopening plan, monthly team meetings to evaluate the program’s compliance and efficacy, and...

Conservative consultants and PACs are turning Texas school boards into partisan battlegrounds. From Steven Monacelli.

Nationwide, about half of states empower ordinary citizens to collect signatures and force a statewide vote on proposed constitutional amendments or statutes. Generally, these states also authorize a similar process for voters to undo laws made by their legislatures.

Good read on “citizen initiative” - something I didn’t even know was a thing.

A fifth-grader reported being bullied by his principal. Five days later, he was handcuffed and detained.

A fifth-grader reported being bullied by his principal. Five days later, he was handcuffed and detained.

“We are professional educators. We demand to be respected.”

The [Texas Council on Family Violence] tracked and analyzed hundreds of homicides from 2022 (PDF) and found it the second-highest number on record in the past 10 years, an 8 percent increase since 2021. The 216 victims included 179 women and 37 men, 17 people who were pregnant or had recently given birth, 19 teens and young...

Despite ACLU win in lower court, an appeal by the state means transgender kids and their families will feel the devastating effects of the ban.