Jolie McCullough | The Texas Tribune
Jolie McCullough develops data interactives and news apps and reports on criminal justice issues for the Texas Tribune. She came to the Tribune in early 2015 from the Albuquerque Journal, where her work as a web designer and developer earned her national recognition. She was at the Journal for four years and specialized in interactive maps and data-driven special projects. She is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication; while there, she interned as a reporter and online producer at the Arizona Republic and served as the web editor of the student-run newspaper, the State Press.
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Senate Bill 6 will bar those accused of violent crimes from being released from jail before trial unless they can put up cash. That provision of the bill will go into effect Dec. 2.
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Texas’ near-total ban on abortions is sending patients out of state for the procedure. Advocates say many immigrants and women of color can’t leave, and that’s increasing the inequities their communities suffer.
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As he was fighting for the Legislature to change state bail laws, the governor continued his emergency order to restrict no-cost jail releases during the pandemic. At least several Texas courts have deemed the order unconstitutional.
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Narrowly targeted pieces of Texas’ George Floyd Act — like restricting chokeholds and requiring officers to provide first aid — are expected to pass. But the Act itself and many other related reforms have failed to progress during the legislative session that ends Monday.
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On Wednesday, the state executed Quintin Jones, 41, for the Tarrant County murder of his great-aunt in 1999.
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Jones was sentenced to death in 2001 in Tarrant County after he fatally beat his great-aunt, 83-year-old Berthena Bryant, with a baseball bat. But two relatives say they’ve forgiven him and want his sentence commuted to life in prison.
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The bill initially approved by the House aims to cool all of Texas’ prisons before 2029. But even if it is signed into law, the lockups will only be air conditioned if lawmakers provide specific funds for installation.
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“If this doesn’t push it, we don’t know what will,” says Debbie Bush. She has been fighting for greater accountability for police violence since her nephew was shot in the back by a San Antonio officer seven years ago.
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Senate Bill 21 would require cash bail for people who have ever been convicted of a violent crime.
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A provision that would remove police officers' legal shield against civil lawsuits has been pegged by multiple lawmakers as a sticking point in the Republican-led Legislature.
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State prisons shut down visitation last March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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There are 99 state prisons and jails in the state, and several of which are named after people with racist and sometimes violent histories, according to The Marshall Project.