Jolie McCullough

Judge Rules Texas Prisons Lack Of Air Conditioning ‘Cruel And Unusual’ Punishment

In a statement, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said expensive air conditioning systems are “unnecessary and not constitutionally mandated.”

Jolie McCullough
By Jolie McCullough
Prison staff and inmates move through the Darrington Unit's main hallway on July 12, 2017. (Jolie McCullough/The Texas Tribune)

ROSHARON — Just 30 miles south of the urban epicenter of Houston, the scene around one of Texas’ oldest maximum-security prisons has a much more rustic quality. The brick buildings of the prison have been part of the rural landscape since 1917 and sit among acres of farmland at the end of a long, tree-lined road. Prison officials clad in boots

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Why The Murder Charge Against The Cop Who Killed Jordan Edwards Is Rare

The former police officer who shot and killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards has been indicted on a murder charge, a rare occurrence in a state and nation where criminal charges against an officer are almost nonexistent.

Jolie McCullough
By Jolie McCullough
Roy Oliver. Oliver, a Texas police officer, faces a murder charge in the shooting of a teenager. Oliver fired a rifle at a car full of teenagers leaving a party April 29, killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. (Parker County Sheriff's/AP)

A Dallas County grand jury indicted a former Balch Springs police officer on a murder charge Monday in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager, an exceedingly rare legal step in Texas that illustrates the controversy surrounding the shooting since details of it rocked the community in April. Though news of police shootings has become

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Court Blocks Texas Efforts To Execute Mentally Ill Inmate Scott Panetti

Texas death row inmate Scott Panetti, diagnosed with schizophrenia, will be given a new shot to prove his incompetency after a federal appeals court ruling on Tuesday.

Jolie McCullough
By Jolie McCullough
Scott Panetti, diagnosed with schizophrenia, has been spared death after an appellate court intervened in his case.

The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case of a Texas death row inmate with schizophrenia back to district court in a sharp opinion Tuesday. The lower court will have to take another look at whether Scott Panetti’s mental illness makes him ineligible for execution. Panetti’s case is well known in Texas. He is often the poster child for

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Texas Counties Question Need For Seperate Courts For Cops

Texas police officers and other first responders who have job-related mental health issues can soon be diverted into pretrial treatment programs if they commit a crime, but many large counties don’t appear interested in creating the new specialty courts.

Jolie McCullough
By Jolie McCullough
Texas Counties Question Need For Seperate Courts For Cops

There’s one new law on the books intended to help police in Texas that has gotten less attention than several others in a year when lawmakers touted their “back the blue” bills. It’s a measure that will allow counties to create pretrial diversion programs for first responders who commit crimes because of job-related mental health issues. The

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Texas Black Caucus: State Needs To Act Following Killing Of Black Teen By Police

In the aftermath of a police officer killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards near Dallas, the Texas Legislative Black Caucus called on state leaders to work with legislators on police interactions and accountability.

Jolie McCullough
By Jolie McCullough
A few hundred supporters stand holding lit candles as they listen to comments from speakers during a vigil for Jordan Edwards in Balch Springs, Texas, Thursday, May 4, 2017. (AP/Tony Gutierrez)

Days after a Dallas-area police officer shot and killed a black 15-year-old in the passenger seat of a car, the Texas Legislative Black Caucus and other lawmakers made an emotional plea to state leaders Thursday morning to act to prevent police shootings. Jordan Edwards, an honor student at Mesquite High School, was shot in the head with a rifle

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Texas Wants Its Execution Drugs Back, And It’s Suing The FDA To Get Them

More than a year after the feds blocked Texas from importing an execution drug, Texas filed a lawsuit demanding a final decision on whether the drugs can be delivered.

Jolie McCullough
By Jolie McCullough
death penalty, execution

(REPORT) --- Texas on Tuesday sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for what it says is an "unreasonable delay" in deciding whether to allow the delivery of execution drugs from India. The lawsuit comes more than 17 months after the FDA seized 1,000 vials of sodium thiopental at a Houston airport. In July 2015, the Texas Department of

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