Why Do People Keep Dying in Harris County Jail?
The Texas jail is bursting at the seams as officials push for more pretrial incarceration.
Houston’s Drug Busts Have a Clear Target: People of Color
Two years’ worth of data shows how disproportionately the city’s police and prosecutors target certain neighborhoods.
During the Pandemic, Houston Cops Went Undercover and Arrested a Homeless Man Over 0.6 Grams of Meth
As Texas lifts its COVID-19 restrictions, the city’s jail remains overcrowded and its police and prosecutors continue to operate as normal.
‘No Beds Left’: Houston’s Jail is a COVID-19 Superspreader
On Tuesday, Harris County Commissioners will decide if the D.A. and Sheriff will get more money to continue their neglect in the face of a public-health crisis.
Reformer Ed Gonzalez Wins Second Term As Harris County Sheriff
Houston area voters re-elected Gonzalez after he supported bail reform, cleaned up the county jail, and provided aid to incarcerated people living with opioid use disorder.
The Defund Movement Aims to Change the Policing and Prosecution of Domestic Violence
Though domestic violence is often cited as a reason to maintain the carceral status quo, advocates say there are more humane—and effective—alternatives.
Did Misconduct By A Rogue DEA Agent Nicknamed ‘White Devil’ Result In A Wrongful Conviction In A Houston Homicide?
Lamar Burks has maintained his innocence for nearly 25 years in a murder case that has been marked by conflicting eyewitness accounts and the conviction of a DEA agent on corruption charges.
Houston Police Chief’s Speeches Supporting Protesters Were Widely Circulated—But Video Proves His Officers Cracked Down on Them
Videos contradict officers’ claims that they didn’t ‘kettle’ protesters.
What Sheriffs Can Do To Slow the Coronavirus Outbreak
Sheriffs wield enormous power, and they can direct it in ways that will help contain the spread of COVID-19 and protect incarcerated people.
Critics Of Progressive Judges Find A Willing Ally In Local Newsrooms
With few exceptions, news outlets in Harris County, Texas, spotlight singular instances of crime to allege that legal reform policy is a threat to the public.
Harris County D.A. Kim Ogg Wins Democratic Primary
She withstood challenges from two of her former assistant district attorneys who wanted to reform the office and reduce prosecutions of low-level offenses.
What Kim Ogg Gets Wrong About Work, Poverty, and Crime
The attitude behind the Harris County district attorney’s message to ‘put down your gun and pick up an employment application’ is outdated.
Bernie Sanders Endorses Audia Jones for Harris County D.A.
Jones is challenging incumbent Kim Ogg in the 2020 election.
Harris County D.A.’s Office Dropped Theft Case After Defense Attorney Alleged Race-Based Jury Selection
A Texas judge approved a Batson motion, then overruled it. But a transcript shows that a Black man was struck unfairly, the attorney said.
Harris County D.A. Candidate Audia Jones Says She Won’t Prosecute Sex Work
The incumbent in the race, Jones’s former boss Kim Ogg, will not support a blanket refusal to prosecute sex workers, her office says.
Harris County D.A. Kim Ogg Didn’t Deliver On Her Promise Of Reform. Now Another One Of Her Former Prosecutors Is Running Against Her.
Carvana Cloud, until recently the chief of the Special Victims Bureau, is entering the race to unseat her former boss.
Harris County D.A. Seeks Execution of Intellectually Disabled Man, Lawyer Says
Kim Ogg ran as a reform-minded district attorney candidate, but her office has sought two death warrants for Dexter Johnson, whose lawyer says cannot name everyday objects and has an IQ of 70.
When Cops Lie, Should Prosecutors Rely Upon Their Testimony At Trial?
In California, Texas and Florida, advocates sent letters to district attorneys, demanding that they refuse to work with officers with histories of misconduct.
Data Raises Questions About Harris County D.A.’s Push for More Lawyers
Records show Kim Ogg’s office appeared to misrepresent felony prosecutor caseloads in its $21 million budget request.
Houston Homicide Under New Scrutiny After Misconduct Allegations About DEA Agent Emerge
In 2000, Lamar Burks was convicted of murder and given a 70-year sentence. But the federal indictment of a DEA agent and witnesses who say Burks is innocent have raised new questions about his case.
In Texas, D.A. Who Promised Reform Now Faces Challenge From The Left
Audia Jones pledges to tackle ‘brokenness in the system’ by unseating Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
D.A. Who Ran as a Reformer Says She Needs 100 More Prosecutors
‘How are we making sure that we’re not just building and building a system that we know is not necessarily effective?’
Moving Away From ‘Jail for Everybody’
Harris County Judge Darrell Jordan discusses his newly elected colleagues’ decision to withdraw an appeal of a landmark bail reform lawsuit.
The ‘Failure to Appear’ Fallacy
Prosecutors denounce bail reform efforts when people miss court dates, but ‘failure to appear’ rates obscure the fact that many who miss court aren’t on the run.
Harris County Judges May Face a Reckoning Over Bail On Election Day
Republican misdemeanor judges in Houston have clung to an unconstitutional bail system. But their intransigence could cost them their seats.
Cash Bail Yields A New Casualty
A Texas jail suicide involving a woman who couldn’t make bail in a shoplifting case highlights of the plight of pretrial detainees with mental illness.
Harris County D.A. Ran as a Reformer. So Why is She Pushing High Bail for Minor Offenses?
An email obtained by The Appeal shows Kim Ogg’s office is intentionally asking for unaffordable bail amounts to hold certain people in jail in Texas.