Why Do People Keep Dying in Harris County Jail?
The Texas jail is bursting at the seams as officials push for more pretrial incarceration.
Jessica Pishko Mar 09, 2023
D.A.s Are Asking Biden to End the Death Penalty. But Some Are Still Wielding It Themselves
Prosecutors who have championed criminal justice reforms are still seeking death sentences, opposing appeals, and, in some cases, have even petitioned for execution dates.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Apr 05, 2021
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.
Jonathan Ben-Menachem Mar 13, 2020
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.
Jay Willis Mar 04, 2020
In Texas, Prosecution Gets Privatized
Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. Yesterday, criminal justice advocates protested the Harris County district attorney’s office for using pro bono law firm attorneys to help prosecute misdemeanor cases in the Justice of […]
Sarah Lustbader Feb 27, 2020
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behind the Harris County district attorney’s message to ‘put down your gun and pick up an employment application’ is outdated.
Jessica Pishko Feb 19, 2020
Bernie Sanders Endorses Audia Jones for Harris County D.A.
Jones is challenging incumbent Kim Ogg in the 2020 election.
Jay Willis Feb 13, 2020
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.
Aaron Morrison Jan 30, 2020
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.
Kira Lerner Dec 11, 2019
Law Enforcement Cracks Down On Climate Activists
Climate activists in Houston are charged under a new law aimed at criminalizing protest
Vaidya Gullapalli Sep 16, 2019
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.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Sep 10, 2019
Spending billions on policing, then millions on police misconduct
Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. In 2017, the coalition Freedom to Thrive looked at the enormous outlay on policing and incarceration across the U.S.—over $180 billion annually—contrasting it with the systemic underinvestment […]
Vaidya Gullapalli Aug 02, 2019
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.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Jul 29, 2019
Spotlight: A City Council Says No To More Police
Last week, in a 4-3 vote on the 2019-20 budget, the City Council in Durham, North Carolina, voted against funding 18 new police officers. It voted instead to raise the wage for part-time city workers to just over $15 an hour. With that, the city joined jurisdictions around the country that are critically evaluating requests for increased […]
Vaidya Gullapalli Jun 10, 2019
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.
Keri Blakinger Jun 10, 2019
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.
Mike Hayes Apr 03, 2019
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.
Roxanna Asgarian Mar 07, 2019
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?’
Roxanna Asgarian Feb 08, 2019
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.
Alex Hannaford Aug 09, 2018
Harris County D.A. will no longer prosecute “trace cases”
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg made good on a central campaign promise this week, announcing that her office will no longer prosecute “trace cases” that involve trivially small amounts of drugs, or drug residue. In an interview with the Houston Press, Ogg said that although there is still no formal policy prohibiting these prosecutions, her office stopped […]
Rebecca McCray Sep 28, 2017
Underage teenager faces life as registered sex offender for having sex with underage girlfriend
A 14-year-old Houston teenager may be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life after he was charged with having sex with his 12-year-old girlfriend. The seventh grader, whose name has not been revealed, has been charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. His girlfriend is in the sixth grade, the Houston Chronicle said. […]
Larry Hannan Sep 27, 2017