Prisons

Texas Eclipses California As State With Largest Prison Population

Last month, Texas' prison population was right at 154,000, the lowest its been in five years. Lower crime rates, an aging population, and alternative treatments have all contributed to the decline. But as the Star-Telegram noted yesterday, the drop hasn't been enough to spare Texas the dubious dist ... More >>

Why Do Mexicans Rape So Much?

And why do they always yell "Cu-le-ro" at bands they love?

Too Many Dallas Teens are Getting Locked Up in Adult Jails, Study Says. And That Ain't Good.

An exhaustive new study has found alarming conditions for Texas teenagers housed in adult jails while awaiting trial, a practice that Dallas and Harris counties use more than anywhere else in the state. In essence, the study found that there's really no good way to keep teens and adults safely in ... More >>

NatGeo's Dallas Reality Show Pitch: "Gripping, Gritty Long-View Into World of Incarceration"

​Just a couple of weeks back some Brits asked Dallas County for the okee-doke to film a 3D programme in the county jail for a couple of days, to which the commissioners courts said: Sure, fine. But the request going before Dallas County higher-ups today is much, much bigger -- as in, 120 days' wor ... More >>

Still an Aryan Blood Brother

Two murders and two life sentences won't alter one convict's allegiance to the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas

Former Warden Reconsiders Executions

Jim Willett oversaw 89 executions. Now, amidst dozens of DNA exonerations, he wonders whether it was right.

Feds Indict 14 Texas Syndicate Members For Murder -- and Much, Much More -- in North Texas

Dallas Can't Spin Latest Jail Lawsuit

The County can't get away from the latest bad news on its troubled jail

¡Ask a Mexican!

Prisoner, Save Thy Self?

Jesus in the Jailhouse

Old-time religion confronts 21st-century Texas prisons: Does it work, and is it constitutional?

Fed-up Feds

U.S. Justice Department investigators find horrid conditions at Dallas County's jail

Exclusive: Feds Damn County Jail as "Grossly Inadequate"

Paying the Piper

Legal bills mount as the county defends its failed jail health systems

Raising Dallas

Love lives at the jail

More Dead at the Jail

Pro Se Can You See How Sick They Are?

Time Heals No Wounds

A judge has to intervene on behalf of an inmate to save his infected leg

Sheriff Who?

Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez was a revolutionary candidate--as a leader, not so much

Suspended Sentence

After Innocence probes life after a wrongful conviction

Communication Breakdown

The Disappeared

Got a missing relative? Maybe you should look in the jail--and good luck with that.

Justice Delayed

A woman's story of life behind bars might be of interest to federal investigators

Cell Disease

Being sick in Dallas County's troubled jail can be a death sentence

We Hate Your Guts

What a disturbing new lawsuit says about the county jail

Writer's Block

Texas prisons start barring book authors from inmate interviews

Bellies of the Beast

Food cuts have inmates and guards grumbling

Habitat for Inhumanity

The "asylums" depicted in The Magdalene Sisters are insane

Life Without Father

Inmates on Texas' Death Row leave behind immeasurable pain and countless victims--including their own families

The Ex-Con Game

How do we deal with the staggering number of prisoners re-entering society? Ned Rollo thinks he knows. He should. He's been there.

Unhappy Campers

Critics of a private prison firm that ran two juvenile boot camps in Dallas wonder where the love is at these "tough love academies"

Make 'em Pay

Spurred by a horrifying wave of teen violence in the '90s, Texas today spends more money than ever to lock up young criminals. Are we getting our money's worth?

Big-House Guru

Ron Cohen counsels new inmates on surviving life behind bars. He should know. He's been there.

Pass the Plate

God and Texas taxpayers answer the prayers of a prison-based ministry

Prisoners of Love

The InnerChange Freedom Initiative says it can rehabilitate Texas prison inmates through God--a conservative evangelical Christian God, to be more precise

Bad Girls

Looking for love in the wrong places? Try Meet-An-Inmate.com.

Home Again

Horace Caraker got what he wanted: jail time

Death Angel

For 15 years, the Rev. Carroll Pickett granted the last wishes of men about to die in Texas' execution chamber. For the first time, he tells his story.

Get On Your Knees

Prison art: It ain't just about Gloria Estefan and Jesus anymore -- well, not completely

Talk isn't cheap

Dallas County rakes in millions from pricey pay phones at the jail

Software and hard time

Texas prisons take a byte out of crime with a computer rehab program

Killing machine

It is 6:07 p.m. John Albert Burks salutes the Oakland Raiders and says goodbye to his friends. Minutes later, he is a dead man. This year's 21st execution.

Tapped out

A prison arts program searches for a dance partner

Innocence Lost

Railroaded onto death row, Kerry Max Cook endures rapes, beatings, and suicide attempts while waiting for justice

Closing death's door

Will proposed media rules stifle coverage of convicts facing execution?

Cruel and Unusual

Mentally ill Texans used to go to hospitals. Now, increasing numbers of them go to prison instead.

Prison sweet prison

Horace Caraker doesn't belong in federal prison. But he likes it there, and he'll threaten a president if it means going back.

Defending Darlie

Wealthy Waco businessman Brian Pardo spends his time and money helping death-row inmates he believes are innocent. His efforts on behalf of Darlie Routier have raised suspicions about her husband--and about Pardo's motives.

Fly away, little jailbird

Reports of Steven Russell's death were greatly exaggerated, but they were enough to spring him from a Texas prison

Lambs to the slaughter

Laws to speed executions will make it harder to save Death Row's innocent