Grits for Breakfast: Bill would probe rape kit backlogs, encourage test...

Grits for Breakfast: Bill would probe rape kit backlogs, encourage test...: "We should have a lot more information about backlogs of untested rape kits at Texas police departments this fall thanks to a bill by Sen. We..."

California's overcrowded prisons; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to Congress; praising school librarians

California's overcrowded prisons; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to Congress; praising school librarians

Tim Rutten: A prison system we deserve

Tim Rutten: A prison system we deserve

Grits for Breakfast: Questions remain after TYC, juvie probation merger...

Grits for Breakfast: Questions remain after TYC, juvie probation merger...: "Governor Perry has signed the TYC-Juvenile Probation Commission merger into law, establishing a new Texas Juvenile Justice Department by th..."

Grits for Breakfast: Bill boosting Harris County jail crowding headed t...

Grits for Breakfast: Bill boosting Harris County jail crowding headed t...: "A bill Grits criticized earlier this session that would worsen Harris County jail overcrowding - extending the stay of misdemeanor defendan..."

Grits for Breakfast: Lessons from SCOTUS ruling on California prison cr...

Grits for Breakfast: Lessons from SCOTUS ruling on California prison cr...: "Yesterday the US Supreme Court, on a narrow 5-4 majority, ordered the state of California to reduce prison crowding because of inadequate me..."

Grits for Breakfast: 'The Role of Parole in Texas: Achieving Public Saf...

Grits for Breakfast: 'The Role of Parole in Texas: Achieving Public Saf...: "The headline of this post is the title of a new report from the Texas Public Policy Foundation. I haven't had a chance to read it yet but wa..."

Grits for Breakfast: Juvie justice reforms cross ideological divide

Grits for Breakfast: Juvie justice reforms cross ideological divide: "Patti Hart at the Houston Chronicle (' Lawmakers in lockstep on juvenile justice ,' May 22) marveled that legislation merging the Texas Yout..."

Grits for Breakfast: Bill boosting Harris County jail crowding headed t...

Grits for Breakfast: Bill boosting Harris County jail crowding headed t...: "A bill Grits criticized earlier this session that would worsen Harris County jail overcrowding - extending the stay of misdemeanor defendan..."

Grits for Breakfast: Texas dominates immigration detention

Grits for Breakfast: Texas dominates immigration detention: "Via Texas Prison Bidness: T he Detention Watch Network has released some terrific data and graphs on the private prison industry's role i..."

Grits for Breakfast: Remove employers from public sex-offender registry...

Grits for Breakfast: Remove employers from public sex-offender registry...: "There's a small, simple but important House bill up in the Senate Criminal Jurisprudence Committee today that deserves quick passage: Removi..."

Grits for Breakfast: Eyewitness reforms headed to Senate floor

Grits for Breakfast: Eyewitness reforms headed to Senate floor: "From Dave Mann at the Texas Observer : It’s not often you can say a piece of legislation might save lives, but House Bill 215 might do just..."

Grits for Breakfast: Lege sends savings from prison closure to private ...

Grits for Breakfast: Lege sends savings from prison closure to private ...: "According to Mike Ward at the Statesman , Texas will close just one prison, which as readers know is an historic first but also less than th..."

Grits for Breakfast: Texas' latest DNA exoneree misidentified by juveni...

Grits for Breakfast: Texas' latest DNA exoneree misidentified by juveni...: "Texas' latest DNA exoneree is Johnny Pinchback, yet another out of Dallas County. An email from my employers at the Innocence Project of Tex..."

Grits for Breakfast: Bail bond industry seeks to retain monopoly

Grits for Breakfast: Bail bond industry seeks to retain monopoly: "A bill tying judges and counties hands on the cheapest way to handle low-level bail bonds has cleared the Senate and already received a hear..."

Grits for Breakfast: Don't further politicize Forensic Science Commissi...

Grits for Breakfast: Don't further politicize Forensic Science Commissi...: "The national Innocence Project issued this press release criticizing floor amendments to a bill about the Forensic Science Commission that w..."

Grits for Breakfast: Long sentences boost prison costs for seniors' hea...

Grits for Breakfast: Long sentences boost prison costs for seniors' hea...: "The Houston Chronicle has a story today on a topic familiar to Grits readers titled ' A growing burden: As more elderly prisoners serve time..."

Grits for Breakfast: 'Juvenile justice advocates call for diversion of ...

Grits for Breakfast: 'Juvenile justice advocates call for diversion of ...: "I received press release today via email from juvenile justice advocates with the same headline as this blog post urging the Legislature to ..."

Grits for Breakfast: Incentive program for Driver Responsibility surcha...

Grits for Breakfast: Incentive program for Driver Responsibility surcha...: "Three pieces of good news about HB 588 , which would require the Texas Department of Public Safety to implement its 'incentive' rules for th..."

Grits for Breakfast: Texas' latest DNA exoneree misidentified by juveni...

Grits for Breakfast: Texas' latest DNA exoneree misidentified by juveni...: "Texas' latest DNA exoneree is Johnny Pinchback, yet another out of Dallas County. An email from my employers at the Innocence Project of Tex..."

Grits for Breakfast: Bail bond industry seeks to retain monopoly

Grits for Breakfast: Bail bond industry seeks to retain monopoly: "A bill tying judges and counties hands on the cheapest way to handle low-level bail bonds has cleared the Senate and already received a hear..."

Grits for Breakfast: Don't further politicize Forensic Science Commissi...

Grits for Breakfast: Don't further politicize Forensic Science Commissi...: "The national Innocence Project issued this press release criticizing floor amendments to a bill about the Forensic Science Commission that w..."

Grits for Breakfast: Lazy reporters are main constituency for sex-offen...

Grits for Breakfast: Lazy reporters are main constituency for sex-offen...: "Increasingly I've come to believe the sex-offender registry only serves one real purpose and at the end of the day just has one constituency..."

Grits for Breakfast: Prosecutors ask SCOTUS for 'absolute immunity' whe...

Grits for Breakfast: Prosecutors ask SCOTUS for 'absolute immunity' whe...: "I'm very much looking forward to the oral arguments forthcoming at the US Supreme Court on November 4 regarding Pottawattamie County vs. McG..."

Grits for Breakfast: Improving Prosecutorial Accountability

Grits for Breakfast: Improving Prosecutorial Accountability: "Via email: Today, The Justice Project is pleased to announce the release of Improving Prosecutorial Accountability: A Policy Review , which ..."

Grits for Breakfast: What sanctions for prosecutors who cheat to win?

Grits for Breakfast: What sanctions for prosecutors who cheat to win?: "How many more cases do we need to see where prosecutors withhold exculpatory evidence from the defense before the state bar, the courts or t..."

Grits for Breakfast: Prosecutorial hubris, entitlement on display in re...

Grits for Breakfast: Prosecutorial hubris, entitlement on display in re...: "The National Law Journal published an op ed today by Bennett Gershman criticizing the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and Collin County pro..."

Grits for Breakfast: Prosecutors seldom disciplined for misconduct; can...

Grits for Breakfast: Prosecutors seldom disciplined for misconduct; can...: "Before heading out (a little late) this a.m. to the Texas Forensic Science Seminar at the capitol, I wanted to point readers to the transcr..."

Grits for Breakfast: SCOTUS seems indifferent to prosecutorial miscondu...

Grits for Breakfast: SCOTUS seems indifferent to prosecutorial miscondu...: "UC-Irvine Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky has an excellent column at the National Law Journal scolding the US Supreme Court for its seemi..."

Grits for Breakfast: Why aren't prosecutors held accountable when appel...

Grits for Breakfast: Why aren't prosecutors held accountable when appel...: "Usually I have a good idea how Grits readers think about a topic when I put up a reader poll, but I was still surprised that 73% of Grits re..."

Grits for Breakfast: TX Supreme Court says anonymous commenters have st...

Grits for Breakfast: TX Supreme Court says anonymous commenters have st...: "Grits admittedly has a love-hate relationship with anonymous commenters. Over the years, some of the most thoughtful things said in this blo..."

Grits for Breakfast: Eliminate 'judge-made' immunity for prosecutor mis...

Grits for Breakfast: Eliminate 'judge-made' immunity for prosecutor mis...: "On Monday, the Texas House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee heard CSHB 2641 by Rep. Lon Burnam which would establish liability f..."

Grits for Breakfast: Fish stories and dog tales: Police misconduct roun...

Grits for Breakfast: Fish stories and dog tales: Police misconduct roun...: "Here's a roundup of recent police accountability stories that were big enough to make it onto Grits' radar screen but haven't found their wa..."

Grits for Breakfast: Symbolic Justice: LWOP for serial rapists creates ...

Grits for Breakfast: Symbolic Justice: LWOP for serial rapists creates ...: "One the the biggest differences between California's hyper-expensive prison healthcare system and Texas' relatively well-functioning one is..."

Grits for Breakfast: Senate pushing biggest cuts to TDCJ vocational ed

Grits for Breakfast: Senate pushing biggest cuts to TDCJ vocational ed: "A recurring theme in the budget battle at the 82nd Texas Legislature is that the proposed Senate budget - which includes tapping the state's..."

Grits for Breakfast: Proposed TDCJ property sales

Grits for Breakfast: Proposed TDCJ property sales: "The Texas House voted yesterday for HB 2969 to sell property around the Central Unit in Sugar Land and 896 acres attached to the Estelle Un..."

Grits for Breakfast: Court: Parole board can't impose sex-offender cond...

Grits for Breakfast: Court: Parole board can't impose sex-offender cond...: "Texas' Board of Pardons and Paroles may no longer impose 'Special Condition X' - i.e., labeling someone a sex offender and requiring sex-off..."

Grits for Breakfast: Eliminate 'judge-made' immunity for prosecutor mis...

Grits for Breakfast: Eliminate 'judge-made' immunity for prosecutor mis...: "On Monday, the Texas House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee heard CSHB 2641 by Rep. Lon Burnam which would establish liability f..."

Grits for Breakfast: Juvie justice merger leaves open questions

Grits for Breakfast: Juvie justice merger leaves open questions: "House amendments to legislation merging the Texas Youth Commission and the Juvenile Probation Commission into a new Juvenile Justice Departm..."

Grits for Breakfast: Time to pass eyewitness ID reforms

Grits for Breakfast: Time to pass eyewitness ID reforms: "KCEN-TV had a feature this week about the eyewitness ID legislation pending in the Texas Legislature, focusing on the story of Tyler-native..."

Grits for Breakfast: AG says government needn't tell public when it wil...

Grits for Breakfast: AG says government needn't tell public when it wil...: "Texas Appleseed is suing to force school districts to make their use of force policies public, according to an op-ed by boardmember Scott Fl..."