What does race have to do with the death penalty in Texas?
More than 72 percent of those on death row in Texas are people of color. Studies show race plays a role in the state's harshest punishment. Full Story
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Hannah Wiley
Hannah Wiley was a reporting fellow for The Texas Tribune in 2018, covering issues surrounding the U.S.-Mexico border. She graduated with her MSJ in 2018 from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, where she spent nine months in Chicago in the investigative reporting track and three months in the D.C. political reporting program. She was a research assistant at The Chicago Tribune and a World intern at USA TODAY before joining the Tribune. Although a self-proclaimed foreign policy nerd, Hannah has also reported on education in Chicago and in Puerto Rico and has worked directly with immigrant and refugee populations both as a teacher and a journalist.
Past Contributions
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![The execution chamber seen from one of two witness viewing rooms at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Huntsville Unit.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Texas court throws out 1987 murder conviction; declares North Texas man "actually innocent"
The Court of Criminal Appeals said Steven Mark Chaney's conviction was based partly on faulty science. Full Story
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A Texas school contractor says she lost her job because she won't promise not to boycott Israel. Now she's suing.
The school severed its contract with the speech pathologist because of state law banning Texas government contracts with companies that boycott Israel. Full Story
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![The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announces the filing of a lawsuit against Texas' "No Boycott of Israel" law, on Monday, Dec. 17, 2018 in Austin. Speaking is plaintiff Bahia Amawi, a teacher in the Pflugerville Independent School District who was forced to sign a pledge against her beliefs in order to get paid. She later quit her job as a speech therapist in the district. In the back are attorney Gadier Abbas and CAIR director Mira Sheikh.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Convicted murderer Alvin Braziel executed for killing Mesquite man and raping his wife
Braziel's attorneys failed to secure a delay in the execution after last-minute argument that prosecutorial conduct tainted his trail. He was the 13th and final inmate Texas put to death this year. Full Story
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![Alvin Braziel was sentenced to death for the 1993 murder of Doug and Lora White on a Mesquite jogging trail.]()
Credit: TDCJ -
Report highlights the trauma that thousands of Texas families have experienced with incarceration
Researchers reviewed prison data and surveyed more than 4,000 adults this summer to determine how incarceration affects family members of prisoners. Full Story
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![Jaden opens his gift bag from his father Jason Jackson. Volunteers collect and organize age appropriate items that fathers then put into gift bags the day before the Day with Dad.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Texas executes Joseph Garcia, one of the "Texas Seven" prison escapees
Garcia was executed Tuesday night. He was the fourth of the "Texas Seven" inmates executed after the group escaped the Connally Unit in 2000 and killed Irving Police Officer Aubrey Hawkins during a Christmas Eve robbery. Full Story
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![Joseph Garcia was sentenced to death of the murder of Irving Police officer Aubrey Hawkins on Dec. 24, 2000.]()
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Trump administration looks to Texas as it pushes a criminal justice reform bill
Prominent Texans in Washington are pushing for a criminal justice reform bill, and lawmakers are looking to the state as an example of how reform works. Full Story
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![U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a roundtable discussion with state leaders (including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton) on prison reform in Bedminster, New Jersey on August 9, 2018.]()
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Dallas grand jury indicts Amber Guyger, fired officer who killed Botham Jean in alleged apartment mixup
The grand jury decided to indict Guyger on a murder charge for the Sept. 6 killing of Jean, an unarmed black man. Full Story
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![Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, left, shot and killed Botham Shem Jean in his apartment.]()
Credit: Kaufman County Sheriff's Office via REUTERS: Guyger/Facebook: Botham Shem Jean -
Report: Houston-based pharmacy is supplier of state's execution drugs
Greenpark Compounding Pharmacy has been selling Texas drugs for lethal injections for three and a half years, according to a BuzzFeed News report. Full Story
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Advocates say the timing is right for independent oversight of Texas prisons
A bill aiming to detach the ombudsman from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice died in 2017. But news from the past year makes advocates hopeful that 2019 will be different. Full Story
Credit: Martin do Nascimento for The Texas Tribune
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