StandDown Texas Project: Criminal Law

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Criminal Law

StandDown Texas Project

Texas-centric examination of conditions, reform initiatives, and emerging issues related to best practices in the indigent criminal justice system with particular attention to issues involving capital punishment and the administration of the death penalty.
By StandDown Texas Project

Post Frequency: 49.3/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 14:21:29

Rosenthal Contempt Hearing Delayed

Posted on February 04, 2008
"Prosecutor's contempt hearing ends abruptly after hard questions," is the headline of the AP report, via the San Antonio Express-News. A contempt hearing for Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal was abruptly postponed Friday following two hours of questioning in...

Ronald Chambers

Posted on February 04, 2008
Los Angeles Times' Houston reporter Lianne Hart has the article, "Life goes on for Texas death row inmate," in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, a sister newspaper. Chambers, now 52, has been on death row three times longer than the U.S. average...

Human Behaviour: Killer Instincts

Posted on February 02, 2008
That's the title of an article in the current issue of Nature. It has this subhead, "What can evolution say about why humans kill ? and about why we do so less than we used to?" LINK Here's the opening:...

The Myth of Judicial Activism

Posted on February 01, 2008
That's the title of Penn Law prof Kermit Roosevelt's latest book. It's reviewed in the upcoming National Law Journal by Stewart Harris. LINK Scientific american magazine once offered several thousand dollars for the best explanation of the Theory of Relativity...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Four on Short List for Nichols Trial

Posted on February 01, 2008
It appears that a new judge will be named soon in the high-visibility Atlanta case. In the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Beth Warren reports, "Brian Nichols Trial: Corbin judge offers services." Two metro Atlanta judges with experience handling high-profile death penalty cases...

In Alabama

Posted on February 01, 2008
The Tuscaloosa News carries an editorial, "State should settle questions before the next execution." It concerns legislation sponsored by Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders. The effectiveness of the three-drug cocktail used in the lethal injection process and the state's failure...

CCA Primary Race

Posted on February 01, 2008
The Democratic and Republican party primaries in Texas is just over one month away -- Tuesday, March 4. There is one contested race for the Court of Criminal Appeals, and the Dallas Morning News makes its choice in the editorial,...

Rosenthal Contempt Hearing Continues

Posted on February 01, 2008
On the Houston Chronicle website, Brian Rogers reports, "Rosenthal takes stand, says he has little computer training." Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal took the stand this morning to defend the deletion of thousands of e-mails after they were subpoenaed...

Dallas County DA Moves to Withdraw Execution Date

Posted on February 01, 2008
The Dallas Morning News reports, "Dallas district attorney's office seeks to withdraw death row inmate's execution date." The Dallas County district attorney's office requested Thursday to withdraw the upcoming execution date for a Texas death row inmate while it awaits...

Under Pain of Death

Posted on February 01, 2008
Let's begin this Friday with art. Today's New York Times has a review of the exhibit "Under Pain of Death," currently in Manhattan. LINK ?Under Pain of Death,? a show at the Austrian Cultural Forum about capital punishment, approaches its...

Stay Issued in Alabama Execution

Posted on January 31, 2008
As anticipated, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed tonight's scheduled Alabama execution. As I mentioned in this earlier post, the scene bore some similarity to a scheduled execution in December. The Supreme Court's stay in that case seemed a clear signal...

Editorial Round-up

Posted on January 31, 2008
In Alabama, the Anniston Star has, "Going against the trend: Alabama and the death penalty." For proponents of the death penalty, the end of last year and beginning of this one has been difficult. Before examining the facts, a disclaimer:...

Contempt Hearing Begins in Harris County DA's Case

Posted on January 31, 2008
Brian Rogers reports, "DA may testify about e-mails today," on the Houston Chronicle website. The man who runs the Harris County District Attorney's office e-mail system took the stand this morning in federal court to testify about DA Chuck Rosenthal...

Supreme Court Reviewing Alabama's Scheduled Execution

Posted on January 31, 2008
A federal district judge had stayed the scheduled execution, but the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals lifted that stay yesterday. Now the case is at the U.S. Supreme Court. A similar drama played out in December as the 11th...

New Judge Sought in Nichols Case

Posted on January 31, 2008
Because of comments in Jeffrey Toobin's New Yorker article, "Death in Georgia," (noted in this post) Judge Hilton Fuller has recused himself. The state administrative judge for the region is seeking a new judge. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has, "Nichols case...

Legislation in Alabama

Posted on January 30, 2008
AL.com carries the AP dispatch, "Alabama senator to try death penalty moratorium for 8th time." The legislator is Senator Hank Sanders. The Selma Democrat announced Tuesday that when the Legislature convenes Feb. 5, he will again sponsor legislation to place...

New Hampshire Debates a Death Penalty Expansion Bill

Posted on January 30, 2008
The Manchester Union Leader has, "Strong feelings on bill to expand death penalty." New Hampshire's death penalty would be expanded to apply to multiple murders and attempted multiple killings under a bill aired yesterday in a state Senate hearing. Attorney...

DPS Crime Lab Makes Troubling Hire

Posted on January 30, 2008
Roma Khanna reports, "State crime lab hired DNA chief as cheating probe proceeded here," in today's Houston Chronicle. The former DNA supervisor at Houston's troubled crime lab landed a job with the Texas Department of Public Safety even as she...

More on Harris County DA Candidate Siegler

Posted on January 29, 2008
Lisa Falkenberg's Houston Chronicle column today is, "DA hopeful should lead by example." Here's the beginning of her detailed report: If there are still any burning questions about what Kelly Siegler really thinks of members of Lakewood Church, I believe...

A Cycle of Incarceration

Posted on January 29, 2008
USA Today reports, "For many of USA's inmates, crime runs in the family," by Kevin Johnson. Nearly half of the 2 million inmates in state prisons across the USA ? 48% ? say they have relatives who also have been...

Jeffrey Toobin on the Brian Nichols Case

Posted on January 28, 2008
Friday, highlighting a post on Of Counsel, I noted that many are following the Nichols case in Georgia to see its impact on indigent defense issues beyond Georgia. In the February 4 issue of the New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin examines...

Ruling Near on Abu-Jamal Jury

Posted on January 28, 2008
That's the headline in Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer about the controversial Philadelphia death sentence of Mumia Abu-Jamal. LINK In the nearly 26 years since his conviction for the murder of Officer Daniel Faulkner, the international tempest over Mumia Abu-Jamal has fixed...

Harris County District Attorney Politics

Posted on January 28, 2008
The Houston Chronicle has brief profiles of Republicans running to replace District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal. Alan Bernstein does the reporting. In alphabetical order, they are: Jim Leitner "Leitner was prosecutor, now defense attorney." Pat Lykos. "Lykos drops the charm to...

Two Conservative OpEds

Posted on January 28, 2008
The American Enterprise Institute carries an item from the February 4 Weekly Standard, "Religion and the Death Penalty." It's written by AEI resident scholar Walter Berns. The best case for the death penalty--or, at least, the best explanation of it--was...

Doubt and Death in Maryland

Posted on January 28, 2008
That's the title of an OpEd in the Sunday Washington Post. It's written by Michael Wein. LINK When New Jersey abolished the death penalty last month, it was the first state to do so since the death penalty was reinstituted...

The Lethal Injection Debate: Law and Science

Posted on January 25, 2008
The Fordham Urban Law Review is sponsoring the above-titled symposium March 7 and 8 at Fordham Law School in New York City. LINK The symposium will address a broad range of issues concerning lethal injection. Some of these issues include:...

The Brian Nichols Case in Georgia

Posted on January 25, 2008
Karl Keys at Capital Defense Weekly just highlighted this post about the Brian Nichols case at Of Counsel - Legal Notes on Georgia and the South. Of Counsel is doing a great job covering the Nichols case. Many are watching...

TDCJ and Medical Care

Posted on January 25, 2008
The Senate Criminal Justice Committee met in Austin yesterday to examine the case of Larry Cox's death in a TDCJ prison. Mike Ward of the Austin American-Statesman reports, "Staff shortages get blame in inmate death." Texas' critical shortage of corrections...

On AlterNet

Posted on January 25, 2008
AlterNet's Liliana Segura has posted, "Give Them Death: Three Leading Democratic Candidates Support Capital Punishment." When Clinton, Obama and Edwards took the stage before a mostly African-American crowd in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Monday night, they came brimming with concern...

Ohio Federal District Judge Stripped of Death Penalty Cases

Posted on January 25, 2008
"Judge stripped of cases," is Dan Horn's report in the Cincinnati Enquirer. he chief federal judge in southern Ohio took five death penalty cases from a colleague Thursday because he was taking too long to resolve them. U.S. District Judge...

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

Texas Governor Takes Surprising Stand In Favor Of Immigrants
Texas Governor Rick Perry, normally an ultra-conservative, surpris...

District Judge Upholds Texas' Moment of Silence Law
In 2003, the Texas legislature amended a "moment of silence" law s...

Irving, Texas Losing Students Due To Immigration Crackdown?
The Dallas Morning News had an interesting story Sunday about the ...

Two New USCIS Training Centers To Open In North Texas
The Dallas Morning News reports today that two regional training c...

Comprehensive Explanation of Irving, Texas Immigration Situation
The Dallas Morning News has a very good series of articles today a...