Tag Archives: Justice Department

No voter registration for you

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The following email, sent from the League of Women Voters registration address to its membership, was forwarded to me. I present it below in its entirity: From: LWV Voter Registration Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2010 3:19 PM Subject: Voter Registration … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Ryan issues opinions about poll watching

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan has issued a couple of opinions relating to poll watching that may help clear things up a bit. The first opinion has to do with where poll watchers may and may not go: Poll watchers … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

DOJ gets a call on voter intimidation allegations

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Day Two of early voting saw far fewer allegations of voter intimidation and the possible arrival of the Justice Department to keep an eye on things. Responding to complaints that poll watchers were intimidating voters in predominantly minority polling locations, … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Paper ballots on the menu

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The county’s plan for dealing with the loss of all of its voting machines includes some low technology. Despite a fire that destroyed Harris County’s voting machines Friday, County Clerk Beverly Kaufman said she intends to keep all polling places … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The TYC still has problems

Posted on August 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Three years after the Texas Youth Commission was rocked by a sexual abuse scandal, there are still major problems at its facilities. In a formal complaint asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate, Texas Appleseed, Advocacy Inc., the Center for … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Jail passes another state inspection

Posted on May 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Good news for the Harris County jails: They passed another surprise state inspection by a Texas Commission on Jail Standards team last week. “This certificate of compliance is a direct result of your department’s commitment to excellence and further attests, … Continue reading →

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Getting smarter about crime, state prison edition

Posted on December 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news on the criminal justice front. Texas has a new swagger that comes from a recently released U.S. Justice Department report showing the growth of the state’s prison population is slowing to the extent that three new prisons … Continue reading →

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“Jail hell”

Posted on September 14, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the title of this Houston Press story about the experiences of those who have served time in the Harris County jail, as told by those who have just gotten out. The story is partly a response to the county’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Harris County disputes federal criticism of its jails

Posted on August 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This is interesting. Harris County officials today delivered a 300-page response to the U. S. attorney general’s findings that the Harris County Jail was unconstitutional, saying the report was largely based on anecdotal accounts from inmates and incomplete data. County … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

SCOTUS upholds Voting Rights Act

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

For now, anyway. The Supreme Court ruled narrowly today in a challenge to the landmark Voting Rights Act, siding with a small Texas governing authority but sidestepping the larger constitutional issue. The court, with only one justice in dissent, avoided … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Feds’ report on Harris County jails

Posted on June 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Still a lot of people dying in the jails here, at least as of the last federal inspection. Their experiences are detailed in a U.S. Department of Justice report, completed last week and obtained Monday by the Houston Chronicle, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Garcia’s plan to fix the jails

Posted on May 8, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Sheriff Adrian Garcia is off to Austin to explain how he’s going to fix problems with the Harris County jails. Garcia, who took office in January, inherited a massive downtown detention system under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department and … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Voter ID must be reviewed

Posted on April 19, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This is generally good news, but maybe not quite as good as it sounds. Texas’ proposed Voter ID law would be subject to approval by the U.S. Department of Justice or federal court for it to become law, federal officials … Continue reading →

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There’s always an excuse to not do it

Posted on April 6, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry, but this sounds like carping to me. Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia has nearly tripled the number of investigators assigned to an expanded Office of Inspector General to handle what he described as a “tremendous” backlog of unresolved complaints … Continue reading →

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Voter ID: All through the night

Posted on March 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

According to Elise Hu’s liveblog of the voter ID hearing in the Senate, they’re on witness number 3 of 15, and they haven’t gotten to any public testimony yet. Suffice it to say, this is gonna go on for awhile, … Continue reading →

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Dewhurst makes the case against Voter ID

Posted on March 4, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

That wasn’t his intent, of course, but it’s clear to see in his plea for a “compromise” on the measure that the more people like Lt. Gov. Dewhurst argue for voter ID legislation, the more obvious it is that they’re … Continue reading →

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Round and round we go with City Council redistricting

Posted on January 31, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Vidal Martinez made the case in yesterday’s Chron for tackling the task of City Council redistricting in time for the 2009 elections, on the grounds that this is the deal the city agreed to with the Justice Department back in … Continue reading →

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