Category Archives: Crime and Punishment

DPS victimized by credential stuffing attack

Posted on March 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the technical term for this. The Texas Department of Public Safety was duped into shipping at least 3,000 Texas driver’s licenses to a Chinese organized crime group that targeted Asian Texans, DPS Director Steve McCraw told a Texas House … Continue reading →

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We do need more felony courts

Posted on March 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a good start. County officials are considering adding new district courts and making more room for detainees in an effort to reduce to county’s court backlog and alleviate overcrowding at the Harris County Jail. During Commissioners Court on … Continue reading →

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Let’s spend less money on court-appointed lawyers

Posted on February 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

That’s my main takeaway from this. Harris County paid one private attorney just over $1 million last year to represent hundreds of low-income people accused of crimes, helping proliferate a system that critics say wastes taxpayer dollars and robs indigent defendants of … Continue reading →

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ShotSpotter

Posted on February 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I’m more skeptical than not, but there is a way to make me less so. Two years in, Houston’s ShotSpotter program has resulted in 5,450 alerts, 99 arrests and the seizure of 107 guns, but no real consensus on its … Continue reading →

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In support of Crystal Mason

Posted on February 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Hoping for the best. The same month Tarrant County officials announced the creation of an election integrity task force, a group of 14 bipartisan prosecutors threw their weight behind an effort to acquit the woman at the center of a high-profile … Continue reading →

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The last thing we need is more people in the jail

Posted on February 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a rare place where Democrats have leverage. Make good use of it. With an eye on Harris County, Texas lawmakers are considering new measures aimed at keeping more defendants accused of violent and sexual crimes behind bars as … Continue reading →

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Uvalde school district will not finish its internal review of police response to mass shooting

Posted on February 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

If nothing else, there are two clear arguments to be made in this debate. The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District announced it will not continue with an independent review of the district police response to the Robb Elementary School shooting. … Continue reading →

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Uvalde DA gets DPS report on school shooting

Posted on January 15, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We’re still a long way from seeing it for ourselves. State police investigating the Uvalde school shooting have sent an initial report to prosecutors, according to a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety. The Texas Rangers, a division … Continue reading →

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More guns found at domestic violence incidents

Posted on December 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Not great. The 2021 State of the State report from the Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) outlines key domestic violence statistics from the past two years. The report shows the number of domestic violence calls law enforcement responded to … Continue reading →

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The medical response also failed at Uvalde

Posted on December 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is a very hard story to read, with graphic descriptions of injuries suffered by the shooting victims at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. Click over very carefully, but whether you read or not know that the failures at the … Continue reading →

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Please don’t threaten to kill your political opponents

Posted on December 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We really shouldn’t have to say these things, except that nowadays we really do. A former candidate for U.S. representative has been accused of threatening to kill his political opponent, U.S. Rep. Randy Weber, TX-14, according to federal court filings. … Continue reading →

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More on hoax school shooter reports

Posted on November 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know when this ends, but I continue to be worried that they will cause a major problem eventually. This year has seen a significant number of hoax calls across the country. In the three weeks between mid-September and … Continue reading →

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The Ken Paxton problem is bigger than Ken Paxton

Posted on November 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s that there’s just no accountability, barring the election result we’re all desperately hoping for. In the wake of the 2020 presidential election, Republican officials around the country have been giving increasing attention and resources to investigating election crimes. Most … Continue reading →

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Collin County DA accused of sexual harassment

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, boy. Six individuals who currently work or have worked in the Collin County District Attorney’s office filed a federal civil suit Monday, alleging that they were sexually harassed, discriminated against because of their gender, and faced retaliation after reporting … Continue reading →

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We have different definitions of “failure”

Posted on October 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

And by “we”, I mean DPS head Steve McCraw and everybody else. Weeks after Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw said he would resign if his troopers had “any culpability” in the botched police response to the Uvalde … Continue reading →

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Charges dropped against Hervis Rogers

Posted on October 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good, but this whole thing was an enraging travesty and in no way makes things right. Voter fraud charges against Hervis Rogers, who garnered widespread attention for waiting hours in line to vote at a Houston polling location during the … Continue reading →

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There’s a wave of hoax school shooting reports around the country

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Weird and scary. When Emmi Conley first heard in September about a rash of hoax calls reporting active shooters in schools, she dismissed it. Conley, an extremism researcher who studies groups and people behind public displays of violence, said she … Continue reading →

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Of course people are harassing the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office now

Posted on September 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is the world we live in. Hate mail and calls are rushing into the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office after Sheriff Javier Salazar announced an investigation into how 48 South American migrants were “lured” onto a flight to Martha’s Vineyard. … Continue reading →

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Enough with the “pregnant lady in the HOV lane” schtick

Posted on September 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Nothing good comes of this. Please stop. When a pregnant North Texas woman was pulled over for driving alone in a high-occupancy vehicle lane, she protested. “I just felt that there were two of us in [the car] and I … Continue reading →

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Bexar County Sheriff to investigate the “immigrants lured to Martha’s Vineyard” saga

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good, because this whole thing is not only weird and creepy but it’s not hard to see how at least some aspects of it could have been illegal. Sheriff Javier Salazar said Monday the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office is opening … Continue reading →

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Now we’re dealing with hoax shootings

Posted on September 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A new thing we need to be prepared for. Texas and other states have experienced hoax shootings, but experts say these threats shouldn’t be taken lightly. Research shows that if someone is going to commit a mass shooting there is … Continue reading →

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The active shooter hoax at our neighborhood school

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This made for a super eventful Tuesday afternoon. Police and panicked parents scrambled to Heights High School Tuesday afternoon, in frantic response to a false report that a gunman had shot 10 people in a room on the 2,400-student Houston … Continue reading →

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The one big question DPS still hasn’t answered about Uvalde

Posted on September 10, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib gets at something that I’ve mentioned a couple of times. Ever since the Uvalde elementary school shooting left 19 students and two teachers dead, blame for the delayed response has been thrust on local law enforcement. The school … Continue reading →

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Five DPS agents being investigated for their Uvalde actions

Posted on September 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a start. It just can’t be the end. Five Texas Department of Public Safety officers who responded to the Uvalde school shooting in May will face an investigation into their actions at Robb Elementary, the agency said. The officers … Continue reading →

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More evidence of misdemeanor bail reform’s success

Posted on September 4, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Lower costs, fewer wrongful incarcerations and guilty pleas, less recidivism. What more do you want? Fewer misdemeanor defendants went on to commit crimes in Harris County after federal litigation in 2017 aimed at curtailing the jailing of low-income people charged … Continue reading →

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Arredondo fired

Posted on August 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Took awhile, but there it is. The Uvalde school board agreed Wednesday to fire Pete Arredondo, the school district police chief broadly criticized for his response to the deadliest school shooting in Texas history, in a vote that came shortly … Continue reading →

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There’s still a lot of confusion about how Texas’ abortion ban will be enforced

Posted on August 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

There will be chaos, in addition to the fear and danger to pregnant people that already exists. Abortions are already effectively outlawed in Texas, where clinics closed after the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade. But a new … Continue reading →

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Hopefully the last time she will appear before a judge

Posted on August 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

For her sake, I hope it is. Years of legal trouble for a former Harris County civil judge have come to an end with three years probation. Alexandra Smoots on Wednesday wept as Judge Chuck Silverman granted her deferred adjudication … Continue reading →

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A long look at the lack of accountability in Uvalde

Posted on August 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

CNN has a very long piece about how there are many investigations going on about the Uvalde massacre but seemingly little to hold anyone accountable for it. Uvalde residents, especially the parents of Robb Elementary children, are increasingly frustrated with … Continue reading →

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If “bad apples” are the problem, then shouldn’t getting rid of them be a high priority?

Posted on August 10, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This San Antonio Report story is about the nine-year saga of the Redus family to get justice for their son Cameron, who was killed by University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) police officer Christopher Carter in 2013 outside Redus’ apartment. … Continue reading →

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The Fresh Start program

Posted on August 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I approve of this. The possibility of finally putting a misdemeanor from 1993 behind her brings 53-year-old Jennifer Sigers to tears. “I’m more excited than anything that this too shall pass,” said Sigers, who was among at least 100 people … Continue reading →

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William-Paul Thomas

Posted on August 6, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is bad. The question is how much worse might it be. William-Paul Thomas, the mayor’s council liaison, was offered more than $13,000 by a local bar owner to help him pass a building inspection and fast-track a new permit … Continue reading →

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News orgs sue DPS over Uvalde info

Posted on August 3, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Same annoying story, part whatever. Getting public records about this tragedy shouldn’t be this hard to do. More than a dozen news organizations filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Public Safety on Monday, accusing the agency of unlawfully … Continue reading →

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A Skeet Jones update

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

NBC News does us the favor of an update on Skeet Jones, the (allegedly) cattle-rustlin’ County Judge of Loving County. On a December day in 2021, Loving County Judge Skeet Jones, 71, climbed atop an oilfield tank surrounded by wide-open … Continue reading →

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