What We're Reading
News that caught our attention or cited the Texas Justice Initiative from across the Lone Star State and beyond.
As fatal police shootings increase, more go unreported
Published on December 6, 2022Reporters at The Washington Post have found — based on their Fatal Force database — that, contrary to what the FBI's database indicates, fatal police shootings are on the rise.
Harris County Jail just recorded its most in-custody deaths in 20 years
Published on November 25, 2022Kennedy Sessions reports that the 27 individuals who have died while in the custody of the Harris County Jail this year represent the largest number of deaths since 2006, citing TJI's data.
Provision of Air Conditioning and Heat-Related Mortality in Texas Prisons
Published on November 2, 2022A JAMA Network report on deaths in Texas prisons during warm months from 2001 to 2019 found, "approximately, 13% of deaths in Texas prisons during warm months between 2001 and 2019 may be attributable to extreme heat days."
Uncounted Deaths in America's Prisons & Jails: How the Department of Justice Failed to Implement the Death in Custody Reporting Act
Published on September 20, 2022A Government Accountability Office report that comes at the end of a 10-month bipartisan investigation concluded that "nearly 1,000 deaths that potentially should have been reported to the DOJ" had not been reported as required.
Meet the Press: Policing in America
Published on September 4, 2022Chuck Todd and others examine policing in America while investigating the death of Anton Black, a 19-year-old who died in police custody in Maryland in 2018.