What We're Reading
News that caught our attention or cited the Texas Justice Initiative from across the Lone Star State and beyond.
How the Federal Government Lost Track of Deaths in Custody
Published on June 24, 2020Ethan Corey dives deep into the history of federal efforts to collect data on custodial deaths and why they haven't lived up to expectations for The Appeal.
Want to reform the police? Hire more women
Published on June 23, 2020CNN analyzed data from four of the few metropolitan police departments that publish data about the gender of the officers involved in use of force incidents. In all four cities, female officers were involved in a smaller percentage of incidents than their share of the department. Texas cities were not studied, but the findings are consistent with TJI's previous findings.
One in four killed in Texas law enforcement homicides are black
Published on June 9, 2020Executive Director Eva Ruth Moravec examines TJI's data to analyze the deaths of black individuals killed by Texas law enforcement before they are booked in jail.
Protests spread over police shootings. Police promised reforms. Every year, they still shoot and kill nearly 1,000 people.
Published on June 8, 2020The Washington Post has tracked fatal officer-involved shootings across the country since 2015, and the total numbers haven't changed much. Based on TJI's data from reports filed with the Attorney General's office, about 10 percent of the fatal shootings tracked by The Washington Post occur in Texas.
George Floyd’s Autopsy and the Structural Gaslighting of America
Published on June 6, 2020A group of "concerned physicians" penned an opinion piece in the Scientific American about how racism infiltrates autopsy reports.