Jolie McCullough
Texas Tribune
Austin, TX, United States
Contact Jolie
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
| Recent: |
|
| Past: |
|
Past articles by Jolie:
Texas executes Wesley Ruiz despite ongoing fight over state’s use of old lethal injection drugs
Ruiz was convicted in the 2007 shooting death of Dallas police Senior Cpl. Mark Nix after a high-speed chase. → Read More
Solitary strike: Texas prisoners refuse food to protest harsh confinement practices
Prisoners across Texas are sending a dramatic message to prison officials and state lawmakers: We won’t eat until you address the state’s harsh solitary confinement practices. → Read More
Texas set to execute Tracy Beatty for strangling mother to death
Beatty’s lawyers have argued unsuccessfully that the 2003 Smith County murder didn’t qualify for the death penalty. → Read More
Greg Abbott reelected Texas governor, defeating Beto O’Rourke
The governor prevailed after a tumultuous period that included the pandemic, a statewide blackout, restrictions on voting and abortion and the Uvalde school shooting. → Read More
Texas may delay trial for alleged Walmart shooter if federal prosecutors want to seek death penalty
A state district judge in El Paso said Tuesday that he’ll wait to see what federal prosecutors decide in their case before moving ahead with a state trial for the man accused of killing 23 shoppers in 2019. → Read More
Texas judge rules that people under felony indictment have the right to buy guns under the Second Amendment
A judge appointed by former President Donald Trump based his decision on a June U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down New York’s concealed carry law. → Read More
Judge in border case uses racist slurs to slander immigrants
A prominent judge in Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security operation to arrest and jail migrants on trespassing charges has been accused of using a racist slur against Latino defendants. → Read More
Inspection reports reflect the desperation and danger youths face in Texas juvenile prisons
Visits to Texas’ severely understaffed youth prisons show suicide attempts without intervention, water bottles being used as makeshift toilets, and a rash of possibly gang-related fights. → Read More
Almost 600 Texas youth are trapped in a juvenile prison system on the brink of collapse
The agency is so understaffed that teens have reported spending up to 23 hours locked in their cells, using water bottles to go to the bathroom. A staggering number have hurt themselves or been placed on suicide watch. → Read More
After losing battle to preserve Roe v. Wade, Mississippi’s last abortion clinic is moving to New Mexico
Many people from Texas and other states with abortion bans will soon be traveling to New Mexico for the procedure. Shannon Brewer is moving her clinic from Jackson to Las Cruces to continue providing a full range of reproductive health care. → Read More
Texas politicians search for solutions after another mass shooting. Experts say we’ve already found them.
In arguing over causes of the latest mass shooting, political debate often overlooks the range of incremental steps that could lessen the chances of mass killing and help address the nation’s persistent gun violence. → Read More
Why School Safety Schemes Proposed By Trump And Cruz Are Worthless
"Trump and Cruz propose “hardened” one-door schoolhouses. Experts say that’s not a credible solution." was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues → Read More
Why School Safety Schemes Proposed By Trump And Cruz Are Worthless
And while many districts sought to increase school security in the aftermath of Texas’ last mass school shooting in Santa Fe in 2018, teachers’ advocates and school officials fault state leaders for focusing on further “hardening” schools after the Uvalde shooting.“The other elements of school safet... → Read More
Why School Safety Schemes Proposed By Trump And Cruz Are Worthless
As school districts grow, their campuses sometimes sprawl with multiple buildings or portables, making a single entrance impossible.At San Antonio’s Northside ISD, district leaders had to add gyms in exterior buildings to elementary schools initially built without them, said Woods, the superintenden... → Read More
Why School Safety Schemes Proposed By Trump And Cruz Are Worthless
But building renovations and security upgrades cost much more than the money the district got from the state funds parceled out after the Santa Fe shooting, he said. Luckily, he said, his community has regularly approved local bond measures to make schools more secure.“That would not be a true state... → Read More
Texas already “hardened” schools. It didn’t save Uvalde.
After the Uvalde mass shooting, GOP leaders are again pushing to boost school security. But similar legislation after a 2018 school shooting has fallen short of its goals, and experts said there’s no evidence such tactics work. → Read More
Confronted with mass shootings, Texas Republicans have repeatedly loosened gun laws
Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republican leaders signaled an openness to some gun restrictions after recent mass shootings. But in the last several years, lawmakers have eased gun laws, most notably by passing a permitless carry bill last year. → Read More
Listen as Melissa Lucio learns her life has been spared
Lucio learned of her reprieve in a phone call from state Rep. Jeff Leach. → Read More
Melissa Lucio’s execution halted by Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Acknowledging substantive questions about Lucio’s guilt and the fairness of her conviction, the appeals court blocked her Wednesday execution so the case can be further investigated. → Read More
Texas plans Thursday execution for Carl Buntion, the state’s oldest death row prisoner
Buntion, 78, was sentenced to death for the 1990 murder of a Houston police officer. His lawyers argue his advanced age and decades of good behavior on death row justify sparing his life. → Read More