While a bunch of aggrieved men in camo gear continue to sulk in a bird sanctuary in Oregon, the longest-running standoff in American history has quietly come to an end in Texas. John Joe Gray has been holed up on his ranch for 15 years after assaulting a state trooper and then refusing to return to court. Someone…
A 54-year-old woman in Plano, Texas gave birth to her own granddaughter by acting as the surrogate for her daughter. After several infertility treatments resulted in multiple miscarriages for 28-year-old Kelley McKissack, her mother, Tracey Thompson, offered to be her surrogate — even though she went through menopause…
Brian T. Encinia, the trooper who arrested Sandra Bland in 2015, has been indicted on a charge of perjury, a Class A misdemeanor.
The Supreme Court is currently considering the case of abortion provider Whole Woman’s Health, which is arguing that HB 2, Texas’ mammoth anti-abortion bill, is unconstitutional. The outcome of the case could determine abortion access for a generation, and not just in Texas. Monday evening, a group of cities including…
In May of this year, Texas passed HB 3994, a law making it nearly impossible for pregnant minors to obtain abortions without parental consent. For good measure, the Texas Supreme Court has now released an additional set of rules that could land those pregnant minors in legal limbo pretty much forever, or at least—as…
The death toll for a wave of storms and flooding hitting the central and southern U.S. is continuing to climb.
Months after cutting Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid funding and raiding clinics, Texas has now ended funding for the organization’s HIV prevention programs. The Texas Tribune reports that PP received notification on Monday that the Department of Health Services would not renew its contract for prevention services.
On Monday, a grand jury in Waller County, Texas declined to indict any of the employees at the country jail where Sandra Bland was found hanging in a cell from a trash bag. Today, Bland’s family says it was “disappointed” but expected this kind of “sham.”
After hearing eight hours of evidence in the case of Sandra Bland’s death, a grand jury in Waller County, Texas, declined to indict any county jail employees, KPRC 2 News reports.
We’ve seen a lot of outrageous wedding proposals in 2015. Ones that involved marching bands, Harry Potter, proposing at another person’s wedding and a particularly creepy proposal that required elaborate video editing. Just when we thought we were done with them for the year, one man decided to propose to his…
Police have released a second video of the August shooting death of Gilbert Flores by two Bexar County sheriff’s deputies, which was caught on video, and which shows Flores raising his hands in apparent surrender. On Wednesday, a grand jury declined to indict the officers involved.
Here’s a tremendously bad idea that no one should actually do: supporters of guns on campus are planning to stage a mock mass shooting on the University of Texas at Austin campus. The “shooter” will be taken down by other people “armed” with cardboard guns. There will be fake blood and gunshot noises played through…
Good news, for now and for once: a federal appeals court has struck down a Wisconsin law requiring physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. The measure has “nonexistent” medical benefits, the court found, and would create illegal, undue barriers to abortion access.
In early November, a 19-year-old Texas woman named Sarah Furay was arrested while allegedly toting an eye-popping array of pharmaceuticals. Several news stories referred to the woman, Sarah Furay, as “adorable.” While apologizing for that word choice, Death and Taxes has also uncovered the less-adorable fact that…
Between 100,000 and 240,000 Texas women ages 18 to 49 have attempted to terminate their own pregnancies without medical assistance, according to new research.
Gov. Robert Bentley of Alabama and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas have both released statements claiming that their shitty states will not welcome Syrian refugees following the mid-November ISIS attacks on Paris, France. (Neither governor noted similar concern over the similar terrorist attacks in Beirut.)
Amy Hagstrom Miller is used to fielding frantic phone calls. She’s been working in abortion care since 1989; in 2003 she founded Whole Woman’s Health, a group of clinics in five states that provide gynecological care and abortions. In Texas, Whole Woman’s hotline is getting one particular call in particular, over and…
A cheerleader in Texas was removed from her team for failing to straighten her naturally curly locks. The team’s leaders said her hair was fine for practice, but it would need to be straightened and styled in a high ponytail for competitions. “It was bad because half of it was curl and half of it wasn’t,” said…
On Thursday morning, Austin police attempted to stop a young woman jogging near the University of Texas campus after she crossed against the light. The young woman, who had headphones on, did not hear the police as they yelled at her to stop, so they reacted in the most measured of ways. Texas Monthly reports:
USA Today’s Kevin Johnson has followed the lives of nine inmates who were all released from solitary confinement on the same day in 2002. All of the men were felons, Texans, and while all of them hoped to remain out of prison, none of them were given a transition period between “the box” and the street. Now, 13 years…
