After A Man Died While In Jail For Traffic Tickets, ACLU Calls For Federal Probe
After a man’s death during a 30-day jail sentence that BuzzFeed News found may not even have been legal, the civil rights group calls on federal authorities to investigate.
Was This Man Who Died In A Michigan Jail Illegally Incarcerated?
David Stojcevski died in a Michigan jail after being sentenced to serve 30 days for unpaid traffic tickets. Documents obtained by BuzzFeed News suggest that the judge who locked him up violated the law by failing to assess if he was too poor to pay his fines.
El Paso Looks For Answers On People Illegally Jailed For Traffic Fines
City leaders respond to a BuzzFeed News investigation that revealed the practice is widespread.
In Texas It's A Crime To Be Poor
People in Texas get thrown behind bars just because they can't afford their traffic tickets. That's a disaster for people who are already struggling. It's also completely against the law. A BuzzFeed News investigation.
Famous Matchmaker’s Pet Charity Wasn’t A Charity At All
Instead of charging a fee, Pari Livermore asks clients to send donations to her pet charities. Problem is, one of them was not a charity at all and donations went straight to her home address.
Texas Governor Signs Law To Stop Jailing Kids For Skipping School
Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill that will make truancy a civil offense rather than a criminal one. A BuzzFeed News investigation had found that more than 1,000 Texas teenagers had been ordered to jail after skipping school.
Meet Four People Who Pushed Texas To Stop Jailing Kids For Skipping School
BuzzFeed News interviewed some of the people who were instrumental in getting a proposal before the Texas governor that would end the Lone Star State's practice of jailing truant kids. Here are their stories.
Will Texas Governor Greg Abbott Sign Bill To Stop Sending Kids To Jail For Skipping School?
Gov. Abbott has up to two weeks to determine the fate of a proposal that would end the practice of locking up students for missing school. The proposal has strong backing from the conservative “Right on Crime” project.
Texas May Stop Jailing Truant Students
A reform plan was sent to Gov. Greg Abbott that would make truancy a civil matter instead of a criminal one and end the practice of locking up students for missing school. The move follows a Buzzfeed News investigation into widespread jailing of teens.
Students With Disabilities Pushed Out Of School, Advocates Say
A complaint filed Wednesday with the Texas Education Agency says districts have illegally used truancy court to force students with disabilities out of school and that the state has failed to prevent the practice.
Texas Truancy Bill Opposed Over The Cost Of Providing Children Attorneys
As the Texas legislature considers decriminalizing truancy, emails obtained by BuzzFeed News show opposition from counties to a provision that would allow judges to appoint an attorney when “it is in the best interest of the child.”
Texas School District Suspends Truancy Policy After BuzzFeed News Investigation
Fort Bend Independent School District, outside Houston, has announced that it will stop sending truant students to court. The announcement comes days after a BuzzFeed News investigation revealed that students in that county had been jailed, sometimes for more than a week, causing them to miss more school and sometimes get kicked out.
The Number Of Teens Being Jailed For Truancy Shocks Texas Lawmakers
"You've gotta be kidding me." Lawmakers react to a BuzzFeed News report showing that more than a thousand teens have been sent to adult jail on charges stemming from skipping school. The Texas legislature is debating a host of possible changes to the law.
She Skipped School And Couldn't Pay Her Fines — So Texas Sent Her To Jail
More than a thousand Texas teenagers have been ordered to lockup on charges that stem from missing school, often because they have unpaid court fines. The costs to their education are high. Some, like Serena Vela, drop out.
Some Nonprofits Rake In Millions, But Spend Little On Good Deeds
Beauty pageants? The NFL? Why are these organizations tax-exempt? A new report released today by Sen. Tom Coburn breaks down the 9,000-page tax code and calls for loopholes to be closed.