The Texas Observer

The Texas Observer is an Austin-based nonprofit news organization known for fearless investigative reporting, narrative storytelling and sophisticated cultural criticism about all things Texan.

The Texas Observer • VOLUME 6

EDITOR’S NOTE

DAN PATRICK’S CRITICAL ERASURE • The lieutenant governor continues his crusade against those who challenge the racist mythologies of Texas.

LOON STAR STATE

INVISIBLE SCARS • For women inside prison, the fight for survival is less physical than psychological.

TEXAS TALLY • THE NEWS, IN NUMBERS

ON THE MERITS • Civil rights lawyer Lee Merritt, who represented George Floyd’s family, on running for Texas attorney general and ending “comply or die” policing.

STRANGEST STATE • NOTES FROM FAR-FLUNG TEXAS

PAULINE OLIVEROS EMERGES FROM THE UNDERGROUND • An underrecognized composer finally gets the acknowledgment she deserves.

LOCKED UP AND LEFT TO DIE • In Texas, dying in jail is “par for the course.”

TEXAS JAILS ROUTINELY CYCLE IN AND OUT OF COMPLIANCE WITH MINIMUM STATE STANDARDS • The Observer analyzed data from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) to determine how many jails under state regulation failed inspections in the past decade.

THE EXPORT BOOM • The United States’ oil and gas export boom has been a decade in the making. All along the Texas coast, communities are fighting back against the industry’s expansion.

UNCHECKED & UNBALANCED • COVID-19 has provided Governor Greg Abbott the chance to wield more power than anyone in Texas history. He’s not eager to give it back.

IN ‘KEEPING HOUSE,’ THE UNSEEN IS AT THE FOREFRONT • Austin-based Veronica Ceci makes timely art about those who clean up other people’s messes.

THE LAST TEXAN KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN • Twenty-year-old Laredoan David Lee Espinoza was born months before the war began.

CODE OF SILENCE • When federal judges engage in misconduct, they are often beyond the law.

A GROUP CLAIMING TO BE CHEROKEE FACES QUESTIONS ABOUT AUTHENTICITY • The Mount Tabor Indian Community and a statue they helped erect are examples of serious failures by officials to vet claims to Indigenous nation status, federally recognized tribal leaders say.

THE WOMAN WHO BEAT THE BORDER WALL • For nearly 15 years, Pamela Rivas fought to save her land from the wall. But her property still crawls with Border Patrol and surveillance technology.

INDIGENOUS RADIO IN TEXAS • Two hours of escape and connection.

FRAGILE EVIDENCE • A summer of stories about the death penalty in Texas.

TEXAS OBSERVER • On behalf of the entire Texas Observer staff, we would like to say thank you to all of our members listed in the following pages for their readership and support.

BEYOND BOOKS IN POTTSBORO • The Pottsboro Area Library is holding its community together through COVID-19—and making it better.

READER NOTES

2 POEMS

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