Emily DePrang
Emily DePrang joined The Texas Observer in 2011 as a staff writer covering criminal justice and public health. Before that, she was nonfiction editor of the Sonora Review. Before that, she was a waitress. She's also appeared in The Atlantic, Salon.com, and VICE. She holds an MFA in Nonfiction from the University of Arizona and has won some things, including the Public Service Award from the Society of Professional Journalists (2012), the National Health Journalism Fellowship from USC Annenberg (2013), and a nomination for a National Magazine Award in Reporting (2014). She still sometimes thinks about waitressing.
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Houston Investors Hope the Legal Marijuana Industry Will Make Them High Rollers
Houston-based investors took to the Marijuana investment Conference hoping to see high returns from the legal Marijuana industry. Full Story -
WTF Friday: I’m Sure It’s Nothing
This week's nutball roundup includes sermon subpoenas, Ebola hysteria, and Jim Hogan asking the big questions, which involve watermelon. Full Story -
WTF Friday: November Is Coming
This week's WTF Friday, our look at the dialectical excellence of Texas politics, focuses on Rick Perry, Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz, but also has gifs, which helps. Full Story -
Houston Police Dept. Plagued By Fresh Scandal, Old Denial
HPD has plenty of problems--sexual harassment, forged tickets, neglected homicides--but the overarching one is denial. Full Story -
More Prisoners, More Problems: Mass Incarceration Climbs Again
The biggest, best, and newest studies agree that the U.S. needs to incarcerate fewer people. So why are the numbers climbing? Texas is one reason. Full Story
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A Careless Solution
Terrell State Hospital needs help, badly. So why is Texas privatizing the psychiatric facility—and picking a notorious company to run it? Full Story -
Tyrant’s Foe: Josh Gravens Fights Criminal Justice Policies that Hurt Children
Josh Gravens is using his experience as a child on the sex offender registry to help combat criminal justice policies that hurt children. Full Story -
Huntsville Redemption
Manuel Velez, sentenced to die in 2008 based on flawed science, stepped into the sun on Wednesday, free for the first time in years. Full Story -
To Catch a Rapist: Houston Leads on Testing Old Rape Kits
For years, Texas cops left nearly 20,000 rape kits untested while perpetrators went free. Now some agencies are confronting that injustice. Full Story -
René Steinke Reclaims a Wasteland in Friendswood: A Novel
The Observer reviews René Steinke's third novel, Friendswood. Full Story
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