1. Shared State Legislation
By Council of State Governments’ Shared State Legislation Committee
Compiles draft legislation based on bills recently adopted in states on topics that address issues of national or regional significance. Highlights innovative state policies on a variety of topics including: birth certificates for transgender persons, regulation of vapor products, Convention of the States/faithful delegates, public access to body camera recordings, and accommodations for students certified for medical use marijuana. Addresses legislation from Texas that enacted the Border Prosecution Unit in 2015.
Council of State Governments, 2017. 168 pages.
Online at: http://www.csg.org/programs/policyprograms/SSL.aspx
340.072 C382S 2017


 

2. Tejano Tiger: Jose De Los Santos Benavides and the Texas-Mexico Borderlands, 1823-1891
By Jerry Thompson
Presents an in-depth study of Jose de los Santos Benavides, considered to be one of the most important figures in the history of Laredo, Texas. Traces his military and political career with the Republic of Mexico, the Republic of Texas, and finally in the State of Texas, where he became the highest ranking Tejano in the confederate army and later a member of the Texas Legislature. Describes his devotion to the Texas border (as the only Tejano in the Texas Legislature in 1879) and his tireless work to raise the economic and political status of the region. Concludes that with his unique status as a friend and confidant of two Mexican presidents, and his influence in the Texas Legislature, he was one of the single most influential individuals in the history of the border.
TCU Press, 2017. 412 pages.
976.4 T374T 2017


 

3. A Colony in a Nation
By Chris Hayes
Analyzes the realities of racial inequality in the justice system that still exist in America, even after the ostensible successes of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Contends that American criminal justice consists of two distinct systems: the Nation, where policing is practiced as expected in a democracy, and the Colony, where policing is practiced as one finds in an occupied land. Places police shootings and the ensuing protests in historical context with colonial America and its injustices that sparked the American Revolution. Asserts that mutual fear perpetuates separation between citizens of the Nation and the Colony. Discusses the possible models of a criminal justice system that considers not only victimization but also the costs of overly punitive policing and prosecution.
W. W. Norton & Company, 2017. 256 pages.
364.3 H326C 2017


 

4. Impeached: The Removal of Texas Governor James E. Ferguson
By Jessica Brannon-Wranosky and Bruce A. Glasrud, editors.
Reexamines Governor James E. "Pa" Ferguson's impeachment, conviction, and removal from office, one hundred years after the events. Discusses the various forces leading to impeachment, including Ferguson's relationships with The University of Texas, women's suffrage, prohibition, and the Texas press. Describes the impact of the Ferguson impeachment on Texas and United States politics, and gathers contextualized primary source documents such as Ferguson's Texas Farm Tenant Law, annotated by scholars to allow a better understanding of the ideas and groups surrounding the impeachment of Ferguson.
Texas A & M University Press, 2017. 202 pages.
342.764 B735I 2017


 

5. Ten Dollars to Hate: The Texas Man Who Fought the Klan
By Patricia Bernstein
Explores the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s and the first prosecutor in the nation to successfully convict and jail Klan members, Texas district attorney Dan Moody. Describes the Georgetown case—a Klan assault on Ralph Burleson for a supposed illicit affair—and sets it in the national context of the Klan's crimes and power. Details Moody's rise following the trials to become Texas' youngest governor. Argues that the Georgetown trials were the beginning of the end for the Second Ku Klux Klan.
Texas A & M University Press, 2017. 368 pages.
322.4 B458T 2017


 

6. Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors
By George W. Bush
Highlights 66 service men and women who have served in the U.S. military since Sept. 11, 2001, through portraits painted by President George W. Bush. Chronicles these individuals' life stories, their paths that led to military service, and sacrifices weathered in providing that service.
Crown Publishers, 2017. 191 pages.
759.13 B963P 2017