![](https://www.texasobserver.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/GDB_9021.jpg)
Bringing Home the Story of Ben Spencer
An innocent Texan was caught for more than three decades in a web of lies and injustice.
Since 1954
Lise Olsen is a Houston-based investigations editor at the Texas Observer. Lise has investigated many twisted Texas tales, including crooked judges, an unjust execution, massive environmental disasters, myriad cases of corporate and public corruption, and unsolved serial killings. Her reports in three states over 20 years contributed to the prosecutions of a former congressman and a federal judge, inspired laws and reforms, helped solve cold cases, restored names to unidentified murder victims, and freed dozens of wrongfully-held prisoners. Her work is featured in CNN's “The Wrong Man” (2015) about the innocence claims of executed offender Ruben Cantu and the six-part A&E series on the victims of a 1970s serial killer, The Eleven (2017). She is the author of Code of Silence: Sexual Misconduct by Federal Judges, the Secret System that Protects Them and the Women who Blew the Whistle.
An innocent Texan was caught for more than three decades in a web of lies and injustice.
In Llano County, a local librarian fought back against censorship, prompting a federal court fight and national recognition but losing the job of her dreams.
The powerful Laredo congressman is indicted for allegedly acting as a foreign agent for Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank in exchange for at least $600,000 in bribes.
A well-known warrior in the #ChurchToo movement reveals in a new book how she escaped from an abusive Texas home and an abusive Southern Baptist church.
Does the state parks agency serve the people, or corporate interests?
A literary website that has connected bookish Texans since 2015 nearly closed this year. Then one of its readers saved it.
FinCEN’s proposed real estate rule could help investigators flag dubious deals—but there’s a big loophole.
Too many U.S. workers still suffer and die from exposure to well-known toxic substances, a Texas investigative reporter’s new book says.
The increase reverses a 15-year trend. And unwanted pregnancies will rise, researchers predict.
A program intended to put money in the pockets of the poor faces a challenge from a state senator.