TCJC In the News

Press Contact: For all media inquiries, please contact Madison Kaigh, Communications Manager, at mkaigh@TexasCJC.org or (512) 441-8123, ext. 108.

For the First Time, ‘Redeemed’ Texas Parents May Get a Second Chance

June 11, 2021

Maggie Luna tried to fit all of the love she had for her three children onto a tri-fold poster board a week before her court date. Each section of the plain white board was adorned with a photo timeline dedicated to one of her children, illustrating Luna’s presence in their lives from birth up until the day they were taken from her. It was a desperate attempt to persuade a Harris County judge to let her keep the kids. But the judge didn’t bother to look up at her or her poster before terminating Luna’s rights to her children.

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Targeted for Being Homeless?

June 9, 2021

Lorenzo Thomas’ first memory after waking up in John Peter Smith Hospital (JPS) was hearing a Fort Worth police officer talking to a nearby medical worker. “We did one chest compression” on him, Thomas alleges officer Daniel Hafer told the medical worker.

Read the rest of this article from Fort Worth Weekly.

Community Groups Push Back Against Plans For New Women’s Jail East Of Austin

June 8, 2021

A coalition of grassroots groups and community leaders gathered before a planned vote by Travis County commissioners to secure design services for a new $ 80 million women’s prison. The Women’s Prison is a proposed project under the 2016 Travis County Master Plan, a 20-year blueprint to modernize Travis County’s prison facilities, including a new central accounting facility in downtown Austin. Overall, the first phase of the plan has an estimated price of $ 240.5 million.

Read the rest of this article from Austin Daily News.

Local groups rally against Travis County’s spending plan for women’s jail

June 8, 2021

Local groups rallied Monday outside of the Travis County Commissioners Court to push for change in the jail and incarceration system. The groups called on commissioners to vote against new spending on the County’s women’s jail. The nearly $4.3 million contract is set to be voted on by commissioners during Tuesday’s meeting.

Read the rest of this article from KXAN.

Activists Call On Travis County To Say No To New Women's Jail

June 7, 2021

A group of criminal justice advocates, activists and formerly incarcerated people is calling on Travis County to abandon its plans to build a new, 350-bed women’s jail and suspend construction projects on any other jail facilities. Travis County Commissioners will vote Tuesday on the plan to build a $79 million women's facility, which was one of the pillars of a 2016 plan to revamp the county’s correctional complex.

Read the rest of this article from KUT.

Community groups push back against plans for new women’s jail east of Austin

June 7, 2021

Ahead of a scheduled vote by Travis County commissioners to secure design services for a new $80 million women’s jail, a coalition of grassroots groups and community leaders gathered June 7 to protest the plan and encourage alternative investments, including diversion programs. The women’s jail is a proposed project of the 2016 Travis County Master Plan, a 20-year blueprint to upgrade Travis County Jail facilities, which also includes a new central booking facility in downtown Austin.

Read the rest of this article from Community Impact Austin.

Police reform brings progress, unmet needs, advocates say

June 4, 2021

Mayor Sylvester Turner issued a slew of police reform measures in late April, but it may be too soon to say whether the measures will result in fewer incidents of police brutality, advocacy groups said. Turner and Houston Police Department Chief Troy Finner announced the changes April 29, which were proposed by the mayor’s task force on policing reform. The reforms include a range of initiatives from mental health interventions to police oversight and training.

Read the rest of this article from Community Impact Houston.

Victoria County's drug court is novel, evidence-backed solution to age-old problem

May 29, 2021

For generations the war on drugs has raged in our state, communities and even our own families. Nevertheless, the problem remains — seemingly as entrenched as ever. For decade after decade, we have tried to tackle the problem of drug addiction with severe laws and prison time.

Read the rest of this article from the Victoria Advocate.

More States Consider Automatic Criminal Record Expungement

May 25, 2021

Doug Smith spent five years and eight months in a Huntsville, Texas, prison for a felony he committed while suffering from substance use disorder and mental illness. He was released in 2014, rehabilitated but still bound. “I was immediately turned down for 90% of the jobs I applied for because of my record,” Smith recalled in an interview, remembering the months he spent struggling to find a place to work and live during his re-entry process.

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NAMI Central Texas hosting film screening, panel on America’s mental health crisis

May 13, 2021

NAMI Central Texas is hosting a film screening and panel to jumpstart a discussion about mental health in America. You can sign up here to watch the film “Bedlam” which explores the mental health crisis in America by taking you inside one of the busiest psychiatric emergency rooms, jails, homes and homeless encampments where people struggle with serious mental illness.

Read the rest of this article from KXAN.

Dallas-Based Training Academy Launches New Financing Solution to Help Underserved Workers Access Middle-Skill Jobs

May 13, 2021

ForgeNow, a skills training academy that prepares returning veterans, first-generation immigrants and formerly incarcerated adults for in-demand middle skills jobs, today announced the launch of an innovative tuition payment and financing solution that will help displaced workers access training in the high-demand fields of HVAC and electrical repair. Through a partnership with Meritize, a pioneer in financing solutions for skills-based education and training programs, students enrolled in the program will now be eligible for merit-based financing, which can in many cases reward individual borrowers for their past educational and military experiences."

Read the rest...

New Criminal Penalties In Election Bills Would Impact Texans Of Color, Civil Rights Groups Say

May 4, 2021

Bills aimed at changing Texas election law would create dozens of new criminal penalties, many of which could largely impact people of color, according to more than two dozen voting rights and criminal justice organizations. The groups — which include MOVE Texas, Progress Texas, ACLU Texas and the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition — signed a letter Monday to Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and House Speaker Dade Phelan, asking them to reconsider their support for the measures.

Read the rest of this article from Houston Public Media.

As Floyd Act stalls, Texas lawmakers see room for targeted police reforms

April 30, 2021

Shortly after George Floyd’s murder last year at the hands of Minneapolis police, Gov. Greg Abbott went to his funeral in Houston, vowing legislation “to make sure we never have anything like this ever occur in the state of Texas.”“Discussions about the pathway forward will not be taken over by politicians but will be led by family members, will be led by victims, will be led by the people who have suffered because of racism for far too long in this state and this country,” he told reporters.

Read the rest of this article from the Houston Chronicle.

5 years after murder of Haruka Weiser, students, parents, faculty evaluate UT’s public safety response

April 23, 2021

In the five years following the murder of freshman Haruka Weiser, UT has increased safety measures on and off campus to reduce crime risk. However, some advocates say additional steps could be taken to improve student safety. Weiser was walking home from a class at 9:30 p.m. on April 3, 2016 when she was killed by Meechaiel Criner. Criner was sentenced to life in prison in 2018.

Read the rest of this article from The Daily Texan.

WATCH: Sen. Hughes lays out bill granting immunity to armed school security

April 22, 2021

State Sen. Bryan Hughes laid out a bill which would protect school districts from liability in cases of armed employees. Hughes (R-Mineola) presented SB 534 before the Senate Committee on Education Thursday afternoon.

Read the rest of this article from KTRE.

Breathe rally in Austin encourages action after Derek Chauvin verdict

April 22, 2021

Just days after a jury found former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd, Austin Justice Coalition called on the community to continue making progress. "It was one very small moment that the justice system seemed to be working," Chas Moore, who runs Austin Justice Coalition, said.

Read the rest of this article from KVUE.

Texas bill could reduce parole eligibility time for juvenile capital felons

April 19, 2021

A Killeen man serving a life sentence for capital murder may be eligible for parole sooner than expected thanks to a bill that has passed the Texas House and is currently in the Texas Senate. Jason Isaiah Robinson, 43, is being held in the Hughes Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Gatesville. He was sentenced to life in prison on Aug. 9, 1995, according to TDCJ inmate records.

Read the rest of this article from the Killeen Daily Herald.

Texas Criminal Justice Coalition Statement on Police Murder of Daunte Wright

April 14, 2021

After a year of near-constant traumas for Black and brown Americans—from particularly deadly COVID-19 outcomes, especially in prisons and jails, to a series of high-profile murders by police—another devastating murder has rocked the United States. Near the site of Derek Chauvin’s trial in Minneapolis for his killing of George Floyd, 20-year-old Daunte Wright was murdered by a police officer after being pulled over for a traffic violation.

Read the rest of this press release here.

State House Passes Bill Aiming to Keep Texans from Returning to Jail

April 12, 2021

Many Texans who are released from jail may find themselves behind bars again in the future, but a bill in the state Legislature is hoping to change that. On Friday, state representatives passed House Bill 930, which would create a board to deliver a recidivism report every other year. Filed by DeSoto state Rep. Carl O. Sherman Sr., the bill would detail re-arrest, reconviction and reincarceration rates in the hopes of keeping previously incarcerated Texans from returning to jail.

Read the rest of this article from the Dallas Observer.

Five Times Miami's New Police Chief Got it Wrong on Public Safety