The Texas prison system has retooled policies to expressly ban the use of disciplinary quotas, nearly a year after a leaked email obtained by the Houston Chronicle pulled back the curtains on a scandal at a state lockup in Brazoria County.
Following the launch of a first-of-its-kind criminal justice data dashboard in Harris County late last year, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition is proud to announce that its Dallas County dashboard is now live.
For nearly two years, Geremy Sledge sat alone in his Texas prison cell about 23 hours a day. He was placed in solitary confinement — called administrative segregation by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice — after he stabbed another inmate he says stole from him in 2015.
Gerald Goines, who as a Houston narcotics cop led a botched deadly drug raid in January, heavily targeted Black people for low-level drug sale charges in majority black neighborhoods, according to arrest data obtained by The Appeal. In 591 cases in which Goines was the main officer, 94 percent of the defendants were Black, according to case data from the Harris County clerk’s office. The most frequent charge in these cases was “manufacture or delivery of less than 1 gram of a controlled substance,” which represented 23.69 percent, or 140 of the 591 cases.
Four Texas prison guards were fired and another two resigned under investigation after a controversial string of social media pictures posted as part of the so-called "Feeling Cute Challenge." Officials did not immediately clarify what units the officers worked at, what rank they held or which posts were flagged for concern following the spate of questionable images posted by law enforcement officers across the country.
Every weekday, a van from Gatesville arrives at the Waco bus station to deliver women released from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. And every weekday, women from Waco-area churches greet the ex-offenders, offering them a warm welcome, homemade cookies, handcrafted tote bags filled with helpful items and a prayer of blessing.
The plan from Dallas County District Attorney John Cruezot to scale back prosecution on some lower-level offenses to end what he calls "mass incarceration" is winning praise from criminal justice reform organizations.
In Texas, convicted felons are allowed to vote after serving their sentence, but House Bill 1419 aims to allow convicted felons to vote if they are not currently incarcerated. If it becomes law, felons sentenced to parole, supervision, probation or other sentences not involving jail time would be able to vote. The bill, authored by Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, would be Texas' first law since 1997 to address felony disenfranchisement.
In September, a report released by the Justice Department cited the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for not adequately addressing the needs of female inmates when it comes to trauma treatment, pregnancy programming, and hygiene. It charged oversight of policies, including those regarding strip searches, are conducted remotely– with no onsite visits to ensure compliance. Striking a similar note, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition released a report last spring calling on the state to treat female inmates with “dignity.”
A Bowie County grand jury last week declined to indict two former prison officials who admitted to altering inmate disciplinary records, a move that sparked outcry from advocates who said it again highlights the need for independent oversight of the Texas prison system.
Driving with a suspended license is undoubtedly a petty crime, but more than 6,000 Texans were jailed for it in 2017. Texas state lawmakers heard testimony Wednesday on a bill that would reduce the penalty to a fine.
In his last letter home, Sawyer Letcher was searching for forgiveness.
“You are my hero and my inspiration — I love you more than life,” the 19-year-old prisoner wrote to his mother. “I did a lot of messed up stuff and I am just realizing now. I was just broken, trying to find my way.”
During the Texas legislative session, the Capitol sees a rush of advocates. Our latest "Under the Dome" episode features two people lobbying on issues they are all too familiar with.
Texas would grant felons who on parole or under supervision the right to vote if an effort by Democratic state representatives becomes law.
You have to be 18 to vote, to join the military or to get married without parental permission — but in Texas, you don’t have to be 18 to be considered an adult. State lawmakers are once again considering whether we should treat 17-year-olds as adults when they commit crimes.
A new bill could change the way the Texas justice system upholds the law against minors who are a year away from being an adult.
The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition held a series of community visioning sessions across Texas, from July through October 2018, to answer this question: What do young people need to avoid justice system involvement and lead successful lives?
Urging a Texas House committee to support his bill that would require state prisons to be kept at no more than 85 degrees in the summer, Rep. Terry Canales disputed the prison system’s $1.2 billion cost estimate to add air conditioning to all units.
Read the rest of this article from the Austin American-Statesman.
An estimate to put air conditioning into one prison changed from more than $20 million to $4 million last year.
A bill under consideration by The House Committee on Juvenile Justice and Family Issues has the potential to change the juvenile criminal justice system in our state.