Tag Archives: Texas Criminal Justice Coalition
When Prison Reform Goes Bad
What happened to the Legislature's two-decade-old attempt to break the cycle of incarceration for low-level felons?
In the early 1990s, the Texas Legislature tried to build something surprisingly progressive amid the state’s tough-on-crime prison boom: an alternative to pri...Read More
College Degree Options Are Disappearing for Women in Texas Prisons
In Texas, four-year degree programs for imprisoned women are expiring, even as more of them end up in the prison system.
The only bachelor’s degree programs available to women incarcerated in the Texas prison system are ending. By 2020, Texas A&M University-Central says it w...Read More
A Catch-22 in the Crimmigration System in Harris County
In Houston, a lack of transparency and poor communication between immigration and criminal courts has created a civil rights nightmare and a clog in the system.
Abysmal record-keeping and an increasingly secretive immigration force have created a catch-22 for undocumented defendants accused of low-level crimes in Housto...Read More
Women in Texas Prisons Denied Same Academic, Job Training Opportunities as Incarcerated Men
"Black holes of inattention" lead to stark gender disparities in the Texas prison system, according to a new report.
A gulf exists between educational opportunities and job certification programs offered to men and women in Texas prisons, according to a new report by the Texas...Read More
Travis County Inmates to See Families Face-to-Face Again
In a victory for prison reform groups, in-person visitations are coming back after more than two years behind screens.
“It was all in one night, and all under the influence of crack.” That’s how Doug Smith, a policy analyst at the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, explaine...Read More
Lawmakers, Civil Rights Groups Discuss Better Care For Pregnant Inmates
Every month, the number of pregnant women incarcerated in Texas county jails hovers between 300 and 500, according to monthly jail population reports collected ...Read More
Bipartisan Coalition for Criminal Justice Reform Debuts
Next session seems set to be pretty contentious, but a new bipartisan coalition is raising hopes for comity on an important issue—criminal justice reform....Read More
Houston’s New DA Brings Back “Trace” Felonies, the Eighties
Houston's old DA made having less than 1/100 gram of crack a misdemeanor. The new DA brought back the trace felony, and questions about unequal enforcement. ...Read More
Traumatized Girls Get Inadequate Therapy from County Probation, Group Finds
Texas Criminal Justice Coalition survey finds many girls need better trauma counseling at county facilities. State officials call the report flawed, saying it doesn’t account for progress at local probation departments.
More than half the kids in Texas’ juvenile justice system have some history of sexual abuse, domestic violence or some other major trauma, and—according to ...Read More