Tag Archives: Texas Department of Criminal Justice
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
Lawyers Seek to Reform ‘Ethical Minefield’ of Public Defender’s Office Controlled by Texas Prison System
Former public defenders say prison officials who had a hand in prosecuting their clients influenced and sometimes outright interfered with their defense work.
Last week, David O’Neil stood before the Texas Board of Criminal Justice with an awkward request: He asked nine governor-appointed board members to relinquish...Read More
New Report Finds — Surprise — Indigent Defense Attorneys Shouldn’t be Under the Control of the State Prison System
The Texas prison system controls an agency tasked with defending poor inmates accused of crimes inside Texas prisons. What could possibly go wrong?
A new report by a committee of the State Bar of Texas aims to draw attention to a glaringly obvious conflict of interest at a little-known indigent defense syst...Read More
The 10 Best Observer Stories of 2016: ‘No Place for Old Men’
Texas prisons are filling up with the old and the ill — at enormous expense.
No Place for Old Men By Dick J. Reavis Published February 15 The state of Texas operates 109 prisons holding about 148,000 inmates. Some 27,000 of them are, l...Read More
The 10 Best Observer Stories of 2016: ‘The First Time Texas Killed One of My Clients’
An attorney pieces together a life cut short.
Editor’s Note: It’s hard to find new ways to write about the death penalty. And in these polarized times, most readers already have their minds made up....Read More
UPDATED: Online Posts Appear to Show TDCJ Officers Encouraging Violence Against Trans Prisoner
Comments on a September Observer article include ‘one to the back of the head.'
Comments on a September Observer article include ‘one to the back of the head,’ and ‘let the f-cker suffer.’ ...Read More
Texas Judge Dismisses Trans Prisoner’s Lawsuit Seeking Gender Confirmation Surgery
Vanessa Lynn Gibson said that "the reality of the situation is emotionally devastating, and I won’t lie, I was so mad I couldn’t stop crying."...Read More
Social Media Ban Could Curb Free Speech Behind Bars
Prison reform activists say a new social media policy inside Texas prisons could keep both prisoners and advocates from talking about life on the inside....Read More