News & Articles

AUSTIN, TX – Effective November 16, 2015, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) announces Shakira Pumphrey as its new Policy Director. In this role, Ms. Pumphrey has strategic and operational responsibility for generating and coordinating TCJC’s research and policy work. Prior to joining TCJC, Ms. Pumphrey served as Senior Policy Advisor[ Read More… ]

AUSTIN, TX – Effective today, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) announces Leah Pinney as Executive Director. The organization’s previous Executive Director, Dr. Ana Yáñez-Correa, will be leading the Criminal Justice program at the Washington, DC-based Public Welfare Foundation. “Leah Pinney was the Board’s unanimous choice for this role, and we[ Read More… ]

Houston, Texas — In October 2014, Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson partnered with local law enforcement to establish the First Chance Intervention Program, a rehabilitative diversion program for individuals with first-time, Class B misdemeanor marijuana possession offenses. Today, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) and Rice University’s Baker Institute[ Read More… ]

AUSTIN, TX – Dr. Ana Yáñez-Correa, who has served as the Executive Director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) since 2005, has accepted the position of Program Officer at the Washington, DC-based Public Welfare Foundation. She will be leading the Foundation’s Criminal Justice program, effective November 2, 2015. “We are[ Read More… ]

On the morning of March 26, 2005, Jason Wang and two other teenagers, all disguised as utility workers, left a Mesquite, Texas, home with a safe containing nearly $70,000 in stolen cash and valuables. Having tied the family up at gunpoint inside, the three teens took a car parked in[ Read More… ]

Sandra Bland’s suicide in the Waller County jail on July 13 was the 140th time that detainees in Texas county jails have taken their own lives since authorities began compiling jail suicide statistics six years ago. Bland, 28, a Chicago native and Prairie View A&M alumna who had just returned to[ Read More… ]

When Sandra Bland was booked at the Waller County Jail, she told the staff she had attempted suicide before — a staff, it turns out, who had not been sufficiently trained on how to safeguard the well-being of inmates who are mentally ill, suicidal or pose a risk to themselves. Three days[ Read More… ]

In 2008, a murder suspect at the Waller County Jail went on a crash diet, shimmied his way through a footwide air conditioning vent and was found days later taking a dip in a Houston hotel pool. In 2012, a 29-year-old who had been in the jail for a week used[ Read More… ]

The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition worked closely with lawmakers and coalition partners to pass important criminal and youth justice reforms this legislative session, some of which are featured below. These reforms will improve public safety in Texas communities and bring long-term cost savings to taxpayers. We applaud the 84th Legislature[ Read More… ]

The Texas Smart-On-Crime Coalition – whose Executive Committee is comprised of the Texas Association of Business, Goodwill Central Texas, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition – worked tirelessly with members of the Texas Legislature this session to pass[ Read More… ]