After shrinking the population at state-run juvenile lockups, state Sen. John Whitmire wants to move the remaining youth at five facilities to one recently closed adult jail.
Bills addressing the basic needs of incarcerated women bolster the larger call for reform in the state prison system this session.
On this International Women's Day, a group of women who've served time are demanding lawmakers pass a series of bills that would help meet the needs of the thousands of women who are locked up.
When Mia Greer went to prison, she says she wasn’t the only one who was punished. Her kids suffered too.
Stealing a package off someone’s front porch could soon become a much more serious crime. Three bills in the Texas Legislature are proposing to make it a felony.
The first marijuana reform bill heard in committee this session would downgrade possession of an ounce to a civil offense and a fine up to $250.
Lauren Johnson discovered she was pregnant days before going to prison. For the following eight months, guards escorted her, shackled, to Brackenridge Hospital once a month for her doctors’ appointments until she gave birth.
As festival season gets underway in Austin police are warning the public to be on the lookout for suspicious activity that could be linked to sex trafficking.
The underage victims of sex trafficking in San Antonio now have a new place to heal and overcome their trauma, thanks to a partnership between Roy Maas Youth Alternatives and a number of local donors.
People experiencing homelessness are 11 times more likely to face incarceration compared to the general population, and formerly incarcerated individuals are nearly 10 times more likely to be homeless, a new study by the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) found.
Once again, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg is asking for more prosecutors - this time to handle the extra case reviews stemming from the botched Pecan Park drug raid and its fallout.
The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition released the final report in its "One Size Fails All" report series. The report, Return to Nowhwere: The Revolving Door Between Incarceration and Homelessness, examines the undeniable link between homelessness and criminal justice system involvement, and the factors that contribute to both. It offers recommendations to end the chronic pattern that wastes lives and squanders resources that could be better used to address the factors leading to homelessness.
Oscar-nominated 2017 documentary 'Traffic Stop' tells harrowing story of schoolteacher Breaion King, thrown to the ground by officer.
Bills may cut licensing costs for new parents, protect applicants' religious beliefs.
State jails were created to help low-level drug offenders get treatment. But they offer few rehabilitative services, and their inmates are more likely to reoffend.
The Harris County Commissioners Court voted Tuesday against District Attorney Kim Ogg’s request for a $20 million budget increase to hire more prosecutors.
Criminal Justice reform groups have criticized Kim Ogg’s request to hire 102 new lawyers. They argue more people will be jailed, but the DA says her office needs more staff to handle a backlog of cases.
Texas spends more than $168 million each year locking people up for state jail felonies — in many cases for minor offenses — with a 62 percent re-arrest rate within three years.
The first time Michael Tracy skipped school, it was to help plan a robbery. He was 17, and reckless.
TCJC joins with others to oppose Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg’s budget request to fund 102 new prosecutors. TCJC urges county officials to further examine the request for more funding.