Gov. Greg Abbott rolled out a new clemency application specifically for survivors of human trafficking or domestic violence Thursday afternoon. The new application, launched in coordination with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, will include a specific section for applicants to provide a statement about experiences with human trafficking or domestic violence.
Following a declining inmate population and dangerous understaffing in Texas prisons, the state is closing two of its more than 100 lockups. State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, announced Thursday that the Garza East prison in Beeville and the Jester I Unit in Sugar Land would be closing soon.
Authorities must take a different approach towards addressing drug use in Travis County, according to the authors of a newly released report. Earlier this month, the four criminal justice groups involved in a study into drug possession arrests revealed some of their findings.
Today, researchers from four Texas-based organizations released their full review of 2,900 drug possession arrests in Travis County from June 2017 to May 2018. The data used to create their final report reveals troubling police practices that harm communities, exacerbate racial disparities in arrests and jail detention, and fail to address the underlying needs of people who use drugs.
Low-level drug possession arrests are ineffective and harmful to people who need community-based help, rather than jail time, a new report concludes. The report, released Tuesday by the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, Grassroots Leadership, the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance and the UT Law Civil Rights Clinic, analyzed Travis County data that found people of color are disproportionately arrested for these kinds of crimes.
Texas’ most vulnerable students are unequally punished for disruptive, unruly behavior. Punitive disciplinary policies often lead to pushing students with disabilities and students of color out of the classroom, limiting their ability to succeed academically.
When I was arrested for my first drug offense, I was 19 years old. The War on Drugs told elected officials that Black people like me were the villains of the story and needed to be locked away in the name of public safety. Along with millions across the country, I was deemed disposable. For the next 20 years, I couldn't find a job or find a place to live in, and I panicked every time I was pulled over for fear that once again that disposable label would be placed on my forehead.
San Antonio Independent School District students converged on Monday night’s school board meeting to demand changes to the district's Student Bill of Rights — among them, that police step back from campus discipline.
The district adopted a Student Bill of Rights late last year that says students should be informed about disciplinary practices and that such practices be applied consistently.
Read the rest of this article from San Antonio Current.
Grassroots Leadership, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition and Texas Harm Reduction Alliance held a forum Sunday to educate the community on candidates running for Travis County District Attorney and present questions to them.
A group of high school activists in the San Antonio Independent School District converged on Monday night’s school board meeting to ask for less police involvement in school discipline and other amendments to the district’s student code of conduct and Student Bill of Rights. “Students have felt like they’re in a prison when really they’re in a school,” said Bella Garcia, 18, a senior at the Young Women’s Leadership Academy, at a press conference before the meeting.
Read the rest of this article from the San Antonio Express-News.
All three candidate vying to serve as Travis County’s District Attorney came face-to-face at a forum on Sunday afternoon. They are competing in what could be one of the most contentious local races in the March 3 primary election.
$1.5 million. That was the bond amount set for 37-year-old Jonathan Fulton Smith, who was arrested in connection to a 2018 Bogata arson/homicide case at the end of January. So, who makes the call on a multi-million dollar number — and what do bail bonds do, anyways?
Yesterday, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) released a landmark report on restorative justice and school discipline in Texas. “Reversing the Pipeline to Prison in Texas: How to Ensure Safe Schools AND Safe Students” was released in conjunction with a student-led conversation on school discipline in San Antonio.
Gary Ryan was less than three months away from getting out of prison — and his family was doing everything right. His brother-in-law lined up a job for him at his company. His nephew Corey Anderson planned to give him his old truck. Anderson also fixed up a house on a family property where his uncle could live.
Thousands of Texas schoolchildren—many of them African Americans— are victimized by “zero tolerance” school discipline policies that land them in the criminal justice system, says the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC).
People of color in Austin are policed at disproportionately higher rates than their percentage of the local population, and racial disparities in motor vehicle stops and arrests are widening, according to two new reports.
A new summit addressing the criminal justice system is coming to Cedar Valley College. Themed as a groundbreaking overview of the current and future state of prison and criminal justice reform, the Hope Summit aims to offer reassurance, resources, and restoration to formerly incarcerated citizens.
Last week, a report from the city’s Office of Police Oversight, Office of Innovation, and Equity Office showed that black and Hispanic drivers are more likely to be stopped in their vehicles by Austin police than white and Asian drivers. Following the release of the report, the Public Safety Commission heard from the community and the Austin Police Department at its Feb. 3 meeting.
A review of 2,900 drug possession arrests in Travis County from June 2017 to May 2018 reveals troubling police practices that harm communities, exacerbate racial disparities in arrests and jail detention, and fail to address underlying needs of people who use drugs.
Four organizations that reviewed 2,900 drug possession arrests from June 2017 to May 2018 announced they found “troubling police practices that harm communities, exacerbate racial disparities in arrests and jail detention and fail to address underlying needs of people who use drugs.”