A bipartisan coalition pegged "Smart-on-Crime" is hoping to send a strong message to state lawmakers when it comes to criminal justice reform. "The biggest thing we'd like to see is that probation be used much more often than it is currently,” Bill Hammond with the Texas Association of Business said. “Non-violent, non-sexual offenders—probation should be the first option."
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A broad-based and diverse coalition of groups is coming together to support criminal justice reforms that will make the system more just and, at the same time, improve public safety for all Texans. The Texas Smart-On-Crime Coalition will advocate for reforms that will provide punishment that actually fits the crime, protection for the innocent and a path to redemption for those convicted of non-violent crimes so they can get back to work and be productive members of society.
After decades of being 'tough on crime,' a broad coalition of groups ranging from the conservative Texas Association of Business to the liberal American Civil Liberties Union are urging a pivot, and want the state to take steps to become 'smart on crime' instead, Newsradio 1200 WOAI reports.
We may be some four months away from the start of the 84th Legislature, but preparations are well underway. And while much of that groundwork is taking the form of opposing interest groups getting ready to beat the living daylights out of each other, a somewhat happier tale may have started yesterday at the Capitol, where an unlikely bipartisan group of criminal justice reformers gathered to launch an effort that stands a good chance of making gains next session.
Texas outdid most of the nation in the high-crime 1990s with a prison-building binge that tripled the incarcerated population by 2000.
A new coalition of supporters of criminal justice reform announced an ambitious legislative agenda at a Capitol press conference on Wednesday. The Texas Smart-On-Crime Coalition‘s (TSCC) executive committee includes the Texas Association for Business (TAB), the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC), the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas (ACLU of Texas), and Goodwill Central Texas joined together.
A new coalition is outlining major juvenile and criminal justice reform they want to see in the next legislative session. ‘Texans Smart-on-Crime Coalition’ is looking to change state laws that criminalize nonviolent crimes, and get those people back to work.
