In early November, Art at a Time Like This will launch 8x5 Houston, a public intervention with artworks responding to the mass incarceration crisis. Displayed on ten billboards and four mobile billboard trucks throughout the city, the project will run from November 4th to November 30th.
The Fort Bend County community is pushing to ensure a new elementary school isn't built on unmarked graves. The proposed school would be situated to serve a fast-growing part of the county. The undeveloped field is between two newer subdivisions off of Harlem Road in the Harvest Green community, and the district says it picked this location because so many people are moving to the area.
A group of formerly incarcerated Texans is organizing to bring change to Texas prisons. A free event Saturday, called Prison to Power, focuses on helping people personally impacted by the criminal system.
Today, the Texas Center for Justice and Equity (TCJE) released a guide to around 40 bills that passed into law during the 2023 session of the Texas Legislature. The majority of the new laws go into effect on Friday, September 1. These bills span youth and adult justice—including court processes and defense, probation and treatment options, incarceration and conditions of confinement, parole and reentry, and other relevant issues.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice on Wednesday placed all of its facilities under lockdown, using new measures they say are in response to rising violence tied to illegal drugs within the prison units. All visitation is canceled until further notice, each facility will limit the movement of inmates and their contact with people outside the prison and both inmates and staff will undergo searches, according to a news release from the agency. The prisons will resume normal operations once they are completed. No timetable was provided.
The Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance held a candlelight vigil to raise awareness for unsafe conditions in prison. Partnering with the Texas Statewide Leadership Council, individuals gathered at Raby Park in Gatesville at 8 to honor those who have lost their lives due to heat-related causes and to stand with those who they believe are suffering.
It’s a quiet morning in Houston as Rae Hoppe works remotely at home. As she types, she can’t help but think of her boyfriend, Charles Gholson, who’s in prison without air conditioning. “I think it’s inhumane,” Hoppe said. Hoppe is worried her partner will die during the heat wave. She says he wakes up in a puddle of sweat on a hot metal bed.
Family members and advocates of inmates incarcerated inside Texas state prisons, rallied on Tuesday in Austin demanding lawmakers add AC to all their facilities. “If Texas is pro-life, this should be a priority. We have lives that are in our hands and families are trusting the state of Texas their loved ones will make it home,” Maggie Luna with the Texas Center for Justice and Equity said.
Last month, a woman died. What I know was only what guards told me after I saw the reflection of the ambulance lights, she complained of chest pains. Guards at Lane Murray Unit, a prison in Texas where I am also incarcerated, took her to medical twice and each time returned her to her bunk in the general population dorm. When the guards came to take her a third time, they found her dead.
