Category Archive

Amid what’s been a massive bummer of a Texas legislative session, the search for silver linings has been difficult. Over the past week, though, a solid contender has developed: the chance for meaningful criminal justice reform. Specifically, a pair of efforts that would make it easier for ex-offenders to secure employment have picked up steam in recent days. Late last week, a bill written by Dallas state Representative Eric Johnson that would stop the state from asking about criminal history during preliminary job applications escaped committee limbo and is awaiting scheduling in front of the full House. “Many employers, as many of you may know, use any disclosure in the affirmative as an immediate disqualifier for a potential employee,” Johnson said during the bill’s committee hearing. “As a result of that type of behavior on the part of employers, an individual who was formerly incarcerated — no matter the reason, … Read More

Texas judges would have a new, proven tool for juveniles who are placed on community supervision or deferred disposition (commonly called probation) for illegal drug use under legislation passed out of the Texas House by Rep. Terry Canales D-Edinburg. Judges would be able to require these youth to attend state-approved substance education programs. Under his measure, House Bill 642 – which was approved by the Texas House of Representatives on Thursday, April 30 – a presiding judge would have the authority to require a young offender, under age 18, to attend a class focused on the terrible consequences of unlawful drug abuse as a requirement for avoiding a harsher penalty or permanent criminal record. “Currently, minors who are convicted of drug offenses can be required to attend an alcohol awareness program. These programs are designed to help increase a minor’s awareness of the potential dangers and detriments of alcohol use,” … Read More

A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Thursday called for the repeal of a state program that requires drivers convicted of certain traffic offenses to pay annual surcharges to keep their driver’s licenses. Senate Bill 93 by state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, is the latest legislative attempt to abolish the Driver Responsibility Program. Standing beside Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas, and Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, Ellis said at a news conference the program has trapped many Texans in a cycle of poverty, requiring them to pay multiple times for a single traffic offense. But past attempts to end the program have been unsuccessful, with some lawmakers citing the revenue the program sends each year to state hospitals and trauma centers as a reason to continue it. Supporters of the bill are trying to reframe the failings of the program, emphasizing the high human cost of a relatively small amount of revenue. Read the rest of this article at The Texas Tribune.

Opponents of the Texas Driver Responsibility Program will unite Thursday, calling on lawmakers to support legislation that would repeal the program. The DRP was created in 2003. It requires drivers who are convicted of a certain number of certain traffic offenses to pay an annual surcharge in order to keep their drivers licenses. A portion of the money goes to the state’s trauma hospitals while another portion goes into the state’s general revenue fund. Opponents call the program a failure; Senate Bill 93, by Senator Rodney Ellis (D), would repeal the DRP. The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, which supports the repeal, says many offenders are unable to pay the annual surcharges and thus, the program has not generated the anticipated funds. Read the rest of this article at www.KEVETV.com.

TYLER, TX (KLTV) -An East Texas man traveled to Austin on Tuesday, preparing to tell a Senate committee in a public hearing about how the suspension of his driver’s license has suspended his life. “If I don’t drive, then I can’t get a job or take my son to school or fishing.” said Yeno. The father of an 8-year old son said he has to break the law every day—driving with a suspended license. It started when he was pulled over by police many years ago and given a ticket for an expired license. He became subject to the Driver Responsibility Program, formed by Texas law. Yeno of Tyler told KLTV in 2014 that traffic ticket surcharges under the Driver Responsibility Program in Texas were impossible for him to pay. Read the rest of this article at www.KTRE.com.

Every month, the number of pregnant women incarcerated in Texas county jails hovers between 300 and 500, according to monthly jail population reports collected by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. But we know little else about how pregnant women are treated behind bars. Criminal justice, mental health and civil rights groups have long fought for more information on the care and treatment available to pregnant inmates. A law passed in 2009 requires that each jail have a health services plan in place, but doesn’t specify the kind of services that must be provided to pregnant women. Another 2009 law bans the use of restraints on pregnant inmates during labor, delivery and recovery unless correctional officers determine there’s a security or flight risk. But counties are not required to report to the state when, and why, restraints are used. Read the rest of this article at The Texas Observer.

John Legend is best known for his music. But the Grammy, Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning singer-songwriter is in Texas this week lending his voice to something different: criminal justice reform. Days after launching his Free America campaign to end mass incarceration in the United States, Legend on Thursday will be in Austin, where he’ll visit the Travis County Correctional Complex and meet with lawmakers to discuss ways to improve the criminal justice system. His visit comes as the Legislature considers several measures that could affect the criminal justice system, including raising the age when teenagers can be criminally charged as adults and reducing penalties for marijuana possession. Read the rest of this article at The Texas Tribune.

As the shooting of Walter Scott dominated national headlines this week, Texas lawmakers discussed legislation aimed at making police officers think twice before using excessive force. In a House committee hearing on Thursday, state Rep. Ron Reynolds (D-Missouri City) laid out a bill that would require law enforcement officers across the state to wear body cameras when engaging with the public. “We’ve often seen from recent incidents why we need body cameras. You can look no further than the most recent incident in South Carolina,” Reynolds said. “It is my firm belief that if that officer was equipped with a body camera that tragic incident would not have taken place.” Many witnesses testifying at the hearing agreed. John Kreager, speaking on behalf of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, said that body cameras “could be a win for officers and a win for the community,” by both preventing incidents of excessive … Read More

Testimonies at the State Legislature on Thursday largely supporting the adoption of body cameras in police departments across Texas suggest that the technology may be gaining traction in the state. The issue of body cameras has recently earned some urgency in the light of a North Charleston, S.C., fatal shooting Saturday in which Officer Michael Thomas Slager was caught on video shooting 50-year-old Walter Lamer Scott in the back multiple times. Slager initially told investigators Scott was shot during a struggle. If not for a bystander’s recording of the incident, Slager may have escaped a murder charge, said Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City, who is the author of a House bill that would require all police in Texas to wear body cameras. “It is my belief that if that officer was equipped with a camera the shooting would not have happened,” Reynolds said. Read the rest of this article at The … Read More

Richard Gladden, a Texas defense attorney, represents criminals for a living, so he’s no stranger to crime. But when he talks about Securus, a for-profit prison company based in Dallas, he is downright grim. “Securus is mercenary,” he says. “They’re squeezing blood out of a rock.” Most people have never heard of Securus Technologies (the company doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page), but over the last decade, it has quietly become a sort of high-tech Blackwater for the criminal justice system. The company employs nearly 1,000 people and has secured contracts with about 2,600 correctional facilities nationwide. In 2013, ABRY Partners, a private equity group in Boston, reportedly invested in the company at a $1 billion valuation. In the last couple of years, Securus began offering correctional facilities an enticing new product: video visitations for inmates and their families. The idea has taken off. More than 100 correctional facilities around … Read More