Every ten years or so, Texas public agencies undergo review. The questions are: should the agency continue to exist? and if so in what form? This year the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is under review, as is the Parole Board, Managed Healthcare, and the Windham School District. The only public hearing during which stakeholders […]
Sunset Advisory Commission Read More »
People design prisons and can be changed by them. Accomplishing that requires an openness to innovation that is largely missing by correctional administrators. That cannot remain an obstacle to proposing changes to the prison environment that enable them to release people who are better off for having been inside the walls. Since momentum for humane
Normalization of the Prison Experience Read More »
And they plan on being heard! and they want to talk about Texas prisons. Twice a year the TBCJ allows public comments on non-agenda items. On 8-25-23 37 people signed up to talk for the allotted three minutes. Tona was one of them: https://www.facebook.com/maggie.luna.52/videos/166055919853434/?mibextid=SphRi8 Tammica is the other. Her son died as a correctional officer. She
These moms are outraged…… Read More »
The majority of prisons in the USA run on an outdated operating system. Innovation is possible. “In a recent interview, Norwegian prison governor Are Hoidal talked about how prisoners are punished in the country. “In Norway, the punishment is to take away someone’s liberty,” he said. “The other rights stay.” Norwegian prisoners have the right
INNOVATION IN PRISONS Read More »
Most prisons throughout the U.S. are understaffed. At least that’s what the conventional wisdom is. The consequences of understaffing are negative for everyone involved. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has attempted to solve the problem by increasing notoriously low wages. What they have thus far refused to do is to look at the prison
Prison Understaffing? Read More »
The Texas Civil Rights Project, along with other entities, recently released its 2023 report on solitary confinement in Texas. The picture is far from a pretty one. Along with the largest prison system in the country, Texas also has the largest number of individuals locked up in prisons within a prison. It’s not popular to
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IN TEXAS Read More »
When it comes to Texas prisons, there is no real system. Instead, there is a mostly rural network of correctional facilities run by wardens with wide latitude to run “their” units as they see fit. It is essentially a patchwork quilt without uniform policies or procedures. The prime directive, on paper, is to promote positive
Outside Thoughts about Texas Prison Lockdown Read More »
UNDERSTAFFING??? “Experts blame lengthy lockdown on staffing shortages. A thousand people incarcerated at a maximum-security prison in Wisconsin have been on lockdown for four months. During that time, prisoners at the Waupun Correctional Institution say they’ve had to eat all meals in their cells, been refused visits from family and friends, and had illnesses go untreated
PRISON UNDERSTAFFING & the TDCJ 2030 PLAN Read More »
There has to be a way to hold decision-makers accountable for the consequences of their actions, or lack thereof. In the meantime, the injurious and deadly consequences of prisons without climate control continue. When I see my tax money subsidizing such a system, I am compelled to protest. And I’m one of many. Thanks to
TAXPAYER MONEY SUBSIDIZING AVOIDABLE INJURY AND DEATH Read More »
Folks all across the political spectrum agree that Texas prisons are in need of change. In fact, that’s the case around the country. Of course, agreement is just the first step and that is where the discussion usually ends. However, there are a few people who have thought through the issue and crafted a plan.
Ending Mass Incarceration Read More »