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 »
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice needs structural transformation, as do the courts and the law. Here’s some of the evidence. TAKEAWAYS FROM ROBERSON HEARING: Robert Roberson was convicted of murder more than 20 years ago and was sentenced to death. He was scheduled to be executed in late November despite new evidence. The Parole
A TEMPORARY WIN FOR DEATH PENALTY OPPONENTS 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 »
This New York Times opinion piece focuses on one side of the punishment debate. Another is tom let the punishment fit the individual. Opinion guest essay Let the Punishment Fit the Crime Oct. 23, 2021 Credit…Eleni Kalorkoti Share full article By Ben Austen and Khalil Gibran Muhammad Mr. Austen is working on a book about crime, punishment
Let the Punishment Fit the Crime Read More »
FAIR PAROLE REVIEW? More than 40 years ago the Feds approach was PRESUMPTIVE PAROLE https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/presumptive-parole-dates-federal-approach Six years ago, Jorge Renaud provided an update in an article called “Eight Keys to Mercy”: How to shorten excessive sentences”: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/longsentences.html “Presumptive parole Presumptive parole is a system in which incarcerated individuals are released upon first becoming eligible for parole
FAIR PAROLE REVIEW IS POSSIBLE 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 »
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 »