Conditions of Confinement

Plastic Surgery Has a Troubled History Inside Prisons. Some Advocates Want It to Make a Comeback.

Plastic Surgery Has a Troubled History Inside Prisons. Some Advocates Want It to Make a Comeback.

Starting in 2017, Thai media published a series of articles on the country’s growing class of “new poor people,” former incarcerees who were finding it almost impossible to get hired and often returning to prison as a result. 

Press Advisory: Houston Event Will Highlight System-Impacted Leaders, Build Community for Formerly Incarcerated Locals

Press Advisory: Houston Event Will Highlight System-Impacted Leaders, Build Community for Formerly Incarcerated Locals

On January 29, a group of formerly incarcerated and justice system-impacted Texans will convene in Houston. The event, “From Prison to Power: Finding Your Voice After Incarceration,” is organized by the Texas Center for Justice and Equity’s Statewide Leadership Council (SLC) and partners.

Read the rest of this press advisory here.

Illinois women’s prison offers a new chance at a degree

Illinois women’s prison offers a new chance at a degree

Prison education programs across the country have long overlooked incarcerated women, offering fewer courses and degree options. Northwestern University is hoping to change that. Last spring, the university expanded its three-year-old prison education program to include incarcerated women.

Read the rest of this article from 19th News.

State of Texas: Leaders consider ‘consequences’ of not tracking state hospital waitlist data

State of Texas: Leaders consider ‘consequences’ of not tracking state hospital waitlist data

In Texas, people charged with crimes and found mentally incompetent to stand trial most often obtain restoration treatment at a state hospital before returning to jail and being able to actively participate in their defense.

Grumet: Pandemic brings plot twist to Women's Storybook Project of Texas

Grumet: Pandemic brings plot twist to Women's Storybook Project of Texas

Over the past five years, more than 6,600 women in Texas prisons have made audio recordings of “The Invisible String,” a children’s book about the unseen bonds that connect us to those we cherish, no matter the distance. Each inmate’s recording and a copy of the brightly illustrated book were sent to her children, who often live hundreds of miles away with Grandma or another guardian.

Advocates, legal experts decry Gov. Greg Abbott diverting $4M in state prisons funding for election audits

Advocates, legal experts decry Gov. Greg Abbott diverting $4M in state prisons funding for election audits

Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday signed off on the transfer of $4 million from the state prison system to the secretary of state’s office to fund county election audits to "ensure election integrity," a move that some criminal justice advocates have since denounced. The new Election Audit Division will study the results of the November 2020 election in four Texas counties.

State committee tasked with improving Texas’ criminal justice system sits unfunded, unused for over a decade

State committee tasked with improving Texas’ criminal justice system sits unfunded, unused for over a decade

Lawmakers don’t have enough information to manage Texas’ criminal justice system, and they should create a legislative committee to study the system’s most pressing problems and create reports with guidance and improvements — that was the assessment of a state review in 2006. Texas legislators heeded that recommendation. The next year, in 2007, they created the Criminal Justice Legislative Oversight Committee. 

Criminal justice advocates to highlight prison conditions at Conroe event

Criminal justice advocates to highlight prison conditions at Conroe event

Local and state-wide organizations are joining Sunday to host a community event all about education regarding criminal justice outreach. The event will feature a panel of community leaders, voter registration, and a mock jail cell for residents to better understand the conditions in a Texas prison.

Read the rest of this article from the Houston Chronicle.

Contraband Books: What Texas prisons have against Michelle Alexander, Frederick Douglass, and Alice Walker

Contraband Books: What Texas prisons have against Michelle Alexander, Frederick Douglass, and Alice Walker

On December 14, 2020, we were nine months deep in the pandemic. The bookstore was open by appointment only. The holiday season, normally our busiest time, was looking bleak. We hadn't had a single appointment all day. The weather outside was cold and gray.

Read the rest of this article from Scalawag Magazine.

Texas Criminal Justice Coalition Announces New Name

The Texas Center for Justice and Equity logo

Today, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) announced a rebrand, officially changing the organization’s name to the Texas Center for Justice and Equity (TCJE). The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition was founded in 2000 and has long fought at the State Capitol and in counties throughout Texas to safely reduce the flow of people into prisons and jails, to help people during and after incarceration, and to shift investments from the multi-billion-dollar state corrections system to community-base

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