Solutions for safe, healthy, just communities

Let's End Mass Incarceration Together!

let’s end mass incarceration together!

The Texas Center for Justice and Equity (TCJE) advocates at the State Capitol and in counties throughout Texas to end mass incarceration, shift funding towards community supports, and reduce racial inequities in the criminal punishment system.

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Texans like you are getting involved.

Our supporter hub is your one-stop-shop for coalition info, educational materials, and ways to take action! Check it out and join the fight!

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“We’re not felons. We’re people.”

Whatever your story of system impact is, you deserve the chance to thrive—and the opportunity to make a change. Our Statewide Leadership Council (SLC) is a community of directly impacted Texans, and they’re fighting for a future where everyone has a second chance to succeed.

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Texas' youth prisons are in crisis. We have a plan.

As leaders investigate youth prisons, we have a real opportunity to overhaul Texas' entire approach to youth "justice." We're demanding that lawmakers close facilities and invest in meaningful supports for kids. This is critical. It can't wait. And we can't do it without you.

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The Big Picture

126k

Number of people in prison in Texas

72

Percent of people in Texas county jails who have not been tried or convicted

32

Percent of people in Texas prisons who are Black, despite Black people making up only 13% of Texas' general population

81

Percent of women in Texas prisons who are mothers

#50

Texas’ ranking – out of 50 states and Washington D.C. – in providing access to mental health care

Finish the 5

Our Journey to Zero Youth Prisons in Texas

During Youth Justice Action Month, we launched a new campaign focused on closing Texas’s 5 remaining prisons and investing in kids instead. After reports revealed dangerous and inhumane conditions in the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD), the “solution” has been to raise employee salaries. We know this will not fix the systemic abuse and neglect of incarcerated youth, and we demand something better for Texas kids. Along with the release of a policy brief and webpage explaining our policy goals, we’re convening the Finish the 5 Coalition  a group of advocates, organizations, impacted people, and other individuals. Click the links below to read our brief, learn more about the campaign, and join the Finish the 5 Coalition!