Parole & Reentry

These middle-aged Texans committed crimes as young teenagers. Should they get a second chance?

These middle-aged Texans committed crimes as young teenagers. Should they get a second chance?

For years, Demetrius Johnson, now 54, spent his days imagining what his life could have been if he had made different decisions at the age of 16. He describes it as if it actually happened to an alternate version of himself: A Demetrius Johnson who got a job at 18 and took care of his family. Who bought a two-bedroom house next door to his aunt, where he lived with his mother, his son and his son’s mother. Whose aunt helped turn the garage into an extra bedroom.

Proposed criminal justice reform renews punishment v rehabilitation debate

Proposed criminal justice reform renews punishment v rehabilitation debate

In the 1994 film, “The Shawshank Redemption,” actor Morgan Freeman portrays a prison inmate nicknamed “Red” who addresses a parole board after serving 40 years of a life sentence. He’s asked if he has been rehabilitated.

Read the rest of this article from the Tyler Loop.

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.

New Texas Laws Empower Parents Who Had Been Previously Deemed Unfit

New Texas Laws Empower Parents Who Had Been Previously Deemed Unfit

In the last photograph Maggie Luna has of all her children together, they are lined up alongside her by size, at a Houston area Chuck E. Cheese. Two daughters and a son, ages 4, 5 and 9. It’s 2015, and after two decades of struggling with addiction and related episodes of incarceration, a Texas judge has just terminated her parental rights.

Read the rest of this article from The Imprint.

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.

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

Texas Criminal Justice Coalition Releases 2021 Bill Analysis Guide

Texas Criminal Justice Coalition Releases 2021 Bill Analysis Guide

Today, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) released a guide analyzing positive justice legislation that became law during Texas’ 2021 regular session. The majority of bills go into effect on Wednesday, September 1.

Read the rest of this press release here.

Subscribe to Parole & Reentry