Forging Ahead in the Fight for Justice and Equity: TCJE’s First Year

One year ago today, our organization launched a new name—and with it, a new vision for what justice can mean in Texas.

After 21 years—during the bulk of which we were called the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition—our staff, board, coalition members, and community came together in an important decision: it was time to change our name.

Beginner’s Guide: Interim Hearings at the Texas Legislature

If you’ve followed previous posts in our beginner’s guide blog series (which you can scroll down to revisit!), you may know that the Texas Legislature only holds its regular session from January through May of every other year. But the reality of how our laws are made is actually a little more complicated–in part because legislators start working early, in what’s called the interim.

Imagining Solutions Beyond ALL Forms of Punishment: Size and Scope of Probation

Today, close to 2 million human beings are locked away in more than 6,200 prisons, jails, and detention centers that span the American landscape. In fact, the U.S. has been consistently known as the world’s warden because of the sheer number of people our country locks up on any given day.

Q&A: Incarceration, Advocacy, and the LGBTQ+ Community in Texas

As Pride Month 2022 comes to a close, I sat down with the TCJE comms team to share my thoughts on what the month means and the intersections between our work and the LGBTQ+ community. Below is our Q&A!

Q: How are LGBTQ+ people uniquely impacted by the criminal legal system?

A: There are some stats that show how stark this issue is:

As We Honor Juneteenth, We Must Acknowledge—and Continue the Fight Against—Modern-Day Slavery

The holiday of Juneteenth represents hard-fought and long-overdue freedom. Celebrated on June 19th, it’s a day filled with festivities, including great food and folks wearing their best clothing. Why is that such an important part of the day? When Black people were slaves, they were given slop and scraps from their owners’ meals. Their clothes were rags pieced together from leftover materials or thrown out clothing. So the food and clothing represent a grand rising.

PRINT NEWS: Materially Misleading: How the Houston Chronicle's Coverage of Bond Misinforms the Public

Introduction

In April 2022, TCJE released Part II of our report series on media bias in Harris County. It analyzed 499 news articles run by the Houston Chronicle between January 2015 and December 2021.

Don’t Reward Local News for Misleading the Public About Bond Reform

Every week, people in and around Houston (one of the largest cities in the US, with over 7 million people in the metro area) turn on their computers or televisions—and see bias and misinformation about the criminal legal system. It’s not just COPS and Law & Order, either. As TCJE’s recent research has found, false narratives run rampant in Houston-area TV news, especially English-language stations. And one of the worst offenders when it comes to misinformation about bond reform is “Breaking Bond,” a series on FOX 26 (KRIV-TV).

Nine Seconds in Minneapolis: Reflections on the Police Murder of Amir Locke

As we celebrate the history of Black culture and the people that made and are still making courageous efforts in the ongoing fight from freedom to equality, we are met with another reminder that police brutality and over-policing on Black, indigenous, and people of color are still a crisis in America—one that takes our Black sons, brothers, and fathers, leaving families shattered and communities traumatized.

2021 in Review: A Year of Transformation at TCJE

I’m sure you’ve seen the posts all across social media: it’s the time of year when people reflect. They’ll share their most heard songs (mine: “Jackson” cover by Trixie Mattel and Orville Peck, “Jerome” by Lizzo, “The Six” by the Six the Musical cast). Or they might note personal accomplishments from the year (mine: a lot of homemade empanadas and one truly phenomenal maple pecan pie).

TV NEWS: The Real ‘Bond Pandemic’: Misinformation, False Narratives, and Bias in the Media

Introduction

In November 2021, TCJE released Part I of our series on media bias in Harris County. It analyzed 226 news articles run by six Houston-area television stations – KHOU, KPRC, KRIV, KTMD, KTRK, and KXLN – between January 2015 and June 2021.