From Pride to Prisons: How Trauma and Stigma Drive LGBTQ Youth toward the Texas Justice System

I watched an LGBTQ Pride Parade for the first time in New York City in June 2008. I was 20 years old and in the middle of my undergraduate degree at a small college in the Midwest. A group of friends and I drove over 1,000 miles to spend two days in New York, basking in the one of the world’s largest celebrations of love, self-expression, and community. As a young gay college student, I had already experienced the rejection from family and friends, stigma from society, and outright anti-LGBTQ discrimination that most LGBTQ people must endure throughout their lifetime.

Women’s Justice Town Hall Focused on Dignity Reform in Texas

On Saturday, July 19, TCJC and the ACLU of Texas hosted a town hall at the Texas Capitol. It was one of 26 simultaneous town halls across the country – all part of The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls’ national convening, which brought together women impacted by the criminal justice system and leaders committed to engaging in gender-responsive reform efforts.

How Data Can Be a Critical Tool in Criminal Justice Reform: Transparency Encourages Advocacy and Accountability in Dallas County

On any given day, Dallas County incarcerates about 5,100 people in county jail. About 71% of these inmates are “pretrial,” which means they are awaiting trial for the charges against them. If they are in jail as a pretrial defendant, it generally means they cannot afford bail, or they are held without bail.

TCJC Launches “One Size FAILS All” Report Series

I remember my time on probation in 2007. When the prosecutor offered a plea agreement for 10 years deferred adjudication, I felt as though my life had been handed back to me. Ten months earlier, I had been arrested for handing a note to a bank teller asking for $500, driven by my desperation to feed a drug addiction. At that point, I assumed that I would not breathe free air again until I was a very old man. The probation sentence seemed to be such a priceless gift.

Talking Criminal Justice Reform with the Next Generation

For nearly two decades, TCJC has been advocating for justice reform in Texas. Recently, I joined Leah (TCJC’s Executive Director) and Lindsey (TCJC’s Policy Attorney) for a short trip to Round Rock, where we got to spend time with high school and college students, talking with them about the importance of advocating for criminal justice reform in Texas.

Texas Criminal Justice Coalition Joins the Discussion for Art in Justice Reform

The Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC), the Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts, and the California Lawyers for the Arts invited TCJC to participate in their Texas Art for Justice Forum on July 14 at the HMAAC.

Bipartisan Support for Criminal Justice Reform Is Alive and Well

Over the past two weekends, the Texas GOP and Democratic Party held their respective, biennial platform conventions to determine the parties’ official policy positions for the next two years. The outcome of these conventions shows that in a time where bipartisan agreement is rare, reforming our criminal justice system remains an area of common ground for the people of Texas.

Moving the Needle on Women’s Justice

When TCJC launched our Justice for Women campaign in March, we never expected this much momentum! In the past four months, we’ve accomplished a lot.

We released two full-length reports and a “quick guide” on the challenges facing women in Texas’ criminal justice system:

Guest Blog: Tarra Simmons Is an Inspiration to Those in Need of a Second Chance

Last November, I flew to Washington state to support Tarra Simmons; a woman who, until then, I’d only known through Facebook and mutual friends. She and I have many things in common, not the least of which is having spent time in prison.

Tarra graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Dean’s Medal and received the coveted Skadden Fellowship, which is only rewarded to a handful of law students each year and provides recipients who plan to do public interest work a full-time salary and benefits. Upon graduating, Tarra began preparing for the bar exam.

TCJC Launches the “Justice for Women” Campaign

My mother is a survivor of domestic abuse and sexual assault. Her method of coping with the trauma she experienced was to never stop moving. Literally. When I was growing up, we moved over and over again—14 times during my high school years alone. If, instead, her method of coping had been to self-medicate with alcohol or drugs, there is no doubt in my mind that she would be in prison.