Press Contact: For all media inquiries, please contact Madison Kaigh, Communications Manager, at mkaigh@TexasCJE.orgor (512) 441-8123, ext. 108.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is now paying for his controversial border mission Operation Lone Star with money from the state’s cash-strapped Texas Juvenile Justice Department. About $31 million of the nearly half billion dollars he raked from a half dozen state agencies earlier this month to fund national guard troops on the southern border came from the state’s juvenile justice fund.
Alexa Garza has been out of prison for three years, but she still remembers how confining it felt. “I was surrounded by walls,” said Garza, who was incarcerated for two decades starting when she was 19. “I found that reading was an escape for me. I was able to read and learn and grow, and I knew that education was the key for me.”
After four years at the helm of the beleaguered state agency, executive director Camille Cain’s departure comes at a pivotal time. Cain leaves TJJD while it faces critically low staffing levels and is being audited by the state’s Sunset Advisory Commission.
The Austin Justice Coalition (AJC) invited the community to a press conference at the Austin Energy Headquarters preceding the Austin Police Department's contract negotiation session on Monday. The AJC was joined by fellow advocacy groups Texas Fair Defense Project, Texas Center for Justice and Equity and ACLU of Texas, as well as community members.
When the news broke, the small crowd gathered outside the governor’s public reception room at the Texas Capitol erupted with cheers: The state’s Court of Criminal Appeals had stayed Melissa Lucio’s impending execution. It was sending her case back to district court to consider several pressing claims, including that Lucio was innocent in the 2007 death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah.
Supporters of death row inmate Melissa Lucio gathered at the Texas Capitol Sunday afternoon in an effort to stop her execution scheduled for next week. It's the latest effort underway to save Lucio, who was convicted of killing her youngest daughter in 2007. She is scheduled to be executed on April 27.
Melissa Lucio supporters are holding a National Day of Action across the country just four days ahead of her scheduled execution date. Lucio is set to be put to death on Wednesday, April 27. She was convicted of killing her 2-year-old daughter in 2007 but has maintained her innocence over the years. Lucio said her daughter's death was an accident after suffering injuries falling down a flight of stairs at their South Texas home.
A new report evaluates the Houston Chronicle’s coverage of bond reform and crime stories. The report, “Materially Misleading: How the Houston Chronicle’s Coverage of Bond Misinforms the Public,” was produced by the Texas Center for Justice and Equity (TCJE) and authored by Elaine Hennig and Jay Jenkins. The analysis follows a November 2021 report tracking coverage by six local television stations.
On this edition of Century we're joined by Sarah Reyes, MSW, Policy Analyst with the Texas Center for Justice and Equity and co-author of their new report “Reversing the War on Drugs in Texas: Prioritizing REAL Public Health and Safety for Texans.” We discuss the failures of the state’s existing drug policies and some solutions, including decriminalization of drug use and the prioritization of health and dignity for people who use drugs.
Drug use and addiction is growing in Texas and getting younger, but current pushes by state leaders to attack the issue by reducing supply will have little effect on the problem, advocates say. Currently, methamphetamine use continues to be the biggest drug threat in Texas, but the prevalence of fentanyl is quickly growing, said Eduardo Chávez, who leads the Drug Enforcement Administration's Dallas Field Division.
