TCJE in the News

As Floyd Act stalls, Texas lawmakers see room for targeted police reforms

Shortly after George Floyd’s murder last year at the hands of Minneapolis police, Gov. Greg Abbott went to his funeral in Houston, vowing legislation “to make sure we never have anything like this ever occur in the state of Texas.”“Discussions about the pathway forward will not be taken over by politicians but will be led by family members, will be led by victims, will be led by the people who have suffered because of racism for far too long in this state and this country,” he told reporters.

Read the rest of this article from the Houston Chronicle.

5 years after murder of Haruka Weiser, students, parents, faculty evaluate UT’s public safety response

In the five years following the murder of freshman Haruka Weiser, UT has increased safety measures on and off campus to reduce crime risk. However, some advocates say additional steps could be taken to improve student safety. Weiser was walking home from a class at 9:30 p.m. on April 3, 2016 when she was killed by Meechaiel Criner. Criner was sentenced to life in prison in 2018.

Read the rest of this article from The Daily Texan.

Breathe rally in Austin encourages action after Derek Chauvin verdict

WATCH: Sen. Hughes lays out bill granting immunity to armed school security

Texas bill could reduce parole eligibility time for juvenile capital felons

Texas Criminal Justice Coalition Statement on Police Murder of Daunte Wright

After a year of near-constant traumas for Black and brown Americans—from particularly deadly COVID-19 outcomes, especially in prisons and jails, to a series of high-profile murders by police—another devastating murder has rocked the United States. Near the site of Derek Chauvin’s trial in Minneapolis for his killing of George Floyd, 20-year-old Daunte Wright was murdered by a police officer after being pulled over for a traffic violation.

Read the rest of this press release here.

State House Passes Bill Aiming to Keep Texans from Returning to Jail

Many Texans who are released from jail may find themselves behind bars again in the future, but a bill in the state Legislature is hoping to change that. On Friday, state representatives passed House Bill 930, which would create a board to deliver a recidivism report every other year. Filed by DeSoto state Rep. Carl O. Sherman Sr., the bill would detail re-arrest, reconviction and reincarceration rates in the hopes of keeping previously incarcerated Texans from returning to jail.

Read the rest of this article from the Dallas Observer.

Five Times Miami's New Police Chief Got it Wrong on Public Safety

Art Acevedo, Miami’s new chief of police, works hard to project a public image that threads the needle between appearing tough on crime and assuring more liberal members of the public that he takes their concerns about policing seriously. He’s good at it.

Read the rest of this article from The Appeal.

Immigrants' rights groups call on federal government to speed up family reunification process after touring Freeman Coliseum

Immigrant rights groups call for transparency after touring emergency migrant youth shelter

Only one child in federal custody at the Freeman Coliseum has been reunited with his family. The vast majority of the 1,898 children ages 13-17 who remain at the facility have been there long past the five- to seven-day timeline that immigrant rights groups were told to expect before authorities reunited the children with their families.

Read the rest of this article from the San Antonio Report.