Press Contact: For all media inquiries, please contact Madison Kaigh, Communications Manager, at mkaigh@TexasCJE.orgor (512) 441-8123, ext. 108.
Texas’ most vulnerable students are unequally punished for disruptive, unruly behavior. Punitive disciplinary policies often lead to pushing students with disabilities and students of color out of the classroom, limiting their ability to succeed academically.
When I was arrested for my first drug offense, I was 19 years old. The War on Drugs told elected officials that Black people like me were the villains of the story and needed to be locked away in the name of public safety. Along with millions across the country, I was deemed disposable. For the next 20 years, I couldn't find a job or find a place to live in, and I panicked every time I was pulled over for fear that once again that disposable label would be placed on my forehead.
San Antonio Independent School District students converged on Monday night’s school board meeting to demand changes to the district's Student Bill of Rights — among them, that police step back from campus discipline.
The district adopted a Student Bill of Rights late last year that says students should be informed about disciplinary practices and that such practices be applied consistently.
Read the rest of this article from San Antonio Current.
A group of high school activists in the San Antonio Independent School District converged on Monday night’s school board meeting to ask for less police involvement in school discipline and other amendments to the district’s student code of conduct and Student Bill of Rights. “Students have felt like they’re in a prison when really they’re in a school,” said Bella Garcia, 18, a senior at the Young Women’s Leadership Academy, at a press conference before the meeting.
Read the rest of this article from the San Antonio Express-News.
Grassroots Leadership, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition and Texas Harm Reduction Alliance held a forum Sunday to educate the community on candidates running for Travis County District Attorney and present questions to them.
$1.5 million. That was the bond amount set for 37-year-old Jonathan Fulton Smith, who was arrested in connection to a 2018 Bogata arson/homicide case at the end of January. So, who makes the call on a multi-million dollar number — and what do bail bonds do, anyways?
All three candidate vying to serve as Travis County’s District Attorney came face-to-face at a forum on Sunday afternoon. They are competing in what could be one of the most contentious local races in the March 3 primary election.
Thousands of Texas schoolchildren—many of them African Americans— are victimized by “zero tolerance” school discipline policies that land them in the criminal justice system, says the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC).
Gary Ryan was less than three months away from getting out of prison — and his family was doing everything right. His brother-in-law lined up a job for him at his company. His nephew Corey Anderson planned to give him his old truck. Anderson also fixed up a house on a family property where his uncle could live.
Yesterday, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) released a landmark report on restorative justice and school discipline in Texas. “Reversing the Pipeline to Prison in Texas: How to Ensure Safe Schools AND Safe Students” was released in conjunction with a student-led conversation on school discipline in San Antonio.
