TCJE in the News

Press Contact: For all media inquiries, please contact Madison Kaigh, Communications Manager, at mkaigh@TexasCJE.orgor (512) 441-8123, ext. 108.

 

How Some of The Texas 19 Are Making Their Judgeships Count

How Some of The Texas 19 Are Making Their Judgeships Count

On a Friday evening, Judge Shannon Baldwin is at home with her toddler daughter and taking time out to be interviewed. “That’s probably just my boring life,” Baldwin says with a laugh. But her life has been anything but uneventful. The 49-year-old former criminal defense attorney is one of 17 Black women newly elected to judgeships in Harris County. Six of those women, including Baldwin, were elected to Harris County’s County Criminal Court system.

Read the rest of this article from ZORA.

After prison, more punishment

After prison, more punishment

He had spent 17 of his 46 years behind bars, locked in a pattern of addiction and crime that led to 16 prison terms. Now, Meko Lincoln pushed a cart of cleaning supplies at the reentry house to which he had been paroled in December, determined to provide for his grandchildren in a way he failed to do as a father.

Read the rest of this article from the Washington Post.

Second chances: Lockhart inmates graduate from community college

Second chances: Lockhart inmates graduate from community college

Tears and cheers filled the gymnasium Saturday at the Lockhart Correctional Facility as more than 100 family members, friends and officers celebrated the graduation of 14 women from Austin Community College’s certified production technician program.

Read the rest of this article from the Austin American-Statesman.

SAISD trustees table vote on Student Code of Conduct

SAISD trustees table vote on Student Code of Conduct

A vote on changes to the San Antonio Independent School District’s Student Code of Conduct was tabled Monday by its board after a coalition of social justice advocacy groups said it didn’t adequately address the school-to-prison pipeline.

Read the rest of this article from the San Antonio Express-News.

Busting Four Myths About Incarcerated Women

Busting Four Myths About Incarcerated Women

Six summers ago, Netflix introduced 105 million people to a group of women they typically sought to avoid—drug dealers, murderers, car thieves and more. Now one of the most popular shows on the channel, Orange is the New Black (OITNB) has made magic with its ability to humanize dastardly acts by providing backstory to crime—making it seem less like behavioral deviance and more like the understandable result of poverty, poor education, mental illness and misogyny. In many ways, Orange is the New Black turned the “bad girl” into folklore.

Read the rest of this article from Ms. Magazine.

‘Survival crimes’ can trap some in LGBTQ community in spiral of desperation

‘Survival crimes’ can trap some in LGBTQ community in spiral of desperation

Allison Franklin still thinks about the transgender women who helped her during her 10 years as a prostitute. In those years in and out of jail, Franklin — now an LGBTQ advocate — and the people she was with were just trying to survive. Along with prostitution, some sold drugs or tried to recruit others to join them. It’s a narrative all too familiar for those members of the LGBTQ community caught in a spiral after incarceration, ending up there after committing crimes just to stay alive or find a place to sleep.

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Advocates call on Harris County DA to release name of untrustworthy cops

Advocates call on Harris County DA to release name of untrustworthy cops

 

A coalition of advocates and lawyers on Friday morning asked Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg to develop a list of police deemed too untrustworthy to rely on in court — and to release the names publicly to rebuild community trust on the heels of a botched narcotics raid that left a Houston couple dead earlier this year.

Read the rest of this article from the Houston Chronicle.

Behind the Negative Headlines, Some Bright Spots for Criminal Justice Reform in Texas

Behind the Negative Headlines, Some Bright Spots for Criminal Justice Reform in Texas

Texas' 86th Legislative session came to a close last month with criminal justice reform advocates lamenting lost opportunities like the Sandra Bland Act — which died in the House of Representatives thanks to what Texas Monthly called “a fit of idiocy and confusion”— and the failure of marijuana sentencing reform. A session that began with cautious optimism for policies like bail reform, pretrial diversion programming, limiting three-strikes rules, and expanding air conditioning in sweltering prisons ended with bills failing left and right.

Read the rest of this article from Arnold Ventures.

NY’s High Rate Of Locking Up Parolees Gets Fresh Look

NY’s High Rate Of Locking Up Parolees Gets Fresh Look

The New York State Bar Association is taking a hard look at the state’s parole system as lawmakers have so far fallen short on reforms to address the state’s high rate of revoking parole, keeping a fire under efforts to follow other jurisdictions that have slashed parole-related prison stints.

Read the rest of this article from Law 360.

Texas will soon release prison inmates with documentation of job skills

Texas will soon release prison inmates with documentation of job skills

For Allison Franklin, the Texas criminal justice system seemed designed to return her to prison rather than prepare her to make it in the free world. "The only thing I was ever released with was my prison ID, my offender ID," she said. "And you can't apply for a job with that."

Read the rest of this article from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.