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.


 

Austin High School students protest arrest of immigrant student booked into jail for assault

More than 300 Stephen F. Austin High School students walked out during their lunch break Wednesday to protest the arrest of a Honduran teen who landed in immigrant detention after a fight at school.

Read the rest of this article at the Houston Chronicle.

After fatal fires, Houston officials propose stronger lodging house safety rules

After residential facility fires last year claimed the lives of three people and displaced dozens of others, Houston city officials on Tuesday unveiled several proposed changes to city ordinances aimed at improving oversight of the buildings.

Read the rest of this article at the Houston Chronicle.

Tear gas, pepper spray use up in Texas prisons, including on suicidal inmates

As violence behind bars continues to rise, Texas prisons over the past 10 years have seen a 71 percent increase in the use of chemical agents on inmates, often those attempting suicide or self-harm.

Read the rest of this article at the Houston Chronicle.

Reformers Seek to Establish Nonprofit in Charge of Police Oversight

As the Austin Police Association (APA) continues negotiating a new union contract with the city of Austin, police reform advocates are asking that the city fund an independent nonprofit to review complaints against the police department.

Read the rest of this article at Nonprofit Quarterly.

Community-Built, Community-Driven Oversight?

When the city's police union meet-and-confer agreement expired in December, with it expired language that both provided for the Citizen Review Panel and barred the city from experimenting with any parallel mechanism of community oversight.

Read the rest of this article at the Austin Chronicle.

The False Promise of Bail Reform in Dallas County: Debate Continues While People Languish in Jail

For five days, 47-year-old Shannon Daves sat in solitary confinement in a Dallas County jail because she couldn’t afford to pay $500 bail.

Read the rest of the article at Medium's In Justice Today.

The False Promise of Bail Reform in Dallas County: Debate Continues While People Languish in Jail

For five days, 47-year-old Shannon Daves sat in solitary confinement in a Dallas County jail because she couldn’t afford to pay $500 bail. Daves, who is unemployed and homeless, was isolated because she is transgender — allegedly to protect her from the jail’s general population. She faces a misdemeanor property theft charge.

Read the rest of this article from the Appeal.

Texas may shutter some juvenile prisons in push to shift youth closer to home

If everything goes as planned, Texas could shutter some of its state-run juvenile prisons over the next five years, according to the newly installed director of the troubled Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

Read the rest of this article at San Antonio Express News.

Police reform activists call for city-funded nonprofit for police complaints

Representatives of Austin’s police union said Monday that they’re eager to begin negotiations with the new city manager on a contract that can hopefully win approval from City Council.

Read the rest of this article at the Austin Monitor.

Suicide attempts have more than doubled in Texas prisons

The attempted suicide rate recorded inside the Texas prison system has doubled in four years, a trend that some experts call "concerning" and others see as a positive sign the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is getting more serious about tracking mental health issues.

Read the rest of this article at the Houston Chronicle.