Coalition Building

The Texas Center for Justice & Equity historically supported three system-impacted coalitions. 

Statewide Leadership Council (SLC)

We are formerly incarcerated and system-impacted Texans committed to ending incarceration in this state. Our current criminal legal system is rooted in slavery and racism, and those consigned to Texas cages have been disproportionately and intentionally African-American. Our system has devastated countless Texas communities and denied members of those communities a viable path to a sustainable, dignified life while intentionally excluding them from any transformative process.

We claim our right of inclusion and leadership in that process, based on the reality that incarceration has traumatized us, our families, and our communities. Our lived experience with this trauma compels us to dismantle current criminal legal policies and practices and seek alternatives to incarceration, always placing the desires of our communities at the forefront of transformation.

Texas Women's Justice Coalition

The Texas Women’s Justice Coalition was created in 2018 in response to an increase in women’s incarceration and the unique needs of women in the criminal legal system.

Our founders include the Texas Center for Justice and Equity (TCJE), Brittany Barnett (Girls Embracing Mothers), and Lauren Johnson (ACLU of Texas).

We are a group of formerly incarcerated women, advocates, and service providers. We are working to create change for incarcerated and returning women in our local areas, and we advocate together for state-level policy reforms at the Texas Capitol.

Hear from System-Impacted Women

The women of the Texas Women's Justice Coalition shared their stories as part of our "Hear from Her" series. Click to read all of their stories. 

Policy Work

As the Texas Women’s Justice Coalition launched in 2018, TCJE released a 2-part report series on women’s justice in Texas: A Growing Population and An Unsupported Population. The series also includes a quick guide, which shares key facts and statistics.

Then, after a retreat to the Texas Hill Country with Coalition members in 2019, TCJE released The Future of Dignity, which shares the Coalition’s history and priorities for policy reform.

TCJE has also tracked the Coalition’s legislative work at the state Capitol, including their fight for dignity and other reforms in 2019, their 2021 policy agenda, and their advocacy for family reunification and other supports for women during the 2021 session.

In 2023, the Coalition is fighting for women to have more rehabilitative and vocational programming in prisons, to ensure they get the same programming access that men already have. And we’re excited to support the youth-led Finish the 5 camaign, given that girls in Texas’ youth prisons are at risk for later system involvement.

Texas Women's Justice Coalition in Action

Finish the 5: Campaign to Close Texas' Youth Prisons

In August 2022, an investigation by the Texas Tribune revealed that about 600 children in Texas’ 5 state secure juvenile detention facilities are living in dangerous and unsanitary conditions. Incident reports revealed that kids in understaffed facilities were stuck in their cells for over 22 hours a day and were unable to access bathrooms. High numbers of these incarcerated children were on suicide watch, and some had harmed themselves.

The Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) was already under investigation by the federal Department of Justice. That investigation, launched in October 2021, is examining “whether Texas provides children confined in the facilities reasonable protection from physical and sexual abuse by staff and other residents, excessive use of chemical restraints and excessive use of isolation." The investigation is also examining "whether Texas provides adequate mental health care.”

The treatment of children in these youth prisons is inhumane and unacceptable. It represents a critical failure by state leadership and by an agency that claims to prioritize rehabilitation. Although leaders have excused these pervasive and decades-long issues by blaming current low staffing levels at TJJD, the Finish the 5 Coalition is demanding a culture shift.

Our Demands

1. Shut down TJJD’s 5 state secure institutions by 2030 through a thoughtful, staggered closure plan
2. Invest in building communities’ infrastructure to appropriately address the needs of children who would have been sent to TJJD, and allow recapture from closed facilities to reimburse the costs for community-based resources
3. Enact policy reforms that decriminalize youth, diverting children from the criminal punishment system altogether

In October 2022, the Texas Center for Justice and Equity released a policy brief outlining the crisis in TJJD and a plan to address it through the three demands above.

Read "Finish the Five: Our Journey to Zero Youth Prisons in Texas" here.

“If any parent was treating children this way, they would have their families ripped apart, they would face criminal prosecution.” —Dr. Ryan Shanahan, a research director with the Vera Institute for Justice

Learn more

Resources, news articles, and Finish the 5 Coalition in action

TOOLKIT: Get the info you need to testify at the legislature | Click Here »
VIDEO: Watch youth and impacted speakers lead the first #FinishThe5 Advocacy Day at the Texas Capitol | Click Here »
BLOG POST: Read a blog post highlighting the #FinishThe5 campaign so far | Click Here »
IG LIVE: Watch a live conversation about #FinishThe5 between ALYM's Krupali and TCJE's Amonie on Instagram | Click Here »
ARTICLE: Read the Texas Tribune's original story on conditions in TJJD | Click Here »
PRESS RELEASE: Read our press release announcing the coalition | Click Here »
POLICY BRIEF: Check out our policy brief exploring this issue further | Click Here »
WEBINAR: Watch our webinar explaining the crisis in TJJD and introducing this campaign | Click Here »

Quick Facts

Below are some quick facts on Texas' youth justice system:

• 5 PRISONS: There are five juvenile prisons in Texas, located in mostly rural areas throughout the state. They are located in Edinburg, Gainesville, Giddings, Mart, and Brownwood. Texas also operates other youth facilities, including halfway houses.
• 23 HOURS: In summer 2022, kids were trapped in their cells for up to 23 hours a day, unable to leave even to use the bathroom. They used lunch trays and water bottles to relieve themselves, or were forced to urinate on their clothing (which they were not able to change afterwards).
• 45%: Even as the number of children incarcerated in TJJD has decreased, the percentage of incarcerated kids on suicide alert has risen to almost half of the total population. Kids have self-harmed using pen springs and pieces of metal.
• 10 YEARS: Kids as young as 10 years old can be sent to juvenile prisons in Texas. This is the "lower age" of juvenile jurisdiction. Texas is also one of only 3 states that automatically charges 17-year-olds as adults, and puts them into adult prisons.

Youth Justice History

Learn about the history of the youth punishment system in Texas from our report series, "Protecting Texas' Most Precious Resource: A History of Juvenile Justice in Texas."

• Read Part I, The Path to the Texas Youth Council: Creating a Protective Umbrella for Juvenile Offenders, 1887-1949
• Read Part II, The TYC Era: Between Rehabilitation and Punishment, 1949-2008