Conditions of Confinement

Bills addressing the basic needs of incarcerated women bolster the larger call for reform in the state prison system this session.

Read the rest of this article at the Texas Observer. 

On this International Women's Day, a group of women who've served time are demanding lawmakers pass a series of bills that would help meet the needs of the thousands of women who are locked up.

Read the rest of this article at Fox 7 Austin.

A day after another suicide at the local lock-up, a Houston-based legislator raised the possibility of state oversight for the troubled Harris County jail.

Read the rest of this article at the Houston Chronicle.

“If you’re going to motivate a diverse group of voters, criminal justice is the easiest issue to motivate them on,” said Jay Jenkins, an attorney with the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. “It was refreshing to have a candidate speak openly and plainly about the things that black and brown folks experience on a daily basis, but politicians have been, for whatever reason, reluctant to bring up.”

Read the rest of this article at BuzzFeed. 

Bill Mills experienced firsthand the cruel conditions of Sugar Land’s notorious Imperial Prison Farm. Back in 1910, he became a part of the Texas prison system shortly after his 17th birthday when he was arrested for horse theft. And though he went on to serve multiple prison terms in Texas, Oklahoma and Georgia, it was his time at Imperial Prison Farm that remained etched in his memory.

An [incarcerated individual] is suing the Texas prison system after officials allegedly failed to adequately treat his flesh-eating bacteria infection for a week, letting the wound fester as they refused to take him to the hospital because the unit was too understaffed.

Read the rest of this article at the Houston Chronicle. 

A bill aiming to detach the ombudsman from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice died in 2017. But news from the past year makes advocates hopeful that 2019 will be different.

Read the rest of this article at the Texas Tribune.

"For 19 black women and a socialist to be elected judge in Houston, which is the epicenter of mass incarceration, is not a small deal," said Jay Jenkins, an attorney with the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. "The possibility that we could fix some of the issues that the sitting judges have just proved unwilling or unable to fix is on the horizon."

On average, one-third of families reject children who come out as LGBTQ, which puts them at greater risk for homelessness and incarceration.

Read the rest of this article at the Texas Standard.