Criminal Justice reform groups have criticized Kim Ogg’s request to hire 102 new lawyers. They argue more people will be jailed, but the DA says her office needs more staff to handle a backlog of cases.
The first time Michael Tracy skipped school, it was to help plan a robbery. He was 17, and reckless.
A person convicted of a misdemeanor or felony drug offense in Texas will automatically have his or her driver’s license suspended for a period of six months – an overly punitive penalty that fails to relate to the offense, and which makes it more challenging to meet work, school, family, and, importantly, probation obligations. Enforcing this policy also diverts police attention and resources from actual public safety hazards on the roads, and it creates a heavy administrative burden to implement.
Peer support involves a trained Peer Support Specialist with histories of substance use, mental health conditions, and criminal justice involvement helping those with similar histories. These specialists have achieved a reasonable degree of stability in their own lives and are now employed by local government or nonprofit agencies to provide individualized support to others.
Nearly 70,000 men and women reenter Texas communities after prison each year,1 and many face significant hurdles to employment, especially licensed professions. Texas requires occupational licenses for more than 25 percent of professions, but automatic exclusions and vague disqualifying criteria for people with criminal records pose barriers to licensure.
Doug Smith, a senior policy analyst with the nonprofit Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, says lawmakers never delivered on the rehabilitation-focused approach they had promised. Without re-entry planning, ongoing mental health care and other rehabilitative programs, many formerly incarcerated Texans have little chance of reintegrating into society.
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Two years ago, Kim Ogg was elected district attorney of Harris County. One of her campaign promises was to implement a diversion program for first time offenders charged with low-level marijuana possession. These are cases where a person gets arrested for “two ounces or less” of marijuana.
Activists are mapping a path to end arrests for possession and broaden the state's medical marijuana program ahead of the next legislative session.
Two years ago, the Austin City Council decided that local employers should get to know job applicants first before deciding whether a criminal record puts them out of the running.
Read the rest of this article at the Austin American-Statesman.
What happens to people after they're released from the Texas criminal justice system? Probation is typically the next step, but what does that process look like and how does it work?
Read the rest of this article at Texas Public Radio's The Source.
