A national organization helping connect people with criminal records to employment and housing opportunities is launching in Texas. TimeDone Texas held a resource fair Saturday with 300 Austinites who signed up for help.
Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday will consider a $25 million agreement to send jail inmates to the Giles Dalby Correctional Facility, a prison located in Post, a small Texas city near Lubbock. In January, the county shipped hundreds of inmates to a facility in Louisiana. Now, the county could approve an agreement to send inmates to an additional facility 475 miles away from Houston.
Several organizations held an event Saturday in Austin to provide information and resources to people who've been previously incarcerated.
The event follows a series of community gatherings that have taken place in Texas cities, the most recent being in Dallas. Key organizer for the event and Texas Center for Justice and Equity's Peer Policy Fellow Maggie Luna has all the details.
On Saturday, July 2, a group of formerly incarcerated and justice system-impacted Texans will convene in Austin. The event, “From Prison to Power: Finding Your Voice After Incarceration,” is organized by the Texas Center for Justice and Equity’s Statewide Leadership Council (SLC) and partners.
In Texas, approximately half a million residents can face completely legal housing discrimination due to their criminal records. Texas has the highest incarceration rate of “any other democracy” according to the Prison Policy Initiative. When members of this population of 251,000 are released, they face barriers in finding affordable housing across the state, including the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
Incarceration is “uniquely detrimental” to women, particularly if they are mothers, and authorities should consider alternative approaches to punishment for them, says a Texas justice advocacy group. “With a fraction of the money it costs to incarcerate a mother, we can support her with tools to address underlying needs, as well as keep her with her children and in the community –in turn preventing trauma and loss for the entire family unit,” argued the Texas Center for Justice and Equity, in a special report on “Motherhood and Pregnancy Behind
A report released today by the Texas Center for Justice and Equity (TCJE) highlights the experiences of mothers in Texas prisons and jails. “Motherhood and Pregnancy Behind Bars: Texas Must Rethink How It’s Treating Mothers and Families” urges leaders to protect the lives and dignity of currently incarcerated women while taking real, viable steps to keep people out of the criminal legal system altogether.
Melissa Lucio supporters are holding a National Day of Action across the country just four days ahead of her scheduled execution date. Lucio is set to be put to death on Wednesday, April 27. She was convicted of killing her 2-year-old daughter in 2007 but has maintained her innocence over the years. Lucio said her daughter's death was an accident after suffering injuries falling down a flight of stairs at their South Texas home.
Supporters of death row inmate Melissa Lucio gathered at the Texas Capitol Sunday afternoon in an effort to stop her execution scheduled for next week. It's the latest effort underway to save Lucio, who was convicted of killing her youngest daughter in 2007. She is scheduled to be executed on April 27.
