Clear Your Criminal History at Abilene's Expunction Clinic in April
Abilene attorneys Blizzard and Zimmerman are co-sponsoring the first "Reentry Coalition Expunction Clinic in Abilene." This event is Friday, April 29, 2022, from 9 am until 4 pm. There will be two sessions that day one is in the morning and the second in the afternoon.
Formerly Incarcerated Leaders to Gather for Community-Building Event in Dallas
On April 2, a group of formerly incarcerated and justice system-impacted Texans will convene in Dallas. 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
Access & Opportunity Podcast: Reducing Recidivism
On this episode, we’re talking about America’s high rate of recidivism – with nearly 80% of those incarcerated returning to prison after five years – and what can be done to reduce this figure.
Read the rest of this transcript or listen to the episode from the Access & Opportunity podcast.
Texas Center for Justice and Equity & Texas Women’s Justice Coalition to Mark International Women’s Day
Today, the Texas Center for Justice and Equity (TCJE) and the Texas Women’s Justice Coalition, which was co-founded by TCJE, will mark International Women’s Day by highlighting the unique challenges faced by women in the criminal legal system.
Abilene Expunction Clinic to Provide Legal Assistance for Texans Seeking to Clear Criminal Records
On April 29, members of the Clean Slate Texas coalition will host an expunction clinic to help community members clear eligible Texas criminal records through expunction and/or nondisclosure.
Press Advisory: Houston Event Will Highlight System-Impacted Leaders, Build Community for Formerly Incarcerated Locals
On January 29, a group of formerly incarcerated and justice system-impacted Texans will convene in Houston. 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.
These middle-aged Texans committed crimes as young teenagers. Should they get a second chance?
For years, Demetrius Johnson, now 54, spent his days imagining what his life could have been if he had made different decisions at the age of 16. He describes it as if it actually happened to an alternate version of himself: A Demetrius Johnson who got a job at 18 and took care of his family. Who bought a two-bedroom house next door to his aunt, where he lived with his mother, his son and his son’s mother. Whose aunt helped turn the garage into an extra bedroom.
Proposed criminal justice reform renews punishment v rehabilitation debate
In the 1994 film, “The Shawshank Redemption,” actor Morgan Freeman portrays a prison inmate nicknamed “Red” who addresses a parole board after serving 40 years of a life sentence. He’s asked if he has been rehabilitated.
Advocates, legal experts decry Gov. Greg Abbott diverting $4M in state prisons funding for election audits
Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday signed off on the transfer of $4 million from the state prison system to the secretary of state’s office to fund county election audits to "ensure election integrity," a move that some criminal justice advocates have since denounced. The new Election Audit Division will study the results of the November 2020 election in four Texas counties.
New Texas Laws Empower Parents Who Had Been Previously Deemed Unfit
In the last photograph Maggie Luna has of all her children together, they are lined up alongside her by size, at a Houston area Chuck E. Cheese. Two daughters and a son, ages 4, 5 and 9. It’s 2015, and after two decades of struggling with addiction and related episodes of incarceration, a Texas judge has just terminated her parental rights.