Texas reform advocates want to close all state-run youth lockups
Juvenile justice reform advocates want all the state's youth lockups closed after the department's latest sexual misconduct scandal.
TCJE in the News
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Gainesville State School crisis requires Texas consider shuttering remaining youth lockups
Texas lawmakers have a difficult decision to make. Should the state shutter its five remaining youth lockups and admit we're just not capable of finding the money, the staff or even the fundamental competence to keep juvenile offenders safe in large facilities?
Summit Meeting at State Capitol on Juvenile Crime
What is the best way to deal with juvenile crime? A summit meeting at the state capitol is trying to come up with that answer.
Report: Texas Juvenile Lockup Struggles With Staffing
Juvenile justice advocates say operational and behavioral problems at Texas lockups for youth have persisted under the state's control for more than a decade.
Houston case highlights how juveniles fare in criminal justice system
Desmond Hawkins, who turned 18 on Nov. 8, is accused of shooting and killing Reginald Sherman on Oct. 11, 2016, in what police have said was a robbery attempt.
Fights, sex, drugs: Texas juvenile lockup on the verge of crisis, reports show
Youths at the Gainesville State School say staff paid them with drugs and cash to assault one another.
Opposition Rising to Laws Allowing Juveniles to be Imprisoned as Adults
Another one of the 'get tough on crime' measures dating from the blood soaked 1990s is being questioned in Texas, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
New Analysis of Texas Crime Data Suggests 17-Year-Olds Should Be Treated As Juveniles, Not Adults
Seventeen-year-olds are automatically prosecuted as adults in the Texas criminal justice system. A new data analysis from a broad coalition of groups working to raise the age of criminal responsibility in Texas from 17 to 18 finds that 17-year-olds are arrested at a rate and for non-violent, low-level offenses that closely resemble those of 16-year-olds rather than older youth or adults.
Should Texas Change the Law to Keep 17-Year-Olds Out of Adult Prison?
Do 17-year-old offenders belong in adult prison? Would there be benefits to raising the age of responsibility to 18 instead?
Read the rest of this blog post at the Goolsby Law Firm's blog.
Pre-trial justice group gives Texas a D rating
The Lone Star state notched up some bad marks in a newly released analysis of pretrial justice across the country.