| Hi there, As Texas kids head back to school, our work to challenge the state’s commitment to punishment over justice is picking up speed. From the ongoing crisis at the Texas Juvenile Justice Department to cross-country advocacy against the construction of new prisons and jails, our team is fighting on multiple fronts to help kids and adults thrive outside of the system. Keep reading for our August updates including new blog posts, powerful testimony, impactful op-eds, upcoming events, and a big opportunity to fuel our work in the coming month! |
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| | Back in Texas classrooms and facing familiar challenges. As the new school year begins, certain kids across the state will experience the isolation of harsh school discipline. Below are some quick facts about the disparities and dangers of the kinds of school discipline that push kids out of schools, into alternative education programs, and even into the justice system: - 33% of all out-of-school suspensions were applied to Black students, who comprised only 13% of the Texas student population from 2017-2018.
- 144,432 kids from pre-kindergarten to 5th grade were placed in in-school suspension from 2015-2016 in Texas.
- One in every six school-aged kids has their life functioning, including school performance, affected by mental illness.
Sadly, this is the case all around the country; in one Missouri district, corporal punishment is even back in classrooms. We MUST do better for kids by giving them the supports they need, not punishments that push them into the school-to-prison pipeline. You can learn more about school policing and mental health on our website, and keep reading to see quotes from some of our Youth Justice Ambassadors on what Texas students can expect as they head back to school. |
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| | Powerful words under the pink dome. Although the next regular session of the Texas Legislature won’t kick off until January, lawmakers have begun hearing interim testimony on key issues they’re likely to address in 2023. In August, our team was at the Capitol in Austin to testify on women’s justice, youth justice, conditions of confinement, and more. Check out the video links below; you can also see every video from our testimony so far in our new 88th Legislative Session playlist, which we’ll be building for the next 9 months! If you want to learn more about how the legislative interim works, check out the newest post on our blog! Adding to her “Beginner’s Guide to the Texas Legislative Session” series, Communications Manager Maddi Kaigh explains why our team was testifying and how you can stay informed and keep track of what’s happening next. |
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| | Imagining a future beyond punishment. Also new on the TCJE blog this month: the first post in a series on probation by Policy Analyst & Bexar County Project Director Justin Martinez! Laying out the size and scope of community supervision in Texas and the wider world, Justin provides an extremely helpful introduction to a topic that doesn’t get nearly enough conversation. |
|  | This blog series is exploring how Texas became a leader in building “open-air prisons” that expand the scope of the corrections system beyond physical buildings, how this history connects to the work happening on the ground today, and why we should be having a conversation about a future where probation is a thing of the past. Read the first post here, and remember to subscribe for blog updates by filling out the quick form at the very bottom of that page! |
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| | Lived experience in the news and on the national stage. This month, our team continued to reach a national audience. With so many of our advocates sharing policy expertise shaped in part by their own lived experience with the system, we couldn’t be prouder to uplift their voices. |
| | In Scalawag Magazine, Cynthia Simons wrote about her own experience at the intersection of the criminal legal and child protective services systems. She shared her policy expertise on the unique ways that incarceration impacts women—especially Black and brown women—and how we can begin to repair the intergenerational trauma that these racist systems have wrought. Policy Associate Chloe Craig also wrote an article for Scalawag, sharing how data about mass incarceration’s impact on women is woefully insufficient. |
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| As the ongoing staffing crisis at the Texas Juvenile Justice Department puts new scrutiny on that agency, the adult prison system is also facing questions about the insufficiency of its programs and the lack of transparency from its leaders. In an article about the “mental health” unit at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Savannah Eldrige from the Statewide Leadership Council’s Steering Committee shared her perspective as both an advocate and a family member of person in that unit. [TCJE’s Statewide Leadership Council is a group of formerly incarcerated or otherwise system-impacted Texans who are fighting for change. Learn more about the SLC here, and check out Savannah’s organization here!] |
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| In an exciting webinar from the Sentencing Project, TCJE’s Director of Policy and Advocacy Alycia Castillo joined experts from around the country to talk about sentencing reform in the juvenile justice system. With a huge number of viewers, the webinar was even broadcast on C-SPAN! This is especially significant as, here in Texas, we’re fighting to close five dangerous and inhumane youth prisons. As Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Administrator Liz Ryan said in the webinar: “The only way to truly reform our juvenile justice system is to reimagine it. We must literally close the doors on youth prisons to open the doors for better alternatives—alternatives that are more effective, that have a greater return on investment, and are safer.” |
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| | Join us at an event in Austin! September is Recovery Month, and in Central Texas that means it’s time for Recovery in the Park! On Saturday, September 17, organizations from the recovery community are hosting the sixth annual event at Mueller Lake Park in East Austin. TCJE and the Statewide Leadership Council are both proud planning partners and sponsors for this event, which will include a TON of activities and resources. Register for free here to join a day of live music, community connection, free food, and more; whether you’re in recovery yourself, you have a loved one who is, or you just want to support the Central Texas community, this event is for you! |
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| | Five minutes with the TCJE team. Every month, we like to check in with someone on the TCJE team to hear directly from them. For back-to-school month, we wanted to catch up with some of our Youth Justice Ambassadors! We asked them to share their responses to the question: “As Texas students head back to classrooms, what can they expect?” Here’s what they had to say! Amonie Rowe: “Back-to-school brings a lot of change and stress upon a student. It can be a good or a bad experience depending on the person, but with new viruses resurfacing and a fear of COVID still in the back of a lot of students’ minds, they have a lot to face when continuing their education face-to-face. It's important to remember to keep up with mental health, because it can start to decline when you're overwhelmed with a lot of things.” Mya Leger: “Some new changes being implemented in my school system this year are the revolving door system where teachers are not allowed to leave the doors unlocked and check to make sure that the doors are all locked, and also limited cell phone use. Teachers are really cracking down on cell phones and being strict. Also, the dress code is really sexist this year. You see teachers reminding and shaming girls to cover up more this year.” Shreeya Madhavanur: “I am coming back to school as a senior this year, so the current culture in my corner of school has been pretty stressful. It can be hard to juggle tough classes, extracurricular commitments, and college apps, all while trying to maximize your enjoyment and social involvement during your last year of high school. During this time, I know that in my school, students sort of come together to uplift each other during these tough times with the shared knowledge that everybody is struggling through the same process and that these are people we’ve all matured with and it is our last opportunity to really connect with one another.” |
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| | That’s all for our August newsletter! Thanks for keeping up with our work, and remember to follow TCJE on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok to stay up-to-date! With gratitude,
Leah Pinney P.S.: Just around the corner is a multi-city giving day where you can support TCJE’s work and help communities across the state thrive! We’ll be sharing a lot more details soon, but you can get a sneak peek by checking out our pages for North Texas Giving Day and Big Give San Antonio. |
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| | Texas Center for Justice & Equity
Formerly Texas Criminal Justice Coalition
1714 Fortview Road, Suite 104 | Austin, Texas 78704
(512) 441-8123 |
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