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Texas Department Of Criminal Justice

The latest Texas Department Of Criminal Justice news from The Texas Tribune.

  • Marc Mauer: The TT Interview

    by Brandi Grissom

    The Tribune sat down recently with national criminal justice expert Marc Mauer, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based reform advocacy group The Sentencing Project, to get his advice about how Texas can continue on its so-called 'right on crime' path even as lawmakers slice millions from the state budget. Mauer, who was in Austin for the Barbara Jordan Symposium at the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs, talked about how other states have handled controversial prison closings, how others have reduced criminal justice costs and how the Right On Crime Movement — with support from conservative leaders like Grover Norquist and Newt Gingrich — might give lawmakers the political freedom to be more than tough when it comes to crime. Full Story 

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    Credit: Brandi Grissom

  • Marc Mauer: The TT Interview

    by Brandi Grissom

    The national criminal justice expert on how other states have handled controversial prison closings and reduced criminal justice costs and how the Right On Crime Movement might give lawmakers the political freedom to be more than tough when it comes to crime. Full Story 

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    Credit: Justin Dehn

  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    by Ross Ramsey

    Grissom on threats to re-entry programs for criminals, Hamilton on the tempest over the direction of UT, E. Smith's interview with Joe Straus, Stiles and Chang's new lobbying app, M. Smith and Weber on where state officeholders send their children to school, Aaronson on allowing new nuclear power plants, Aguilar on how Hispanic Republicans are handling immigration issues, Ramshaw talks abortion with Planned Parennthood's Cecile Richards, Tan and Dehn on tapping the Rainy Day Fund and Galbraith on San Antonio and its water: The best of our best content from March 14 to 18, 2011. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Ben Hasson

  • Rev. Carroll Pickett: The TT Interview

    by Brandi Grissom

    The onetime death house chaplain on what it was like to witness the most state executions of anyone in his job (95, by lethal injection), what changed his mind about the death penalty and why lawmakers should continue to fund the chaplain program. Full Story 

  • TDCJ Bans Thousands of Books in State Prisons

    by Andrew Weber

    Inmates looking to catch up on their Shakespeare are out of luck. They won't find Love Poems & Sonnets in any Texas lock-up. The Texas Civil Rights Project released a report today on the list of 11,850 books banned by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Full Story 

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    Credit: Todd Wiseman

  • Dale Rudick: The TT Interview

    by Brandi Grissom

    Dale Rudick, Sugar Land's director of intergovernmental affairs, on the history of the Central Prison Unit, why the city wants it shuttered, and whether the budget crunch is actually working to Sugar Land's advantage. Full Story 

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    Credit: Todd Wiseman

  • Dale Rudick: The TT Interview

    by Brandi Grissom

    The Texas Tribune sat down last week to talk with Sugar Land's director of intergovernmental affairs, Dale Rudick, to talk about the history of the prison in Sugar Land and about what local officials think would be a better use of the land where it sits today. Full Story 

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    Credit: Todd Wiseman

  • Exonerated Men Plead for Justice System Change

    by Brandi Grissom

    After listening to nearly two hours of emotional testimony from exonerated prisoners, the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee today approved a bill meant to reform the way law enforcement officials in Texas gather and use eyewitness identification evidence. Full Story 

    Timothy Cole
    Credit: Illustration by Courtesy of the Cole family

  • Advocates Worry TYC Cuts May be Shortsighted

    by Aziza Musa

    The House and Senate budgets propose a $95.6 million cut in total revenue from the Texas Youth Commission budget in 2012-2013, and lawmakers are eying reductions in parole services, which could lead to fewer staffers and fewer district parole offices. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman