While further perusing the House Corrections Committee interim report (pdf), I was pleasantly surprised to see the committee approvingly present (p. 24) the results and recommendations from a public survey of 4,000 people conducted over a two-week period earlier this year by the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition about policies and practices at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ)
The committee said TCJC's study "will be very valuable in developing future legislation regarding the practices and policies of TDCJ. The full report provides fascinating information that is valuable to citizens, lawmakers, and prison administrators." That's high praise from a GOP-led committee for a group dedicated to criminal justice reform! (See the full report.)
Based on the survey, TCJC recommended expanding evidence-based treatment programs that reduce crime, and aiding families of the incarcerated, especially children. Congrats to my good friends at TCJC (where, in the interest of disclosure, I office since I left ACLU) - I'm really proud that your hard work on that survey paid off with the inclusion of its results in the House Corrections Committee report.
I was a part of the thousands who participated in the survey. It amazed me to find that most of us agreed with each other and all came to the conclusion, TDCJ is in bad shape and needs to be revamped from the top the very last guard working there. There is abuse of Inmates, medical care is not existent and to treat humans the way they are treated in TDCJ is appalling expecialy to our Lord.
ReplyDeleteI pray Senators Whitmire and Madden can actually get something done and free those who don't need to be in prsion but only need help, either physical or mental. Return them to their famililes, some of them have Masters degrees and earned good livings for their families and got caught in the corrupt Judicial System in especially Harris County, TX.
Make the BPP do their job and release those who are not a danger to their community.