A new infection may be spreading through Texas like a brushfire — the Washington Monument Syndrome. No, a virus has not been transmitted from our national mall to the San Jacinto Monument. The syndrome is a moniker coined back in 1969 when George Hertzog, then head of the National Park Service, was so unhappy with...
Bail reform is increasingly being considered by state legislatures and many cases challenging bail practices continue to wind their way through federal courts. Understanding the significance of these developments requires examining the role of constitutional rights, the negative effects of pretrial detention, and how recent reforms in several states are reshaping the pretrial justice landscape....
“The Texas occupational licensure regime, predominantly impeding Texans of modest means, can seem a hodge-podge of disjointed, logic-defying irrationalities, where the burdens imposed seem almost farcical, forcing many lower-income Texans to face a choice: submit to illogical bureaucracy or operate an illegal business?” Former Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett in Patel v. Texas Department of Licensing and Registration. The Commission to...
Most Americans embrace the concept that incarceration is for people we are afraid of, not those we are mad it. Are we afraid of our fellow Americans who haven’t paid a traffic fine or court fee? Put another way, who is really scared of an Austin mother of five named Valerie Gonzales who in 2016...
As states across the country move to right-size their prison systems, managing to reduce incarceration, costs and crime, it is important to consider reform at the federal level as well. And when it comes to reforming our sentencing laws, there seems no better place to start than with the most vulnerable among us: our children....
“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” That old adage has been quoted by everyone from war generals to philosophy teachers across the world since the early 1900s. The reason being that, especially in public policy, it is crucial to reflect on what has worked and what has not to...
Passing criminal justice reform is a bit like painting a house: Sometimes, another coat or two of paint may be needed in a few spots. This is the case with Alaska and Senate Bill 91, which has been clarified during the past two legislative sessions but remains a landmark accomplishment that put Alaska’s corrections system on...
Texans can teach Washington, D.C., a few lessons when it comes to barbecue, balanced budgets and criminal justice reform. If Congress can put aside the gridlock, it can unlock the benefits that Texas has achieved through a decade of changes to its prison policies. Fortunately, Texas’ own Sen. John Cornyn is joining with bipartisan congressional...
Texas has recently improved school discipline policies, but additional changes are needed, such as discontinuing out-of-school suspension to punish truancy, implementing restorative practices, and revising zero tolerance policies involving non-dangerous conduct to enhance principals’ discretion.
When most of us think of rural areas, we conjure up bucolic images of the countryside with more serenity and fewer hassles than are encountered in city life. However, in recent years, that image has been disrupted with revealing books such as J.D. Vance’s compelling “Hillbilly Elegy” and stark data showing rural areas are...
President Trump and his senior advisor Jared Kushner have spent their lives beneath the glare of the bright lights of Manhattan, but it is the nation’s darkest and most forgotten locations that have recently peaked their interest: America’s prisons. On Feb. 28, the administration released a document entitled “Principles of Prison Reform and Reentry” that puts the administration...
Governors from the around the country spend a lot of time competing for jobs and figuring out how to promote economic development so their state has more assets and fewer liabilities. Here in South Dakota, there is a symbol of economic transformation that stands out as starkly as Mount Rushmore. Earlier this year, S.D....