Today, Gov. Rick Perry signed SB 103, the bill to reform the Texas Youth Commission. Marc Levin, Director of the Center for Effective Justice, testified before the Legislature on TYC this session and authored a Houston Chronicle commentary laying out many of the reforms enacted in SB 103. SB 103 provides independent oversight to prevent future abuses, creates review panels to ensure that rehabilitated youth are promptly released from TYC, allows for greater parental involvement, and specifies that misdemeanant offenders, such as youths convicted of graffiti and alcohol possession, will no longer be sent to TYC. These youths will instead be punished and rehabilitated through community-based residential and day treatment programs that are more effective, less expensive, and help preserve the family unit.”We are pleased that the Legislature and Governor Perry have taken decisive action to reform a wayward agency that, in many instances, worsened, rather than improved, the state of the youth in its custody,” Levin said.
Border Security
Spain’s Crisis is America’s Reminder—and Warning
Americans watching the events unfolding in Spain today should resist the temptation to dismiss them as Europe’s problem. In just a matter of hours, thousands of migrants crossed from Morocco into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta last week, overwhelming local authorities and prompting officials to plead for emergency assistance. These events follow a recent...
July 31, 2026