What We're Reading
News that caught our attention or cited the Texas Justice Initiative from across the Lone Star State and beyond.
No Way Out: COVID-19 behind bars in Texas
Published on December 13, 2020A multimedia investigative project by WFAA and The Marshall Project depicts various aspects of COVID-19 in Texas prisons, including its affect on employees and incarcerated people. The reporting "showed that the spread of COVID-19 behind bars was also due to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's lackluster response, potentially exacerbating outbreaks and putting surrounding communities at risk."
Impact Report: COVID-19 and Jails December 2020 Update
Published on December 6, 2020In this December update, the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice examines 19 million daily jail records from 2020 to see how bookings, releases and rebookings changed during the pandemic.
Dead and Undone
Published on November 23, 2020David Barer and Josh Hinkle dig deep into custodial death reporting in Texas in their latest multimedia project for KXAN, which includes televised news stories and a dedicated series of their investigative podcast, Catalyst. TJI is grateful to have been used as a resource for this important work.
Texas prisons, jails worst COVID-19 hotspots of any in US
Published on November 10, 2020The Associated Press' Terry Wallace wrote about a new report by the LBJ School of Public Affairs that uses TJI's data to determine that – even when adjusted for size – "Texas still has the second-highest rate of COVID infections and is tied for the third-highest proportion of its prison population that has died from COVID, among the ten largest prison systems."
Sunset Advisory Commission Reviews TCJS
Published on November 6, 2020In Texas, state agencies generally expire every 12 years unless the Texas Legislature renews them in legislation. Before their expiration date (called "Sunset"), agencies are put under the microscope by the Sunset Advisory Commission, which reports to legislators. In November, the Commission published its evaluation (report, executive summary) of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, which oversees jails in Texas.