Texas Prison and Jails

There are 738,000 adults under supervision (prisons, jails, probation, and parole) and the rate of supervision (number of offenders supervised per 100,000) is 34.87% higher than the national average. Currently, 106 prison units and state jail facilities comprise the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). Additionally,Texas has 254 counties and 268 jail facilities with a combined rated capacity of 71,962.

Texas has a rate 41% higher than than the national average of incarcerated adults per 100,000.

The ACLU of Texas monitors prison and jail conditions and fights to open the prison system to public scrutiny. The ACLU of Texas accepts cases with significant civil liberties issues where participation by the ACLU of Texas will benefit a large class of people, or will lead to a change in the law concerning the issue. Very few cases are accepted for direct litigation.

ACLU of Texas' Current Issue Areas Include:

• Monitoring Prisoner Complaints
• Access to Correctional Medical Care
• Eliminating Prisoner Abuse
• Oversight of County and City Jails
• Examining Racial Disparity
• Prisoner Acces to Education and Training Programs

Contact the ACLU At:

ACLU of Texas
P.O. Box 12905
Austin, TX 78711-2905

Further Reading:

Private Prisons

• Private Prisons White Paper (pdf)
• TDJC Privatization White Paper (pdf)
• Highlights of Private Prison Scandals in Texas (pdf)
• Rise of Prison-Industrial Complex

Sexual Assault

• 2007 Sexual Victimization Study 

Health Care

• Reproductive Health of Female Prisoners
• Bexar County Jail: A Public Health Crisis
• Prescription for Disaster: Commercializing Prison Health Care in South Carolina (pdf)
• Medical and Mental Health Programs of the Dallas County Jail

Prison Labor

• Prison Toxic Sweatshops
  

ACLU of Texas Condemns Harris County's Combative Response to Federal Jail Investigation
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas today criticized Harris County's choice to invest significant time, resource and effort in compiling a lengthy objection to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) findings concerning the Harris County jail system, rather than working expeditiously with DOJ to address well-documented problems of overcrowding and poor health care. Read More...

ACLU Applauds Passage of Prison Rape Elimination Bill
ACLU Applauds Passage of Prison Rape Elimination Bill House Bill 1944, which focuses on eliminating sexual assault in Texas Prisons, passed the Texas House of Representatives unanimously. The bill garnered support from the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas (ACLU), Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA), Stop Prison Rape, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Read More...

ACLU Releases Report on Texas Prison Population
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas (ACLU) released a report today that compares Texas to New York, a large state that had comparable sentencing practices and has since implemented sentencing policy changes successfully. Read More...

FROM THE LIBERTY BLOG: Roe v. Wade: Access to Reproductive Health Care for Texas Prisoners
"In recognition of the Roe v..."

FROM THE LIBERTY BLOG: Juneteenth: Reflecting on Criminal Justice Policies and African Americans
"On June 19, 1865, word that the Emancipation Proclamation terminated slavery finally reached Texas..."

FROM THE LIBERTY BLOG: Health Crisis in the Bexar County Jail
"By Nicole D..."

FROM THE LIBERTY BLOG: Racial Disparity and TDCJ
"At the House Corrections Committee meeting on March 22nd, law makers seemed pleased that African Americans only comprised about 40% of the state's prison population..."

Officials, advocacy groups call for probation reform
Legislators urged to look at probation in an effort to fix crowding Read More...

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