Texas Observer — Jail and Prison Conditions — Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Jail and Prison Conditions

Even if an inmate's sentence is not oppressively long, their treatment while incarcerated can still constitute subhuman treatment. Prisons are not medical facilities, but they regularly are forced to deal with mental health problems and care for elderly and terminally ill inmates. Food, if it's even edible, usually lacks enough nutrition for inmates' health to not deteriorate. Plus, with a lack of opportunities to see family, read, or gain skill sets, inmates are placed in buildings which lack any resemblance of the civilized world.

Posts tagged Texas Observer

Why I Started a Book Club in the Harris County Jail

“The book clubs Drew and I started demonstrate that people in every pod in the jail have the capacity for education and enrichment, and they have an interest in learning. The clubs also improved the disciplinary climate in the pod. A high security classification should not bar participation in GED classes or other rehabilitative services. We know these programs make jails safer and reduce rates of recidivism when people reenter society. A 2018 RAND analysis found that prisoners participating in correctional education programs were 28 percent less likely to reoffend. Almost everyone locked in a cage in Harris County will someday be back in our community. We must stop purposely throwing away the key to their rehabilitation.“

Texas Observer

December 2, 2019

Education, Access to Outside WorldPhillip ReevesDecember 2, 2019Texas Observer, Harris County, HoustonComment

Texas Prisons Lead the Nation in Long-Term Solitary Confinement

“Yet even as Texas curtails its use of solitary confinement, the state leads the nation in offenders held in long-term isolation. Nearly a third of Texas prisoners held in solitary have been there for six years or longer, according to a new report this week by the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA) and the Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale University.“

Texas Observer

October 10, 2018

Solitary ConfinementPhillip ReevesOctober 11, 2018Texas Observer, TexasComment

College Degree Options Are Disappearing for Women in Texas Prisons

"The only bachelor’s degree programs available to women incarcerated in the Texas prison system are ending. By 2020, Texas A&M University-Central says it will completely phase out three four-year degree programs it offers to women at several state prisons in Gatesville, and the university hasn’t been taking new students at the lockups since spring 2017."

Texas Observer

July 12, 2018

EducationAnthony BradleyJuly 29, 2018Texas Observer, Texas