×
You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.
Tougher Than the Rest: No Criminal Justice Reform “Miracle” in Texas
Loaded on Jan. 1, 2021
by Marie Gottschalk
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2021, page 1
Filed under:
Criminal justice system reform,
Food,
Eighth Amendment,
Water,
Exposure to Heat,
Effects of Mass Incarceration.
Location:
Texas.
by Marie Gottschalk
For more than a decade now, politicians and policymakers — from Barack Obama to Donald Trump — have lauded Texas as a model for criminal justice reform. They have praised the Lone Star State for being “smart on crime” and for incubating Right on Crime, …
Full article and associated cases available to subscribers.
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
More from this issue:
- Tougher Than the Rest: No Criminal Justice Reform “Miracle” in Texas, by Marie Gottschalk
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- North Carolina Prisoners at Deadliest Federal Prison File Suit on COVID-19 Response, by Matthew Clarke
- Sixth Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Sheriff in Tennessee Prisoner’s Assault Case, by David Reutter
- Preliminary Studies: Black/Latino Populations Disproportionately Affected by COVID-19, by Douglas Ankney
- North Carolina Cancer Patient Dies From COVID-19 After BOP Denies Compassionate Release and Sentencing Judge Rejects Appeal, by Derek Gilna
- Federal Lawsuit Claims Texas Jail Released Man When Medical Problems Became Too Much Trouble, Resulting in Coma, by Dale Chappell
- Pandemic Medical Update: The Latest on Vaccines and Prisoners, by Michael D. Cohen, MD
- Magic as Rehabilitation, by Jayson Hawkins
- CoreCivic Sued Over Prisoner Who Committed Suicide in Tennessee Prison, by Matthew Clarke
- In Prisons, the Press Also Yearns to Be Free, by Casey Bastian
- California: Prisoner-Run Journalism Thrives with San Quentin News, Ear Hustle, by David Reutter
- My Ankle Monitor Won’t Let Me Take Out The Garbage, by Eleanor Bader
- Tennessee Juvenile Murderer’s Sentence Commuted, by Edward Lyon
- How Jails Became a Breeding Ground for the Coronavirus, by Keith Sanders
- Charges Finally Announced 32 Months After South Carolina Prison Riot, by David Reutter
- Salt Lake County, Utah, Settles Federal Civil Rights Wrongful Death Claim for $950,000, by Derek Gilna
- Alabama Court Allows Lawsuit Over Indigent Traffic Offenders Jailed for Not Paying Fines, by David Reutter
- Court Rejects Class Status for Nebraska Prisoners Facing Substandard Health Care, by David Reutter
- Urban Redo: Lorton, Virginia Prison Recreated as Liberty Village, by Kevin Bliss
- Second Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment in New York Prisoner’s Due Process Lawsuit, by David Reutter
- Seventh Circuit: Nurse’s Deliberate Indifference to Prisoner’s Pain Negates Summary Judgment Grant, by David Reutter
- St. Louis, Missouri Guard Has History of Taser Abuse, by Daniel A. Rosen
- South Florida: Jail Hotline Releases Report on Inadequate Health Care During Pandemic, by Saraana Jamraj
- Former Prisoners Making Less Than Minimum Wage Working for Nonprofit Doe Fund, by Dale Chappell
- Rapper Sues BOP Alleging Torture, by David Reutter
- Montana Supreme Court: Jail’s Blanket Strip Search Policy Violates Law, by Matthew Clarke
- As Prison COVID-19 Cases and Deaths Rise, Washington State Supreme Court Looks Away, by Mark Wilson
- Some Prisons Bear Names of Enslavers, Oppressors, Racists and Segregationists, by Matthew Clarke
- Over Half the Prisoners Test Positive for COVID-19 at Arizona Prison, by Matthew Clarke
- New Book on Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration, by Edward Lyon
- Louisiana’s COVID-19 Prisoner Furlough Panel Next to Useless, by Edward Lyon
- COVID-19 Hits Fairfax, Virginia Juvenile Detention Center, by Kevin Bliss
- Seventh Circuit Holds Illinois Prisoners Retain Fourth Amendment Rights to Bodily Privacy, Overruling Circuit Precedents, by Matthew Clarke
- Federal Class Action Settlement Aims to Eliminate Horrific Conditions at Santa Barbara, California Jails in Three Years, by Derek Gilna
- Almost Half of North Dakota Jail Tests Positive for COVID-19, by David Reutter
- Former Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Complaint Cures Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies, by David Reutter
- U.S. Prisons Originally Designed to Prevent Spread of Disease Become Breeding Ground During Pandemic, by Edward Lyon
- Opioid Crisis in Canadian Prisons Needs to be Addressed, by Kevin Bliss
- Georgia Prisoners Lacked Food, Water, Leading to Melee, by Jayson Hawkins
- CoreCivic and Securus Technologies Agree to Pay $3.7 Million to Settle Suit for Illegally Recording Attorney-Client Conversations, by Douglas Ankney
- $2 Million Settlement in Lawsuit Over N.Y. Prisoner Denied Emergency Eye Surgery Until She Went Blind, by Matthew Clarke
- Scottish Prisoners Issued Mobile Phones During Pandemic, by Kevin Bliss
- Private Health Care Services in County Jails Comes at High Price, by Kevin Bliss
- Sixth Circuit Holds Ohio Prisoner Can Be Executed Despite Previous Botched Attempt, by Matthew Clarke
- Second Circuit: No Error in Blocking New York Parolee from Attending His Own Civil Rights Trial Against Prison Officials, by Matthew Clarke
- First Former Felon Elected to Washington State Legislature, by Daniel A. Rosen
- Tennessee Prisons “Naughty” List Shows Prison Staff Often Bring in Contraband, by Edward Lyon
- As Millions Suffer, Congress Awards BOP $356 Million for New Kansas Prison, by Mark Wilson
- Alabama Guards Accused of Excessive Use of Force, Hospitalizing One Prisoner and Injuring Another, by Kevin Bliss
- News in Brief
More from Marie Gottschalk:
- Tougher Than the Rest: No Criminal Justice Reform “Miracle” in Texas, Jan. 1, 2021
- Incorrigible: The First Step Act and the Carceral State, April 2, 2019
- Kamala Harris’ Disturbing Brand of Criminal Justice Reform, Feb. 20, 2019
- Are We There Yet? The Promise, Perils and Politics of Penal Reform, Jan. 1, 2016
- Days Without End: Life Sentences and Penal Reform, Jan. 15, 2012
- Welcome to Fun Day: Crime and Punishment in the United States, Jan. 15, 2009
- Not the Usual Suspects: The Politics of the Prison Boom, July 15, 2008
More from these topics:
- Eighth Circuit Revives § 1983 Complaint Alleging Jail Detainees’ Death from Stroke was Due to Deliberate Indifference and Failure to Train, July 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Failure to Treat, Eighth Amendment, Failure to Train/Supervise, Deliberate Indifference.
- Alabama Barred from Executing Prisoner by Nitrogen Hypoxia, July 1, 2026. Totality of Conditions, Eighth Amendment, Death Penalty, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Wrongful Use of Force.
- North Texas Prison Evacuated After Carbon Monoxide Leak, July 1, 2026. Toxic Fumes/Chemicals, Eighth Amendment, Exposure to Cold, Water, Exposure to Heat.
- Tainted Chicken Leads to Widespread Salmonella Outbreak at New York Jail, July 1, 2026. Contractor Misconduct, Infections, Food, Sanitation, Negligence/Reckless Endangerment.
- Prison Profiteer The GEO Group Accused of Refusing Health Inspections at Detention Facility Despite Court Ruling, June 1, 2026. GEO Group/Wackenhut, Food, Water, Injunctions, Immigration Detention.
- Wisconsin Governor Issues Executive Order to Restore Commutations, June 1, 2026. Prison Reform, Criminal justice system reform, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Pardons/Clemency, Reduction of Prison Population.
- Federal Judge Upholds Infamously Brutal Farm Labor at Angola Prison, June 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Prison Labor, Exposure to Heat, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Deliberate Indifference.
- Texas Officials Testify That Cost to Air Condition Prisons Tops $1.5 Billion, May 1, 2026. Eighth Amendment, Exposure to Heat, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Deliberate Indifference, Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA).
- Prison Policy Initiative Updates Its Mass Incarceration Report, May 1, 2026. Geriatric Classification, Statistics/Trends, Cost of Prison Systems, Electronic Monitoring, Effects of Mass Incarceration.
- Missouri Prisons Called Out for Incomplete Death Records, Hellish Solitary Heat, April 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Systemic Medical Neglect, Exposure to Heat, Confinement in Segregated Housing, Deliberate Indifference.

