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Download a copy of our 2007 Texas' Criminal Justice Solutions policy primer.
 
 
Letter from the Executive Director
 
Dear Reader,

As the Executive Director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC), I am thrilled to provide the public with our first policy guide, which promotes criminal justice solutions that embody the principles of effective management, accountability, public safety, and human and civil rights.

Right now Texas has the opportunity to be at the forefront in the nation by developing and implementing a plan that will decrease crime and yield a larger return of investment for taxpayers. This legislative session state lawmakers must work to improve three crucial areas: the ineffective supervisory practices that are overburdening our prisons; the inefficient police practices that are adversarial to those most in need of protection; and the unconstitutional court practices that are impeding fair treatment in our legal system.
 
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I.                    Prison Overcrowding
a.       Strengthen Probation to Stop the Flow into Prisons
b.       Implement Parole Guidelines to Make Room for Violent Untreatable Offenders
c.       Establish a Recidivism Prevention Infrastructure
d.       Improve Personal Responsibility
                                                               i.      Create an Enhanced Employability and Employment Protection Policy
                                                             ii.      Broaden Access to Housing
 
II.                 Effective Policing
a.       Enhance Consent Search Policies
b.       Improve Data Collection
c.       Protect State and Local Police from Wrongful Arrest Liability
 
III.               Access to Justice
a.       Ensure Valid Waivers of the Right to Counsel
b.       Maintain Funding for Effective Indigent Defense Delivery Models
c.       Improve Access to Bond Options
d.       Amend the Post-Conviction DNA Statute
e.       Create an Innocence Advisory Council