Texas Smart-On-Crime Coalition Lauds Leaders, Urges Passage of Reform

AUSTIN, TX – On International Women’s Day, formerly incarcerated women, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers, and members of the Texas Smart-On-Crime Coalition stood together to discuss the impact of the state’s criminal justice system on women and to highlight proposed reforms under consideration by the Texas Legislature.

“It’s heartening to see the increasingly broad-based, bipartisan support for criminal justice reform that’s been fostered by organizations like Texas Smart-On-Crime Coalition, formerly incarcerated women and other advocacy organizations across our state,” said Rep. James

White. “We can and must improve the treatment of women incarcerated in Texas’ state correctional facilities, and legislation like House Bill 650 will ensure that these women are treated with dignity and that they can successfully rejoin their families and communities.”

“International Women’s Day provides an opportunity to acknowledge how women and their families are impacted by the criminal justice system. This session we are working on legislation to improve the conditions of confinement for women while also addressing some of the root causes that contribute to women being incarcerated. This means investing in mental health, education, trauma survival, and public health issues that, when addressed, can help prevent the situations that can lead to incarceration,” said Rep. Donna Howard. “Women typically assume an outsized role in caring for their families, and incarceration, therefore, has ripple effects throughout society. Many of these women raise kids, take in nieces and nephews, and are often the first and only ones that elderly family members turn to for help. Failure to support these women so that they can gain the necessary skills to provide for their families means that, not only will the women’s lives be disrupted, but the many others counting on them will be impacted as well.”

The number of incarcerated women in Texas prisons has grown by nearly 1,000 percent since 1980. That’s more than twice the rate of men, and our state now incarcerates more women by sheer number than any other state in the nation.

The following legislation impacting incarcerated women was heard in committee on Thursday and is supported by the Texas Smart-On-Crime Coalition:

The Texas Smart-On-Crime Coalition pursues cost-effective reforms that enhance public safety, promote safe rehabilitation, and save taxpayer dollars.

• HB 650 (Rep. James White): Relating to female inmates of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
• HB 1389 (Rep. Senfronia Thompson): Relating to the placement on community supervision, including deferred adjudication community supervision, of a defendant who is the primary caretaker of a child.
• HB 659 (Rep. White): Relating to the collection of information regarding the parental status of inmates of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
• HB 1374 (Rep. Ana Hernandez): Relating to grants for the development and operation of pretrial intervention programs for defendants who are the primary caretaker of a child.

“Eighty-one percent of women in prisons are mothers, most of them are incarcerated for crimes connected to poverty and substance use. Sixty-four percent of these women are the primary caretaker of underage children prior to their incarceration,” said Lauren Johnson of the ACLU of Texas. “We have a chance to take an important step toward maintaining families by using community-based sentencing in instances when it’s appropriate.”

Johnson, a formerly incarcerated woman herself, noted that House Bill 1389 would allow the State to hold parents accountable for their actions by forcing them to comply with requirements of supervision, while also supporting their families, paying taxes and decreasing rates of recidivism. “Simply put, this reform measure gives us better outcomes for everyone and costs the state less to do it,” added Johnson.

Women’s (In)Justice Day began with a march from the Travis County Jail to the State Capitol.

From the south steps of the Texas Capitol, participants heard personal stories of renewal and redemption from formerly incarcerated women, including:

• Kathy Griffin (Houston, Texas), a formerly incarcerated survivor of human trafficking, founder of “We’ve Been There Done That”;
• Hannah Overton (Corpus Christi, Texas), exonerated after serving seven years in Texas prison and founder of “Syndeo Ministries”;
• Evelyn Fulbright (Dallas, Texas), formerly incarcerated and presently a board member of “Girls Embracing Mothers”; and
• Lauren Johnson (Austin, Texas), formerly incarcerated, Criminal Justice Outreach Coordinator for the ACLU of Texas