Policy for Criminal Justice Reform

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Transparency and Oversight in Local Jails

We must protect human life and enforce strict accountability within our correctional facilities, particularly in Tarrant County, where over 50 deaths occurred in custody between 2020 and 2023 1. Because internal reviews are inadequate, we must mandate independent oversight:

Independent Investigations: We support policies that strengthen the authority to conduct independent, external investigations into all deaths that occur in Texas jails 1.
Protecting the Vulnerable: We must immediately address systemic failures and inhumane conditions that have led to the deaths of pregnant women and babies receiving inadequate care.
Authority Source: Texas Commission on Jail Standards

Keeping Children Out of Adult Prisons

Texas is one of only three states that automatically prosecutes 17-year-olds as adults, and children as young as 10 can be confined in secure correctional facilities. Putting children in jails does not reduce recidivism, wastes taxpayer dollars, and exposes youth to high levels of abuse:

Raising the Age: We support legislation like HB 1364 to raise the minimum age for incarceration and keep children out of adult facilities.
Mental Health First: On average, 72% of detained children have mental health needs; we must address these behavioral health issues outside of the justice system.
Preventing Youth Suicides: Children are 36 times more likely to die by suicide in an adult jail than in a juvenile detention facility.
Authority Source: Texas Juvenile Justice Department

Abolishing the Costly and Ineffective Death Penalty

We must reform our justice system to ensure absolute accuracy and fiscal responsibility in capital cases, redirecting the millions wasted on endless appeals toward local police and victim support services.

Fiscal Responsibility: A death penalty case costs taxpayers between $1.5 and $3 million—nearly three times more than life without parole 5. This diverts critical resources away from police funding and victim counseling.
Ending Racial Bias: Over the last five years, nearly 70% of new death sentences have been imposed on people of color.
Authority Source: Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Stopping Mass Incarceration

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice operates on a massive $8.5 billion budget, while incarcerated individuals and their families pay over $27.7 billion a year in fines, fees, and bail premiums. To build a fairer system, it is an absolute necessity to work with whoever is focused on problems, not politics, in Texas communities:

Bail Reform: We will implement a constitutional, cost-effective bail system that ensures dangerous, violent offenders remain off our streets while saving taxpayer dollars by not needlessly incarcerating low-risk individuals awaiting trial.
Investing in Communities: Rather than using criminalization to force compliance in an unequal economy, we must alleviate poverty through jobs, housing, and education.
Authority Source: Prison Policy Initiative