12.7: Recent Reforms of the Texas Criminal Justice System

Texas has long been known as a law and order state. The United States Constitution has a Bill of Rights that guarantees certain rights for those accused of crimes. While the Texas Constitution has a Bill of Rights with an extensive list of rights for the accused, it is one of the only states that follows that list with a specific list of rights for crime victims.

Sec. 30. Rights of Crime Victims.

A crime victim has the following rights:

1. the right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the victim’s dignity and privacy throughout the criminal justice process; and
2. the right to be reasonably protected from the accused throughout the criminal justice process.
3. On the request of a crime victim, the crime victim has the following rights:
   1. the right to notification of court proceedings;
   2. the right to be present at all public court proceedings related to the offense,

      unless the victim is to testify and the court determines that the victim’s testimony would be materially affected if the victim hears other testimony at the trial;

   3. the right to confer with a representative of the prosecutor’s office; the right to restitution; and
   4. the right to information about the conviction, sentence, imprisonment, and release of the accused.
4. The legislature may enact laws to define the term “victim” and to enforce these and other rights of crime victims.
5. The state, through its prosecuting attorney, has the right to enforce the rights of crime victims.
6. The legislature may enact laws to provide that a judge, attorney for the state, peace officer, or law enforcement agency is not liable for a failure or inability to provide a right enumerated in this section. The failure or inability of any person to provide a right or service enumerated in this section may not be used by a defendant in a criminal case as a ground for appeal or post-conviction writ of habeas corpus. A victim or guardian or legal representative of a victim has standing to enforce the rights enumerated in this section but does not have standing to participate as a party in a criminal proceeding or to contest the disposition of any charge.⁸²

Despite these guarantees, Texas continues to have a well-deserved reputation for lengthy sentences, primitive prison conditions and policies, and tough judges. And, for those seeking elective office in the state’s legislative and executive branches, appealing to the state’s base of voters who support these and other traits of the criminal justice system makes political sense. Because Texas has always been among the country’s most conservative states, the legislature’s actions—or inactions—have politically mirrored the beliefs by the more conservative voters in the state who want crime reduced or eliminated and unapologetically favor the death penalty. Not surprisingly, politicians from both parties continue to pursue a very aggressive “tough on crime” agenda, especially through the 1990s.⁸³

But, ever so slowly, the presumptions about what the people of Texas want are changing. The voters’ political party affiliations and ideologies are evolving, and they appear to be more focused on one of the most critical questions relating to the criminal justice system. How should Texas balance the need to protect the rights of the accused with the public’s right to law and order and victims’ rights to see the criminals that victimized them brought to justice? There seems to be some recent political motivation to reform the criminal justice system. Already in Texas, there has been an increased, gradual emphasis on bail reform and community supervision and rehabilitation programs, such as drug treatment programs and electronic monitoring of offenders. In addition, voters value incarceration to a much lesser extent as a first response solution to crime, especially when they consider the fact that the daily costs for probation and parole are very small compared to those for incarceration.⁸⁴

Despite lawmakers hopes for substantive criminal justice reform in 2019, the Eighty-Sixth Legislature ended its session without major reforms. In response to this troubling inaction, lawmakers from both parties created a new Criminal Justice Reform Caucus in the Texas House.⁸⁵ This unusual bipartisan coalition, which has developed during the past few sessions, is comprised of fiscally conservative Tea Party Republicans from suburban north Texas (who are concerned about big government and excessive criminalization) and Democrats (who focus on the political implications and moral impact of mass incarceration). Because this kind of cooperation is incredibly rare for Texas legislators, one must conclude that some parts of the criminal justice are now considered so untenable that they now demand—and have received— bipartisan support to foster reform.⁸⁶

In this quest, more ground has been yielded “this new breed of [more moderate] Republicans” who are more interested in addressing different problems related to crime and policing issues.⁸⁷ One thing is certain, though. It is imperative that legislators, the governor, the TDCJ, other system stakeholders (police officers, judges, probation officers, parole officers, correctional officers, lawyers, court personnel, and others), and reform advocates collaborate to identify specific policy solutions that will move the Texas criminal justice system forward by holding offenders accountable in a way that improves better outcomes, increases public safety, and uses tax dollars efficiently.⁸⁸

Texas is not typically the state that comes to mind when discussing effective criminal justice reform. The legislature’s emphasis has more recently demonstrated an apathetic attitude regarding substantive reform measures. Interestingly, though, politicians and policymakers have praised Texas as a model for criminal justice reform, indicated that Texas has been “smart on crime” and smartly framing mass incarceration as a dollars-and-cents problem for taxpayers.⁸⁹

The so-called Texas Miracle originated in criminal justice reform dating back to 2007, when legislators decided against spending an estimated two billion dollars on new prison construction to accommodate projections that the state would need tens of thousands of additional prison beds by 2012.⁹⁰

“Instead, lawmakers enacted modest changes in probation and parole to divert some people to community supervision. They also restored some funding for substance abuse and mental health treatment that had been slashed a decade earlier.”⁹¹

Defenders of the 2007 legislation contend that it resulted in major decreases in the crime rate and the incarcerated population, both of which have saved taxpayer dollars. Neither of this claims are supported by current statistics.⁹²

In fact, aside from one glaring exception, Texas remains ‘more or less the epicenter of mass of incarceration on the planet, according to Scott Henson of “Grits for Breakfast,” the well- known blog relating to crime and punishment in Texas.⁹³

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82. Ben Thompson, “University of Houston Professor Discusses Legislative Outlook for Criminal Justice Reforms,” Community Impact Newspaper (2020), https://communityimpact.com/houston/...stice-reforms/.
83. American Civil Liberties Union. States Reducing Incarceration Rates and Costs While Protecting Communities (2011).
84. American Civil Liberties Union. States Reducing Incarceration Rates and Costs While Protecting Communities (2011).
85. Thompson, “Legislative Outlook,” https://communityimpact.com/houston/...stice-reforms/
86. Thompson, “Legislative Outlook,” https://communityimpact.com/houston/...stice-reforms/.
87. Thompson, “Legislative Outlook,” https://communityimpact.com/houston/...stice-reforms/.

88. Texas Appleseed, “Recommendations for Next Steps in Texas Juvenile Justice Reform,” (2018).
89. Marie Gottschalk, “Tougher than the Rest: No Criminal Justice Reform ‘Miracle’ in Texas,” Prison Legal News, Jan. 21, 2021, https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news...miracle-texas/.
90. Gottschalk, “Tougher than the Rest,” https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news...miracle-texas/.
91. Gottschalk, “Tougher Than the Rest,” https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news...miracle-texas/.
92. Gottschalk, “Tougher Than the Rest,” https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news...miracle-texas/.
93. Gottschalk, “Tougher Than the Rest,” https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news...miracle-texas/.