03/09/2018
Under Senator John Whitmire's control of the Texas Criminal Justice System, Texas incarcerates more women by sheer number than any other U.S. state – now totaling more than 12,000 women in the state corrections system, the majority for nonviolent offenses. Since 1993, the year that Senator John Whitmire became Chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee, female incarceration in Texas prisons has increased over 900%. Black women have been disproportionately impacted by Texas’ punitive policies and practices — with Black individuals comprising only 12% of Texas’ overall population but Black women comprising 26% of the incarcerated female population.
We must hold these politicians accountable for their actions and inaction. Remember…elections have consequences. The negative consequences from an election are always passed on to the people, while the positive consequences are always taken by these career politicians for themselves and their family and friends.
Fact: Senator John Whitmire is the real obstacle to achieving true criminal justice reform in Texas. .
Damian E. LaCroix
Poverty, lack of education, lack of treatment for mental illness, tough-on-crime prosecution of drug crimes, psychological and physical trauma, and overly broad conspiracy and accomplice laws, which women are more likely to be swept up by, have all been linked to the increase in incarceration of women. This new report from the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition () looks at the growing number of women in Texas’ criminal justice system and makes recommendations on how we can reverse this trend. http://bit.ly/2D8sYp8