News
A New Federal Ruling Provides Heat Relief For Inmates
Posted on · After a lawsuit against the state a federal ruling is making prisons provide heat relief for inmates.
Tag: prisons
Houston Matters
Full Show: Prison Heat Conditions, And Trees Ordinances (July 20, 2017)
Posted on · Houston Matters examines a ruling on heat conditions in a prison near Houston, Gov. Abbott’s desire to repeal tree ordinances in cities, and how Houston plant life has changed over the years. Plus Houston Millennials talk about the state of their generation.
Good, Bad and Ugly
Prisons, Queso and Pints: Houston Matters Weekend for Dec. 17, 2016
Posted on · A recent report from the U.S. Department of Education says over the past three decades, state and local spending on prisons and jails has risen more than three times faster than spending on elementary and secondary education. The disparities are far greater in Texas, where prison spending grew at nearly eight times the rate of […]
Houston Matters
Wolf Boys: How Two Boys Became Killers for the Cartel
Posted on · The book Wolf Boys is the true story of two Texas teenagers who were recruited as killers for a Mexican drug cartel. The story follows Gabriel Cardona and his friend Bart Reta as they were recruited, trained and worked for the Zetas. Former legal affairs reporter Dan Slater first learned about the boys in a […]
News
DOJ will end use of private prisons, six of them in Texas
Posted on · The U.S. Justice Department announced it will end the practice of housing federal inmates in privately-operated prisons. There are 13 private federal prisons, and six of them are in Texas. More than twenty-two thousand federal inmates – about twelve percent of the total – are housed in the private facilities. A recent audit found that […]
Houston Matters
Why is Prison Spending Outpacing Education Spending in Texas?
Posted on · A recent report from the U.S. Department of Education says over the past three decades, state and local spending on prisons and jails has risen more than three times faster than spending on elementary and secondary education. The disparities are far greater in Texas, where prison spending grew at nearly eight times the rate of […]
Houston Matters
The Lost Voices of Texas Jailhouse Music
Posted on · Many incarcerated Texas inmates in the 1920s and 1930s learned musical instruments and performed in musical groups as a part of a prison rehabilitation program. They were behind bars in places like Huntsville, Brazoria and Sugar Land, but their music was often heard around the county on a radio show called Thirty Minutes Behind the […]
Houston Matters
Do Prisoners Receive Adequate Mental Health Treatment While Incarcerated?
Posted on · A recent study finds not enough prisoners receive adequate mental health treatment while incarcerated. We talk with the study’s author, Dr. Jennifer Reingle from the Division of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences at the UTHealth School of Public Health. We also hear from Harris County Jail Medical Director Dr. Michael Seale about protocols for […]
Houston Matters
Are Privatized Prisons A Good Idea?
Posted on · Earlier this month, allegations of sexual abuse surfaced at a South Texas detention center for mothers and children fleeing violence and persecution in Central America. The Karnes City facility is run by a private, for-profit operator based in Florida, which strongly denies the allegations. The claims come four months after the ACLU issued a report […]
Houston Matters
State of Jails & Prisons in Greater Houston
Posted on · One way to judge the quality of a society is to look at how it treats its prisoners. If we were to do that here in Houston, what would we see? Itâs a question that perhaps is best answered in two stages â first, by examining how inmates are processed through jail (and what will […]