At the state level, 2019 was largely a year of missed opportunities for reforming the criminal legal system in Texas. Despite a reputation for leading on criminal justice reform, Texas lawmakers accomplished very little in this year’s legislative session. Yes, they mandated some baseline protections for women behind bars. And they killed the Driver Responsibility Program, a much-maligned surcharge system that prevented more than 1 million Texas drivers from keeping or renewing their licenses, which some lawmakers had wanted to eliminate for years. But beyond that, as Scott Henson—a widely recognized criminal justice researcher who writes the must-read blog Grits for Breakfast—put it, the 86th session was a “killing field” for criminal justice reforms.
While the Legislature won’t meet again until January 2021, there are still developments at the local level that could lead to significant changes in the coming year. Here are a few I’m watching:
What’s a “Progressive Prosecutor”?
