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Full-Text Articles in Criminal Law
Beat The Heat: Texas’S Need To Reduce Summer Temperatures In Offender Housing, Mary E. Adair
Beat The Heat: Texas’S Need To Reduce Summer Temperatures In Offender Housing, Mary E. Adair
St. Mary's Law Journal
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s lack of air conditioning in offender housing areas is a violation of the Eighth Amendment and deprives offenders of humane living conditions. Unlike most Texans, offenders housed in the TDCJ are unable to adequately protect themselves from the higher, prolonged summer temperatures. Most Texas prisons do not provide air conditioning or other types of cooling systems in offender housing areas, so offenders are at the mercy of the elements with little protection against heat-related illnesses. Several jurisdictions, other than Texas, have recognized extreme temperatures in housing areas can lead to constitutional violations because the …
Recognizing The Need For Mental Health Reform In The Texas Department Of Criminal Justice, Kara Mchorse
Recognizing The Need For Mental Health Reform In The Texas Department Of Criminal Justice, Kara Mchorse
St. Mary's Law Journal
The ways in which mental health care and the criminal justice system interact are in desperate need of reform in Texas. The rate of mental illness in Texas is higher than the current state of mental health care can provide for. While state hospitals were once the primary care facilities of those with mental illness, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has taken on that role in the last few decades; and when the criminal justice system becomes entangled with mental health care, it often leads to “unmitigated disaster.” If Texas continues to allow the TDCJ to act as …