Texas has more prisoners than any other state and one of the highest incarceration rates in the world — but when it comes to juvenile justice, the state has become an unlikely exemplar of meaningful reform.
After examining a wide range of data over an eight-year period, a new study published yesterday by the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center determined that a decline in the state's youth incarceration led to lower overall juvenile crime rates. The findings could spur Texas lawmakers to further rein in the remnants of a sprawling system, whose many now-empty cells are costly, ineffective sinkholes for taxpayers.
"Texas has one of the biggest juvenile justice systems in the country," Michael Thompson, director of the CSG Justice Center, said at a press conference Thursday morning. He noted that the center's report "analyzes the impact of juvenile justice reform in the state of Texas in both state government as well as the local government," and stressed its "national implications."
[For more of this story, written by Alex Mierjeski, go to https://news.vice.com/article/...g-up-fewer-juveniles]
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