http://www.tycmovie.com/ en info@tycmovie.org Copyright 2009 Fall Awake Productions, Inc. 2009-03-21T14:24:01-06:00 http://www.tycmovie.com/news/14-year-old-found-hanged-at-juvenile-prison/ http://www.tycmovie.com/news/14-year-old-found-hanged-at-juvenile-prison/#When:14:24:01Z ASSOCIATED PRESS Thursday, March 19, 2009 CROCKETT - Authorities say a 14-year-old inmate at the Texas Youth Commission’s juvenile prison in Crockett hanged himself. Houston County Judge Lonnie Hunt said the boy hanged himself with his underwear. An officer found the teen early Monday after someone reported that paper covered the window of the door to the teen’s room, Hunt said. “We will conduct a comprehensive investigation to determine how this young man was able to take his life while in our custody,” Youth Commission Executive Commissioner Cherie Townsend said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.” Commission spokesman Jim Hurley declined to say how long the teen had been at the Crockett State School, which has 265 beds, or what crime he had committed. Before the death this week, the most recent juvenile inmate suicide was in 2006, when Robert Schulze, 19, who had complained that he felt unsafe, hanged himself in his cell at a lockup in Bronte. 2009-03-21T14:24:01-06:00 http://www.tycmovie.com/news/juvenile-justice-bills-filed-in-texas-legislature/ http://www.tycmovie.com/news/juvenile-justice-bills-filed-in-texas-legislature/#When:21:52:01Z After months of discussion about the Sunset Commission’s recommendation to merge the functions of the Texas Youth Commission and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, bills to that effect have been filed in the Texas Legislature. House Bill 3689 by Representative Ruth Jones McClendon was filed on March 12, and Senate Bill 1020, authored by Senators Juan “Chuy” Hinajosa and Glenn Hegar and was filed on March 13. Rep. McClendon also filed bills that would provide options to the consolidation. McClendon’s HB 3687 and 3688 would preserve TYC and TJPC as separate agencies through at least 2015. The bills also call for the creation of a Juvenile Justice Improvement plan to be created by June 1, 2010. The plan would prioritize placing juveniles as close to their homes as possible, and reserving secure facilities for youth who present a clear danger to themselves or others unless confined. The plan would also call for both risk and needs assessments for all youth committed to state custody, to ensure they receive appropriate placement and services, as well as for improved re-entry programming to assist youth release from secure facilities rejoin their families and communities. So far, no further action has been scheduled on any of the bills.  2009-03-13T21:52:01-06:00 http://www.tycmovie.com/news/texas-sunset-commission-recommends-abolishing-tyc/ http://www.tycmovie.com/news/texas-sunset-commission-recommends-abolishing-tyc/#When:19:42:00Z A report released by the Sunset Advisory Commission says TYC remains unable to fix it’s many structural and programmatic short-comings, and suggests the creation of a new agency, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, that would combine the functions of TYC with the functions of the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission. If the legislature follows the Commission’s recommendation, TYC and TJPC would be dissolved by September 30, 2009. In fact, the change represents nothing very new. Before the landmark reform lawsuit Morales V. Turman was settled in 1981, juvenile detention and probation services were both provided by TYC. The seperation of those functions, and the creation of an independent probation department, was one of the changes mandated by the Morales settlement agreement. Neither TYC nor TJPC are embracing the report’s recommendation. Both Cherie Townsend, TYC’s current executive director, and Vicki Spriggs, executive director of the Probation Commission, say they two agencies are looking for ways to collaborate to better coordinate services for youth moving between state detention facilities and services in their home communities after release. “While I appreciate the work of the Sunset staff, I do not believe their report is an accurate portrayal of the Youth Commission today,” Townsend said in a press release put out in response to the Sunset report.  “I’m afraid the recommendations are not only outdated but, if adopted, will be counter-productive to our reform efforts.” Many juvenile justice reform advocates also oppose the change, fearing that the new agency would place an over-emphasis on the incarceration of juvenile delinquents, while hampering reforms focussed on prevention and rehabilitation. According to the Sunset Commission, the change would involve closing several facilities and laying off staff, saving the state $27 million a year. Implicitly, the report also calls for moving more youth from large-scale secure facilities in remote, rural locations into smaller facilities closer to their homes and families. This is a reform which has been tried several times during the agency’s 100-year history, and one which reformers say is generally more conducive to rehabilitation and a smooth re-entry into the community after release. Historically, however, such initiatives have been successful only when the state has provided sufficient funding and resources to local authorities that they are able to provide for the increased number of youth who remain in their communities. The closing of facilities would seem indicate the Commission foresees a marked decrease in the number of juveniles who will require secure confinement in the immediate future. This is in direct contrast to the latest projections from the non-partisan Legislative Budget Board, which predict the number of incarcerated juveniles will continue to rise, despite laws passed in 2007 limiting the types of offenses for which juvenile can be sent to TYC, and lowering TYC’s top age limit from 21 to 19. Even with these changes in place, it is predicted that the number of youth incarcerated in Texas will once again exceed the capacity of the secure facilities available for them by June of 2009. Conditions of over-crowding and under-staffing are widely understood to contribute to the chaotic and violent climate that have spurred widespread accusations of abuse and neglect in recent years.  2008-11-15T19:42:00-06:00 http://www.tycmovie.com/news/travis-turns-down-plea-deal/ http://www.tycmovie.com/news/travis-turns-down-plea-deal/#When:19:37:00Z Airick opted to accept a plea deal of two years of Determinant Sentence Offender probation, in return for which the state will change his charge from “Aggravated Attempted Sexual Assault” to “Aggravated Assault.” In order to accept the deal, Airick was required to tell the court that he used a weapon to assault his victim, in order for the charge to qualify as aggravated assault—in essence confessing to a crime he had insisted for nearly two years that he did not commit, in order to secure his release and return home to his family. At the time of his original trial, the victim never testified that a weapon was used or displayed as part of the assault she alleged. Privately, Airick continues to maintain that he did not assault his victim, with or without a weapon. By the terms of the deal, Airick was paroled through the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, rather than the Texas Youth Commission, resulting in an adult felony record that will follow him into adult life. He is now living with his family out of state. Since the Texas Supreme Court reversed and remanded Airick’s case in May, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has filed several delaying motions, and his original sentencing judge refused to write the bench warrant that would release him from the authority of the Texas Youth Commission. At issue was Airick’s inability to complete TYC’s Sexual Behavior Treatment Program. Because Airick never confessed to the crime for which he was adjudicated, he was never able to enter the program. Airick and his family considered waiting for a retrial in which they would have attempted to prove that he did not commit either sexual assault or aggravated assault on his alleged victim. However, Airick accepted the deal when he got tired of waiting for release. “I’ve been locked up since I was fifteen. I feel like I missed my childhood,” he says. “I’d to at least try and get a little bit of that back.” 2008-08-07T19:37:00-06:00 http://www.tycmovie.com/news/travis-release-delayed1/ http://www.tycmovie.com/news/travis-release-delayed1/#When:18:36:00Z Although Airick’s case was reversed and remanded to the lower court on April 26, one month later he is still in TYC custody. Airick was moved from the facility where he had been held for more than a year to another TYC facility. He told his mother that while handcuffed prior to transport, he was left alone in the hall, where he was attacked by another youth, pushed to the ground, and kicked in the face. He received a black eye. Airick also told his mother he had been caught in the cross-fire of a guard pepper-spraying another youth. Airick has asthma, as well as a rare and potentially life-threatening allergy to many chemical agents, and is officially on the list of youth whom staff are not supposed to spray. His mother has been given no word about why his release is delayed, or when she should expect him to be out. Airick’s original sentencing judge will have the option to order a retrial for him, during which prosecutors will have to show he intended to sexually assault the woman he admits to pushing down after she called him a racial slur while he was walking past her.  2008-05-31T18:36:00-06:00 http://www.tycmovie.com/news/robert-back-in-jail/ http://www.tycmovie.com/news/robert-back-in-jail/#When:18:02:00Z On May 20, just one month after his wedding to long-time girlfriend Darcey, Robert was summoned back to court and given 30 days in county jail for violating the terms of his parole. Violations included missing some sex offender treatment classes and falling behind on court fees. It is worth noting that there was no sex offense in the charge that put Robert on parole last year. The original charge that took him to TYC was a sex offense, but the charge he was picked up on in 2006 after his release from TYC was a drug possession charge. It has been frequently noted by critics of the Texas parole system that terms of parole are often so restrictive and demanding that they seemed designed more to catch violations and send parolees back to prison than to assist them in rejoining society. In Robert’s case, he found it difficult to attend drug education classes and sex offender treatment classes, complete community service requirements, and attend weekly check-ins while keeping the job he needed in order to be able to pay his court fees.  2008-05-20T18:02:00-06:00 http://www.tycmovie.com/news/gunner-joseph-galloway-born-in-crockett/ http://www.tycmovie.com/news/gunner-joseph-galloway-born-in-crockett/#When:18:28:02Z Joseph Galloway’s girlfriend Melissa gave birth to a healthy baby son, to be named Gunner Joseph Galloway, at the East Texas Medical Center in Crockett on May 15 shortly after 1 a.m. Joseph was out of state, attending a heavy-equipment training school, when his mother called to tell him that Melissa had begun labor. Joseph called the state highway department, explained the situation, and was given an escort by state troopers all the way to Crockett at 115 mph. He arrived just an hour before the birth. A few days later, Joseph returned to training school, which he hopes to complete in a few months. Melissa graduated from high school in Crockett on May 31.  2008-05-15T18:28:02-06:00 http://www.tycmovie.com/news/high-court-reverses-and-remands-traviss-case1/ http://www.tycmovie.com/news/high-court-reverses-and-remands-traviss-case1/#When:18:19:00Z The Texas’ Supreme Court released their ruling on April 26, reversing and remanding Airick’s case back to the judge who sentenced him. The high court found that prosecutors had failed to show that Airick’s intent was to sexually assault the woman who accused him. Although Airick admits to pushing the woman, who he says called him a racial epithet as he was walking past, he denies that he sexually assaulted her, or ever intended to do so. He says the woman fell to the ground, after which he got scared and ran away. According to the testimony of the alleged victim, Airick did not attempt to remove her clothing or his own, and did not touch her breasts or genital area. When originally sentenced, the fact that he had a pocket knife on him at the time of the offense was held to be sufficient evidence of intent.  2008-04-26T18:19:00-06:00 http://www.tycmovie.com/news/tycs-acting-director-forced-out/ http://www.tycmovie.com/news/tycs-acting-director-forced-out/#When:19:47:00Z Dimitria Pope, who was named acting executive director of the Texas Youth Commission last spring, resigned Monday. Reportedly, the agency new conservator told her she would be fired if she did not resign. Pope had announced at a legislative last week that she had applied for the position as permanent agency head, but was not being considered. In her nine months at the agency, Pope drew frequent criticism for expanding the use of pepper spray and solitary confinement in TYC facilities. She has also been criticized for using state monies to redecorate her office at a time when the agency did not have enough money to staff its secure facilities at the level required by last spring’s reform legislation. “TYC acting director resigns under pressure”, Dallas Morning News “TYC chief’s resignation stirs further criticism”, Houston Chronicle 2008-02-12T19:47:00-06:00 http://www.tycmovie.com/news/tyc-settles-suit-with-us-department-of-justice/ http://www.tycmovie.com/news/tyc-settles-suit-with-us-department-of-justice/#When:19:53:01Z TYC has agreed to make some changes to protect inmates safety at the Evins Regional Juvenile Justice Center, after federal investigators found staff at the South Texas facility had violated the civil rights of incarcerated youth. The Justice Department filed suit last week, accusing TYC and the Evins unit of failing to protect inmates’ safety or provide rehabilitative treatment, as well as violating their due process rights. The Department cited the same concerns in a report released in March 2007. After several months of investigation, the report concluded that conditions at Evins were “chaotic and violent.” In recent years Evins has been plagued by several youth riots and high turn-over among top-level administrators. Attorneys for TYC and the Justice Department have agreed to a proposed settlement that would require adequate staffing levels at the facility to prevent violence, and would ensure that restraint—including pepper spray—is used to only maintain security, and not as punishment. A staff member would be assigned to the Evins facility to ensure that the new requirements are met. Evins would have three years to meet the terms of the agreement. (“State to settle suit over South Texas juvenile prison.”,) A hearing before a federal judge is set for April 9.  2008-02-05T19:53:01-06:00