The Lone Star Justice Alliance (LSJA) is thrilled to kick off the Reimagining Reform Workgroup!
On June 28th, LSJA launched a series of discussions between youth-serving organizations, legislators, defense attorneys, and probation office administrators. Most importantly, individuals and families impacted by the system were also in attendance to contribute their invaluable expertise and perspective. Together, we identified strategic areas for reform.
Alongside the workgroups, LSJA published the Reimagining Reform report, which provides a landscape analysis of reform progress in Texas and highlights persistent issues to creating an effective youth justice system. It concludes with proposed reform strategies and a call to action.
Project Partners
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Through our Youth Sentencing Project, we provide direct strategic litigation on behalf of youth who were tried in the adult criminal legal system and given extremely long prison sentences, particularly those sentenced to life without parole.
Youth should be held accountable for their wrongdoing in developmentally appropriate ways that consider their age, individual characteristics, and specific circumstances of their cases.
Our staff litigators take the lead on a limited number of cases every year, selecting those that have the potential to influence system-wide change. Last year, LSJA was involved in 13 cases challenging the transfer of youth (either as lead counsel or in a technical support role) and won 12 of these cases.
