In 2021, the Lone Star Justice Alliance (LSJA) began representing youth in the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. Visiting the units and talking to the kids, I was struck by the horrific conditions facing them. Our clients shared with us tales of isolation, mental health and educational services denied, and their fears that they would die in those units. Seeing the scarring on the arms of our clients from self harm and the constitutional violations prevalent in the units, our staff immediately acted to support the youth we directly represented and launched a multi-prong attack to address the systemic harm we saw.
Three years later, LSJA continues to drive community-led, strategic juvenile legal system reform to address the harms these youth have suffered. In the last month, there have been significant developments at both the state and local levels, and once again we are urging the state to take immediate steps to reform the entire Texas youth justice system.
Importantly, we also want to uplift the powerful efforts of the youth impacted by these conditions who have shared their stories, bravely faced fears of retaliation, and led the calls for reform.
We are thrilled at the overwhelming response our community has shown to their calls for help. Over 50 organizations and youth justice stakeholders have joined the Reimagining Reform efforts and stand ready to implement reforms that would cease the harm and create opportunity for Texas’s most vulnerable youth.
Below is just a snapshot of the events from this month. We thank everyone for joining us in our fight for a more rehabilitative and humane youth justice system.
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.
