Texas’ juvenile prisons are nearing total collapse.
— Jolie McCullough (@jsmccullou) August 2, 2022
They have less than half the officers they need on the job, routinely keeping children in cells w/out toilets up to 23 hours a day.
Suicidal and self-harm behavior is skyrocketing. https://t.co/SEyq0GBHVS #txlege
Texas has very low taxes, which is part of the reason the burden on homeowners (property taxes fund county and city governments and schools) is so high. Those taxes barely fund anything. State taxes come largely through sales tax, the most regressive form of taxation imaginable. And the state is quite adept at robbing Peter to pay Paul, especially when "Paul" is an issue in an election year:A must read. Almost 600 Texas youth are trapped in a juvenile prison system on the brink of collapse https://t.co/Vq8Cme3nvZ via @TexasTribune
— T.L. Langford (@tlangford) August 2, 2022
Fuck teenagers, they're all juvenile delinquents anyway, right? Otherwise they'd be home playing video games and football!Four times during the pandemic, Gov. Greg Abbott and the state Legislature took away money @TexasJJD received in federal coronavirus relief funds to spend on other state expenses, including Abbott's controversial border mission, Operation Lone Star. https://t.co/KpNgSsYdVx
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) August 2, 2022
This should be a disgrace, but this is Texas. This won't get the attention being paid to the GOP Senators voting against a veteran's bill that's probably going to pass anyway (not that that's a small thing, but consider the pro-life extremists in Texas, crying for the rights of the fetus. Rights of teenagers? *crickets* Or, since this is Texas in the summer: *cicadas*)We looked at site visit reports from inspectors, and it shows the teens’ desperation and despair.
— Jolie McCullough (@jsmccullou) August 2, 2022
Content warning: these reports describe suicidal behavior https://t.co/vPZbSFWop2 #txlege
I'd blame Covid, but that chart starts in 2017. It's okay, though, Abbott's gonna take care of it, now that the Tribune has noticed:In June, less than half of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department officer positions were filled by active employees. https://t.co/lFh7NqAt1o pic.twitter.com/5PrsEHnsMa
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) August 2, 2022
Meanwhile:TX’s overall revenue is flowing in at record pace. @GovAbbott has put billions into border security — at times taking $ temporarily out of TJJD to do so. He says he supports more funds for TJJD in the next budget, which won’t pass for another 9 months. https://t.co/a2mhTadRXb
— Matthew Watkins (@MWatkinsTrib) August 2, 2022
Which is not nearly as important as a 10 year old in Ohio getting an abortion, which she really shouldn't have been allowed to have, according to people who care about children in Texas. "Children" being the preferred term for "fetus." Once they become children, they are no longer anyone else's concern.Nearly half of the children locked in the state’s juvenile prisons this year have been on suicide watch. https://t.co/V4oimVCAkp
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) August 2, 2022
They don't care about the fetus either. None of the states that are pushing these extreme anti-abortion positions are moving to spend a dime for pre-natal or post-natal care. They are engaging in cheap posturing. This is performance art with victims. If they actually cared they would be accepting Medicaid expansion, increasing medical spending pre and post birth and more, but of course this is not happening. This about feeling good at the expense of someone else, the the most cynical form of morality.
ReplyDeleteTo paraphrase, watch where the money goes because that shows what they care about.