Rick Perry's Texas: the Prison State

Rick Perry wants to bring the Texas story to the entire United States. A major part of that story is incarceration because nowhere are you more likely to be arrested and imprisoned than in Texas.

In Texas:

• Over one million adults are arrested every year. That is nearly 6% of the adult population. Every year!
• There are over 150,000 Texans currently held in state prisons. Add in jails and the number is 228,000.
• Over 700,000 Texans are under criminal justice supervision (prison, jail, parole, probation). That's more than every man, woman, and child living in Austin.
• In several communities (Gatesville and Eden are two) at least half of the population is imprisoned.
• There are 53 state prisons and an additional seven for profit private prisons. There are also 15 federal prisons in Texas.
• Texas currently has over 300 prisoners on death row.
• Rick Perry has supervised 234 executions as governor.
• Texas annually leads the nation in executions.
• Texas also leads the nation in prison rape.
• There are more African American men in Texas prisons than Texas universities.
• Over 9% of the Black population of Texas has been disenfranchised by felony convictions.
• Texas has a Schools-to-Prison program where children are arrested (criminal arrests) and fined (up to $500) for actions that are not illegal, like cursing or using a cell phone on campus. They are also attaching non-removable tracking bracelets (house arrest bracelets) to kids who skip school.

Huntsville Prison was built in 1849.

Some Sources:
Texas Tough
Texas Facts
Private Prison Promises to Leave Texas Town in Trouble
The Sentencing Project