In Texas, Criminal Justice Changes as a Result of Elections – Bolstered by the wave of support for Beto O’Rourke, in what is seen as their greatest victory in the recent midterm elections, Democrats in Texas flipped four influential state appeals courts. Meanwhile, a young Latina immigrant became chief executive of the populous Harris County. The young political star campaigned with promises to reform the criminal justice system, which is marked by disproportionate incarceration of African American and Latino youth. Mariana Pineda has the details from Houston.
Florida’s Ex Convicts Anticipate Right to Vote with Happiness and Trepidation – After the resounding victory of Amendment 4 in Florida, which restores the right to vote to 1.4 million formerly incarcerated individuals in the state, some possible beneficiaries are questioning whether it will in fact be possible to end more than a century and a half of electoral exclusion. Although they welcome the news on Amendment 4, some former inmates fear that powerful interests will block its implementation before the 2020 elections. Martin Berlanga reports from Miami in this installment from our special series of reporting on criminal justice.
