Texas urged to close dangerous youth prison

[flashl]

Tex. ombudsman urges closure of second youth prison

An ombudsman for the Texas Youth Commission recommended closing a North Texas youth prison because of conditions including dangerous buildings, meager programming and understaffing.


Will Harrell's report described the Victory Field Correctional Academy in Vernon as the "the least adequate" of any he'd visited since he took the job in May.

"If I were king, I'd shut it down today," Harrell said after testifying in front of the House Corrections Committee on Wednesday. "It's an incredibly violent campus. ... There's just this sense of fear and intimidation."

Harrell told committee members that the Vernon facility was the TYC prison most similar to the Coke County Juvenile Justice Center in West Texas. The agency closed that lockup this month and fired its private operator after Harrell reported terrible conditions there.

The Victory Field report was part of a daylong hearing covering reforms and continuing problems at the Youth Commission, which was placed in state conservatorship this spring after a sex abuse scandal and subsequent cover-up.Read More ...

The horrors of Texas’ youth facilities human rights violations is reported almost daily for more than six months, yet, there seem to be more concern when human rights violations occurs overseas. Compare the number of postings even here in DU when human rights abuses happen in Burma, Iraqi, and Blackwater violations of human rights overseas.

Some days, I wonder, what kind of reasoning allows Americans to become more indignant and self-righteous about human rights abuses ONLY when its “over there.”