Advocates say the timing is right for independent oversight of Texas prisons

Texas (TT) – After a recent slew of damning headlines regarding conditions within Texas prisons, reform advocates and lawmakers are hopeful that the timing is right to get legislation passed creating independent oversight of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. State Rep. Jarvis Johnson, D-Houston, and state Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, filed identical bills in their respective chambers last week calling for a governor-appointed, independent ombudsman’s office to oversee and investigate complaints against the prison agency. The criminal justice department currently has an ombudsman within the agency, but Johnson and Miles…

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50 Years After Star Trek’s ‘Kiss’, How Have Attitudes Towards Interethnic Marriage changed?

(Conversation) – In the long-running sci-fi serial Star Trek, the mission of the crew of the starship USS Enterprise is to “boldly go where no one has gone before”. This was most often apparent in the crew’s discovery of new worlds and new beings in the course of the drama. But the series pushed another new boundary 50 years ago when, having been subjected to “sadistic” mind control by aliens, Captain James Kirk (played by William Shatner) and Lieutenant Nyota Uhura (played by Nichelle Nichols) were compelled to passionately kiss…

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