Criminal Justice Reform

Texas has more prisoners than any other State or any European country, of those more than 46,000 are incarcerated for possessing small amounts (less than a sugar packet’s worth) of drugs. These people are the victims of the drug trade, and rather than going to rehab where they belong, they are labeled as felons and sent to jails with violent criminals. Texas spends over a billion dollars a year to incarcerate these folks, and because with felony convictions they are effectively prevented from ever achieving gainful employment many of them will find themselves back in in the system. We know that investing in rehabilitation programs rather than incarceration is cheaper and more effective than prison. We can do better and Ryan will fight hard to reform our criminal justice system so that it better serves the people of Texas.