Lone Star Lockdown: The Scale and Scope of Texas Incarceration
“In Texas, punishment isn’t just policy—it’s culture.”
With over 120 state prisons and one of the highest incarceration rates in the country, Texas stands as a towering example of mass incarceration’s reach. As of 2024, Texas incarcerates over 135,000 people1—more than any other state except California. The state’s carceral footprint is vast, but its impact is deeply personal—especially for those trapped in solitary confinement, forced into unpaid labor, or sentenced under extreme laws that prioritize punishment over restoration.
Solitary confinement in Texas isn’t rare—it’s routine. Thousands are held in isolation for 22–24 hours a day, sometimes for years. The psychological toll is devastating. One man I met described it as “being buried alive with the lights on.” In 2023, over 3,000 people were held in solitary confinement2 across Texas prisons.
Prison labor, often unpaid or underpaid, fuels state industries while incarcerated individuals lack basic protections. They farm, sew, clean, and manufacture goods for the state. It’s a modern echo of convict leasing—a system born from slavery’s ashes.
Sentencing laws, especially in capital and habitual offender cases, reflect a system more invested in permanence than possibility. Life without parole is common, and enhancements can turn minor offenses into decades-long sentences.
Private prisons also play a significant role in Texas’s incarceration landscape. These facilities, operated by for-profit companies, house thousands of individuals and often prioritize cost-cutting over rehabilitation. Reports have highlighted issues ranging from understaffing and inadequate medical care to higher rates of violence. The profit motive embedded in these institutions raises urgent questions about accountability and justice. In 2022, nearly 13,000 people were incarcerated in privately operated facilities3 in Texas.
Recent investigative reports have exposed corruption, abuse, and neglect—from falsified disciplinary records to medical mistreatment. These aren’t isolated incidents; they’re symptoms of a system designed to dehumanize.
As a defense attorney in Texas, I see the machinery daily. I’ve watched clients disappear into facilities where mercy is a foreign language. I’ve read transcripts where justice slept—literally, in the case of Burdine, where a defense attorney slept through portions of a capital trial, a haunting example of ineffective assistance of counsel
Texas isn’t just a state with a prison problem. It’s a case study in how incarceration becomes identity, how systems calcify around cruelty, and how reform must begin with truth.
This post is not just a critique—it’s a call to witness. To see the machinery of punishment and ask what justice truly demands.
And if Texas is a case study in scale, Alabama is a study in collapse.
Behind Bars, Beyond Justice: The Crisis in Alabama’s Prisons
Alabama’s prisons aren’t broken—they’re functioning exactly as they were designed: to punish, to disappear, to forget.
In 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice released a scathing report declaring Alabama’s prison conditions unconstitutional. The findings were grim: rampant violence, chronic understaffing, and a culture of neglect that endangered both incarcerated individuals and staff.
Overcrowding remains a central issue. Facilities built for 12,000 now house over 20,000, with some operating at nearly double their intended capacity4. The Equal Justice Initiative has documented how this overcrowding fuels violence, restricts access to medical care, and exacerbates mental health crises5.
Staff shortages compound the crisis. In some facilities, a single officer oversees hundreds of incarcerated people. This lack of oversight has led to preventable deaths, unchecked assaults, and a pervasive sense of fear6.
In 2023, Alabama recorded 325 deaths in custody, including 89 overdose deaths—a 20% increase from the previous year7. At least 16 homicides occurred in the past 12 months, half at Limestone and Donaldson prisons8.
Quotes from those inside paint a harrowing picture. One man wrote, “We sleep in shifts because there’s no safety. The guards don’t come. The screams echo all night.”
Alabama’s prison crisis isn’t a failure of policy—it’s a reflection of values. When punishment eclipses humanity, the system becomes a mirror of our moral decay.
The state’s response to federal scrutiny has been slow and inadequate. Despite the DOJ’s findings, meaningful reform has stalled. Lawsuits continue to pile up, and advocacy groups have called for federal receivership—a drastic measure that would place the prison system under outside control.
Meanwhile, families of incarcerated individuals live in constant fear. They navigate opaque systems, endure long travel for visitation, and often receive little information about their loved ones’ wellbeing. The emotional toll is immense, and the ripple effects extend far beyond prison walls.
We must confront this not as an anomaly, but as a systemic design. Reform begins with truth, and truth demands we listen, we witness, and we act.
Endnotes
- Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Statistical Report FY 2024. https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/documents/Statistical_Report_FY2024.pdf
See also: Vera Institute of Justice. Texas Incarceration Trends. https://trends.vera.org/state/TX
- Texas Civil Rights Project. https://www.txcivilrights.org/
See also: Civil Rights Clinic. Solitary Confinement in Texas: A Crisis With No End. https://law.utexas.edu/clinics/2024/02/07/solitary-confinement-in-texas-a-crisis-with-no-end/
See also: ABC13 Houston. Texas Prisoners Hunger Strike Against Solitary Confinement. https://abc13.com/post/texas-solitary-confinement-prisons-prisoners-hunger-strike-harsh-prison-practices/12684954/
- Bureau of Justice Statistics. Prisoners in 2022. https://bjs.ojp.gov/document/p22st.pdf
See also: Prison Policy Initiative. Texas Profile. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/profiles/TX.html
- Equal Justice Initiative. Alabama Prison Crisis Archive. https://eji.org/news/tag/alabama-prison-crisis/
- Equal Justice Initiative. Alabama Prison Crisis Archive. https://eji.org/news/tag/alabama-prison-crisis/
- Southern Poverty Law Center. 2023 Annual Report. https://www.splcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/splc-annual-report-2023.pdf
- AL Daily News. Assaults and Deaths Down Inside Alabama Prisons, Sexual Violence Up. https://aldailynews.com/assaults-deaths-down-inside-alabama-prisons-sexual-violence-up/
- Alabama Reflector. Report: At Least 277 People Died in Alabama Prisons in 2024. https://alabamareflector.com/2025/04/16/report-at-least-277-people-died-in-alabama-prisons-in-2024/
See also: Montgomery Advertiser. 105 Alabama Prison Deaths in 2024 Still Under Investigation. https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/2025/05/01/105-alabama-prison-deaths-in-2024-still-under-investigation-report/83119584007/
See also: Smart Justice Alabama. 2024 Deaths Report. https://www.alabamasmartjustice.org/reports
On (In)justice 