I'm not the best at blogging so I'm just going to shamelessly copy some information from another news source.

Here's my snarky comment though - lovely counterbalance, Houston Chronicle, just lovely - Violent juveniles often serve fraction of terms - perhaps if there were more resources for mental health care for the poor and our public school teachers didn't draw some of the lowest salaries in the nation, the children wouldn't have wound up in TYC in the first place.

Justice Department didn't act, citing lack of evidence; critics say politics played a part

08:13 AM CDT on Sunday, August 5, 2007

By STEVE McGONIGLE and DOUG J. SWANSON / The Dallas Morning News
smcgonigle@dallasnews.com ; dswanson@dallasnews.com

For four years, U.S. Justice Department attorneys heard the horror stories: Inmates in Texas juvenile prisons were being beaten and molested by the people who were supposed to protect them.


Texas Ranger Brian Burzynski detailed abuses at the West Texas State School in a 229-page report and worked with the federal attorneys who ultimately dropped the case.

Federal watchdogs discreetly collected information and discussed fine legal points as the assaults piled up. More than 2,000 allegations of staff abusing inmates were confirmed by the Texas Youth Commission from January 2003 to December 2006.