​The Holocaust forced Germany to fundamentally change how it incarcerates people. In America, slavery morphed into mass incarceration.

“We tried to explain to our German colleagues the American affair with mass incarceration and its link to genocide and slavery. We said, ‘Imagine if you were to walk into one of your prisons today 80 years after the Holocaust and saw that 70 percent of the people in prison were Jews. What would that be like? ’They responded, ‘That would be unthinkable.’”

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​"It is difficult to think of greater deprivations of that liberty than the government's allowing someone to be held in prison without telling him that there is evidence that might exonerate him," Judge Costa wrote. "Due process requires more than we afford the accused today."

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Saturday night, LSJA's Executive Director, Elizabeth Henneke, won the Austin Under 40 Award in the Legal category. She was recognized along with 4 other incredible women who passionately advocate for their clients and strive to make our community stronger for all.

Nearly two years ago, the Lone Star Justice Alliance was started to change the conversation about the incarceration of children and emerging adults. Yulise Reaves Waters, Blake Bowers, Gabby Fuentes and a host of talented, passionate, crazy smart interns have brought that dream to a reality with the incredible support of our Board of Directors, Caroline Kim, Keri Narramore McDonald, Larry Robinson, Caitlin Higgins Bailey, Phillip J. Yates, Doug Deason, Ashley Pettus and Allen Rothman. We’ve partnered with incredible stakeholders and allies too numerous to list here but who each work every day with equal parts passion and expertise. We share this with all of them and with the children we serve.
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Thank you to the entire Austin Under 40 team for recognizing this work. We are beyond humbled by the honor.
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"The Austin Under 40 Awards have become a celebrated institution. We hope that you will allow us to share this moment of recognition with the thousands of children who tonight will sleep in cold dark cells, and we call upon each of you to help us bring those children home." 
The 21st Annual Austin Under 40 Awards ceremony will take place downtown on Saturday, May 18. LSJA's Executive Director, Elizabeth Henneke, has been named a finalist in the Legal Category. Elizabeth, along with Meme Styles, Founder of Measure; Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, Owner of Lincoln Goldfinch Law, an immigration firm; and Mimi Marziani, President of Texas Civil Rights Project, all finalists, have joined together to call upon our community to Stand Up for Incarcerated Children. 

Read the full op-ed here

Lone Star Justice Alliance founder and lawyer Elizabeth Henneke (right) spoke to the House Select Committee of the 86th Texas Legislature on November 12 on Opioids and Substance abuse. Per the report, “Ms. Henneke recommends Texas adopt alternatives to incarceration that redirect resources from the criminal justice system to public health social services to better address the needs of those with a SUD. With community services, all can benefit, and not just individuals involved in criminal justice.”

Other elements to address substance abuse in the criminal justice system:

• Intensive, Individualized Case Management: Research shows that behavior change is attached to one's own values.
• Risk-Needs-Responsivity Structure: The risk principle advises services and supervision be applied in direct proportion to an individual's criminogenic risk. The need principle promotes the administration of treatment and programming according to individuals' assessed needs that are amenable to change. The responsivity principle states that interventions should be tailored to an individual's learning style, level of motivation, abilities, and strengths so that services are delivered in a way youth will be most receptive
• Specialized Skill Training with Directed Practice: An evidence-based principle suggesting that cognitive-behavioral techniques and "social learning" should be a central part of treatment programming.
• Engage Ongoing Support in Natural Communities Through Restorative Justice: Research shows connecting individuals with prosocial activities in their own community promotes positive behavior. Restorative justice and harm reduction initiatives include support networks that bring individuals into moral community through accountability to bear the weight of their actions.
• Incentive-Based Behavior Response System: Positive reinforcement coupled with a set of clear boundaries are effective in supporting sustainable behavior change and developing consequential thinking.
• Measure Processes and Practices and Provide Outcome Feedback: Interventions must be consistently tracked and evaluated to be proven successful, therefore, there is a need for programs to collect data on an ongoing basis, conduct rigorous analysis of procedures and outcomes, and regularly manage performance by providing feedback

https://house.texas.gov/_media/pdf/committees/reports/85interim/Interim-Report-Select-Committee-on-Opioids-Substance-Abuse-2018.pdf

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