Impact & Advocacy
At Texas Prison Reform LLC, our work isn't built on theoretical ideas—it is guided directly by the real-time realities, insights, and lived experiences of our team on the inside, alongside advocates, family members, and community leaders on the outside. Every campaign, website update, and legislative push is designed to reform harmful carceral practices and build pathways toward true rehabilitation, humane conditions, and accountability in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).
Men in Legal Cages
Texas Prison Reform & Texas Civil Rights Project
GIB LEWIS UNIT ILLEGALLY HOLDING MEN IN CAGES
In Letter to TBCJ, Civil Rights Advocates Demand Immediate Investigation
HOUSTON, TX – The Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP) and Texas Prison Reform (TPR) have sent a letter to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice’s Independent Ombudsman, demanding an investigation into the illegal and inhumane practices of the Gib Lewis Unit, where prison staff are using holding cages to house individuals in unsanitary and unsafe conditions.
Gib Lewis Unit administration and staff use holding cages in the prison’s expansion building as a substitute for traditional solitary confinement cells, but the conditions for people confined in these holding cages violate state, national, and international rules and norms. The cages are too small to even lie down in; they do not have toilet facilities, and none have a bed or mattress.
“What is happening at the Gib Lewis unit is nothing short of a humanitarian crisis, and it demands immediate action from the Texas Board of Criminal Justice,” said Molly Petchenik, Legal Fellow at the Texas Civil Rights Project. “Individuals are being held for days in cages so small that they cannot even lie down fully stretched out. They are left without so much as a mattress on the floor and are not even allowed access to toilet facilities. We cannot allow our fellow human beings to be treated this way. These practices are not just illegal; they are inhumane.”
The letter provides details from reports sent to TPR by men incarcerated at the unit and confirmed through visits and interviews at the Gib Lewis Unit by TCRP. People report being left in the cages for days on end, forced to urinate on themselves, and having no avenues to challenge the unacceptable use of these cages.
“We hope this letter makes prison leadership listen to the men inside Gib Lewis. I know they have gone a long time without feeling heard,” said Brittany Robertson of Texas Prison Reform.
Multiple independent accounts confirm the regular use of holding cages in a manner that violates basic human decency, in addition to state, national, and international standards. We demand that the Independent Ombudsman immediately open an investigation into the inappropriate extended use of holding cells at Gib Lewis Unit and stop the torture of our fellow Texans.
Journey for Justice
Words from the affected:
Family Support & Bereavement Advocacy
Helping with the loss of a loved one in custody
Navigating the sudden or traumatic loss of a loved one within the carceral system is an isolating and agonizing experience. At Texas Prison Reform, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with grieving families, providing compassionate, steady guidance through the darkest moments of loss and the complex administrative battles that follow.
What We Provide:
Compassionate Guidance:
Offering a safe & respectful understanding space to process grief while helping families cope with the overwhelming emotional toll of institutional loss. So many loved ones are uncertain how to navigate the loss of a loved one when it involved understanding possible policy or rights violations and concerns about treatment & conditions.
Paperwork & Record Retrieval:
Assisting families step-by-step in requesting, securing, and navigating critical documentation—including medical records, incident reports, and official notifications—from correctional and state agencies.
Litigation & Legal Navigation referral: Providing ongoing guidance, resource coordination, and structural assistance as families pursue accountability even in grief.
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