» John Legend visits Capitol to lobby about prison rate,
Star visits Travis jail, Texas Capitol, says politicians must act.
R&B artist John Legend brought some star power to the Texas Capitol on Thursday to promote his Free America campaign to reduce the country’s incarceration rate.
Legend — who has won nine Grammy Awards and who, along with Common, won the 2015 Oscar for Best Original Song for “Glory” from the film “Selma” — spoke at a news conference behind the Senate chamber after visiting inmates at the Travis County Correctional Complex, where he also performed a couple of songs.
As part of Free Ameri- ca, Legend said he came to Texas to learn about the state’s efforts to make safer communities and to reform the corrections systems. But he also wanted to encourage policymakers to “be even bolder and go even further.”
“Every Texan deserves a better justice system,” he said. “They say everything is bigger in Texas. Yes unfortunately, that extends to the state’s corrections system as well. Texas puts too many people behind bars, and that means taxpayers, families and communities are paying a heavy price for those policies.”
Nearly three-quarters of a million adults in Texas are incarcerated, on probation or on parole. Legend and other advocates said they would like to replace traditional “tough on crime” policies with a “smart on crime” approach that would reduced the number of people locked up.
“We know that the overwhelming majority of people who are incarcerated in Texas can be safely managed in the community,” Legend said. “Not only will Texas taxpayers see substantial savings for making a shift to community services, but most importantly research shows we would also see a decrease in crime as well.”
Legend was joined at the press conference by Ana Yáñez-Correa, executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, a nonprofit that advocates for improving the state’s criminal and juvenile justice systems. Both advocates called for the passage of legislation that would change sentencing policies to reduce the likelihood of incarceration, bolster treatment programs and allow for more probation.
Several lawmakers, including Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, and Sen. José Rodríguez, D-El Paso, stood at the press conference with Legend.
Legend also talked about juvenile offenders.
“Kids are being labeled criminals for things kids do,” he said, adding that society must stop making it a crime to skip school, run away or break curfew.
The singer wrapped up by asking lawmakers to “value every life even if people make a mistake.”