Throughout the 1980s and early 90s Texas had the highest crime rates of any state in the US.
George W Bush became Governor in 1994 on a promise that he would crack crime in the Lone Star State. His approach was to get tough on crime; he tripled the number of prison beds, lengthened prison sentences, made parole a thing of the past and encouraged the death penalty with zeal. Under Bush crime rates halved in Texas. The state now boasts the highest incarceration and execution rates in the world. Bush's methods became known as The Texas Solution. But, we are told Bush's solution wasn't just about locking them up and throwing away the key. It was about positive rehabilitation for the juveniles and calling on Texan citizens' frontier spirit to get involved. Marcel Theroux journeys through the Lone Star justice system to find out whether Bush's Texas Solution is something we should be learning from.
Throughout the 1980s and early 90s Texas had the highest crime rates of any state in the US. George W Bush became Governor in 1994 on a promise that he would crack crime in the Lone Star State. His approach was to get tough on crime; he tripled the number of prison beds, lengthened prison sentences, made parole a thing of the past and encouraged the death penalty with zeal. Under Bush crime rates halved in Texas. The state now boasts the highest incarceration and execution rates in the world. Bush's methods became known as The Texas Solution. But, we are told Bush's solution wasn't just about locking them up and throwing away the key. It was about positive rehabilitation for the juveniles and calling on Texan citizens' frontier spirit to get involved. Marcel Theroux journeys through the Lone Star justice system to find out whether Bush's Texas Solution is something we should be learning from.
