AUSTIN – Marc Levin, Director of the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, will be honored on the House floor Monday morning for his efforts to reform the Texas Youth Commission and the adult corrections system.
Resolutions to be introduced by House Corrections Chairman Jerry Madden will recognize Levin, Texas Ranger Sgt. Brian Burzynski, and others who played leadership roles in exposing the scandal and showing the path forward.
Levin’s extensive writings and research have challenged the conventional wisdom regarding criminal justice, and helped the Foundation build coalitions across the ideological spectrum in support of a reform agenda.
Levin, along with Isela Gutierrez of the Texas Coalition Advocating Justice for Juveniles, assembled a Policy Primer on problems with Texas’ juvenile justice system in January 2007, one month before the TYC sex abuse allegations made international news. (The audio from the event is available in the Multimedia section of the Foundation website.) Later, he was part of a working group that developed the language for the TYC reform bills – SB 103 by Sen. Juan Hinojosa and HB 2807 by Chairman Madden.
“We are so fortunate to have people like Marc in our organization,” said Foundation president Brooke Rollins. “The goal of any policy organization is to make an impact, and Marc’s creativity, research, work ethic, and persuasiveness will improve the lives of Texans for generations.”
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin. The Foundation established the Center for Effective Justice in 2005, with Levin as its director, to research over-criminalization, restorative justice, and other issues involving the Texas criminal justice system.
“Free-market think tanks have been slow to engage on criminal justice issues,” Rollins noted. “Marc’s effectiveness is causing our peers in other states to consider adding over-criminalization and restorative justice to their scope of work.”
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