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Behind the Walls: a Guide for Family and Friends of Texas Prison Inmates

Description: Texas holds one in every nine U.S. inmates. Behind the Walls is a detailed description of one of the world's largest prison systems by a long-time convict trained as an observer and reporter. It spotlights the day-to-day workings of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice-what's good, what's bad, which programs work and which ones do not, and examines if practice really follows official policy. Written to inform about the processes, services, activities, issues, and problems of being incarcer… more
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Date: December 15, 2002
Creator: Renaud, Jorge Antonio
Partner: UNT Press

Houston Blue: The Story of the Houston Police Department

Description: Houston Blue offers the first comprehensive history of one of the nation’s largest police forces, the Houston Police Department. Through extensive archival research and more than one hundred interviews with prominent Houston police figures, politicians, news reporters, attorneys, and others, authors Mitchel P. Roth and Tom Kennedy chronicle the development of policing in the Bayou City from its days as a grimy trading post in the 1830s to its current status as the nation’s fourth largest city. … more
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Date: November 15, 2012
Creator: Roth, Mitchel P.
Partner: UNT Press

Worse Than Death: The Dallas Nightclub Murders and the Texas Multiple Murder Law

Description: In 1984, a Moroccan national named Abdelkrim Belachheb walked into Iannis Restaurant, a trendy Dallas nightclub, and gunned down seven people. Six died. Despite the fact that the crimes occurred in a state that prides itself on being tough on criminals, the death penalty was not an option for the Belachheb jury. Even though he had committed six murders, and his guilt was never in question (despite his insanity defense), his crimes were not capital murders under 1984 statutes. As a direct result… more
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Date: October 15, 2003
Creator: Lavergne, Gary M.
Partner: UNT Press

Walking George: the Life of George John Beto and the Rise of the Modern Texas Prison System

Description: George John Beto (1916-1991) is best known for his contributions to criminal justice, but his fame is not limited to this field. Walking George , authored by two of his former students, David M. Horton and George R. Nielsen, examines the entire life of Beto and his many achievements in the fields of both education and criminal justice—and how he wedded the two whenever possible. Beto initially studied to become a Lutheran pastor but instead was called to teach at Concordia Lutheran College in … more
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Date: September 15, 2005
Creator: Horton, David M. & Nielsen, George R.
Partner: UNT Press

Eleven Days in Hell: the 1974 Carrasco Prison Siege in Huntsville, Texas

Description: From one o’clock on the afternoon of July 24, 1974, until shortly before ten o’clock the night of August 3, eleven days later, one of the longest hostage-taking sieges in the history of the United States took place in Texas’s Huntsville State Prison. The ringleader, Federico (Fred) Gomez Carrasco, the former boss of the largest drug-running operation in south Texas, was serving life for assault with intent to commit murder on a police officer. Using his connections to smuggle guns and ammunitio… more
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Date: August 15, 2004
Creator: Harper, William T.
Partner: UNT Press

Constables, Marshals, and More: Forgotten Offices in Texas Law Enforcement

Description: Most students of criminal justice, and the general public as well, think of policing along the three basic types of municipal, sheriff, and state police. Little is known about other avenues of police work, such as the constable. In policing textbooks, when a position such as constable is mentioned, only a line or two is presented, hardly enough to indicate it is of any importance. And yet constables and numerous other alternative policing positions are of vital importance to law enforcement in … more
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Date: September 15, 2011
Creator: Rubenser, Lorie & Priddy, Gloria
Partner: UNT Press

Intermediate Sanctions in Corrections

Description: The field of corrections comprises three distinct areas of study: institutional corrections (jails and prisons), community corrections (probation and parole), and intermediate sanctions (community service, boot camps, intensive supervision programs, home confinement and electronic monitoring, halfway houses, day reporting, fines, and restitution). Intermediate Sanctions in Corrections is the first non-edited book devoted completely to intermediate sanctions systems and their individual programs… more
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Date: October 15, 2004
Creator: Caputo, Gail A.
Partner: UNT Press

Convict Cowboys: The Untold History of the Texas Prison Rodeo

Description: Convict Cowboys is the first book on the nation’s first prison rodeo, which ran from 1931 to 1986. At its apogee the Texas Prison Rodeo drew 30,000 spectators on October Sundays. Mitchel P. Roth portrays the Texas Prison Rodeo against a backdrop of Texas history, covering the history of rodeo, the prison system, and convict leasing, as well as important figures in Texas penology including Marshall Lee Simmons, O.B. Ellis, and George J. Beto, and the changing prison demimonde. Over the years th… more
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Date: July 2016
Creator: Roth, Mitchel P.
Partner: UNT Press

Death on Base: The Fort Hood Massacre

Description: When Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan walked into the Fort Hood Soldier Readiness Processing Center and opened fire on soldiers within, he perpetrated the worst mass shooting on a United States military base in our country’s history. Death on Base is an in-depth look at the events surrounding the tragic mass murder that took place on November 5, 2009, and an investigation into the causes and influences that factored into the attack. The story begins with Hasan's early life in Virginia, continues… more
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Date: May 2015
Creator: Porterfield, Anita Belles
Partner: UNT Press
open access

A Guide to Sources of Texas Criminal Justice Statistics

Description: This reference work was compiled as a resource for those needing assistance in locating Texas criminal justice statistics. R. Scott Harnsberger has compiled more than 600 entries describing statistical sources for Texas crime; criminals; law enforcement; courts and sentencing; adult and juvenile corrections; capital punishment and death row; victims of crime; driving/boating under the influence; traffic fatalities; substance abuse and treatment; polls and rankings; and fiscal topics such as app… more
Date: 2011
Creator: Harnsberger, R. Scott
Partner: UNT Press

Country Cop: True Tales from a Texas Deputy Sheriff

Description: Book is author's memoir about his years as a Deputy Sheriff in Parker County, Texas. He served as a patrol officer, public relations officer, and as a member of the Crimes Against Children division, among other duties.
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Date: May 2020
Creator: Goodson, Barry
Partner: UNT Press

Tall Walls and High Fences: Officers and Offenders, the Texas Prison Story

Description: Texas has one of the world’s largest prison systems, in operation for more than 170 years and currently employing more than 28,000 people. Hundreds of thousands of people have been involved in the prison business in Texas: inmates, correctional officers, public officials, private industry representatives, and volunteers have all entered the secure facilities and experienced a different world. Previous books on Texas prisons have focused either on records and data of the prisons, personal memoir… more
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Date: October 15, 2020
Creator: Alexander, Bob & Alford, Richard K.
Partner: UNT Press
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