The artist KB Brookins speaks at an ACLU of Texas event. (Courtesy Lexi Parra)
A new multimedia exhibit is highlighting the impact and inequality of the Texas bail system.
Running from Jan. 14-17 at the Lawndale Art Center, “End Cash Bail” includes poetry, paintings, collages, photography, and community-generated works showcasing how the cash bail system favors the wealthy and places an unfair burden on low-income families and individuals.
The exhibit is headed by author and poet KB Brookins, and is the culmination of their year-long artist residency with ACLU of Texas, which provides funds to Texas artists for them to complete a project revolving around the nonprofit’s strategic advocacy goals.
Bail reform advocates criticized Texas this past June when Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law one of the biggest bail reform packages in the state’s history. Included in that package was Senate Bill 9, which limits who is eligible for a cashless bond. In November, Texas voters also passed Proposition 3, which “lets judges deny bail for specified violent or sexual felonies upon ‘clear and convincing evidence’ of danger or flight risk.”
“ Texas is one of the states where 70% of folks that are sitting in Texas jails…they haven’t been convicted of a crime,” Brookins told COURIER HTX. “A large amount of people are in jails, especially Harris County Jail, because they can’t afford bail.”
According to criminal justice experts, the passing of Proposition 3 could not only increase the Harris County Jail inmate population, which has already faced issues of overcrowding, but also work against those who have been falsely accused of a crime.
“It creates cycles of poverty, right? Imagine that you unexpectedly are picked up and you are put in jail and now you have to pay $5,000 to get out,” Brookins said. “Maybe to someone that is affluent, that doesn’t feel like a lot of money, but to somebody who’s living paycheck to paycheck, that is a lot of money to come off of.”
The free exhibit will be on display at Lawndale Art Center, Cecily E. Horton Gallery, 4912 Main St., Houston. Opening night is Jan. 14 at 5:30 p.m. and requires registration.
