ABSTRACT
Texas was not the first state to adopt smart on crime reforms; however, for both substantive and symbolic reasons, it is one of the most important states. Reform in Texas, given the state’s size and historically high rate of incarceration, holds the promise of sending thousands fewer people to prison each year. Symbolically, what came out of the Texas story was the notion that if even Texas could reform its prison system, what could possibly stop the same thing from happening anywhere? We know that the smart on crime movement reform did not stop at the Texas border. Prison reform has continued to spread to other states in every part of country.
