NYT Editor: Close TYC

Who is that masked man–or woman?

The unnamed but very active juvenile justice advocate on the New York Times editorial staff has fired another shot, this time calling for a shutdown of the Texas Youth Commission. Less than a week ago a Times editorial touted the Missouri model as a national exemplar; today, in “Starting Over in Texas,” the Times went on record with strong support for the Missouri-inspired recommendations of Texas’s Blue Ribbon Task Force, which would phase out the network of (abusive, crumbling) prisons throughout the state in favor of small, local facilities tailored to therapy and education.

“The reorganization project will require a lot of political will,” the editor writes. “The toughest opposition will likely come from legislators who talk a good game about reform but want to keep open detention centers in their districts to preserve local jobs. Given all the failures and abuses, there is no looking backward.”

Well said. But by whom?