Learning Objectives

7.1 Identify the role of political culture in the development of Texas’s approach to justice.

7.2 Explain the Texas prison system and how it has responded to overcrowding and poor conditions.

7.3 Discuss how Texas balances its political culture and the rights of the accused.

7.4 Explain how Texans’ views of tort reform, the castle doctrine, and capital punishment reflect historic support for retribution and incapacitation.

7.5 Assess who wins and who loses under a justice system heavily influenced by Texas political culture.