Austin News

Chas Moore has seen the statistics and examined the reports, but the executive director of the Austin Justice Coalition has even stronger evidence that Texas law enforcement officers engage in more interactions and arrest a higher percentage of people of color.

“Well, I didn't grow on wanting to be black in America," he told Austin News. "I feel like I see the injustices against black people every day. And so, just me doing my part.”

Texas law enforcement agencies made 9.7 million traffic stops in 2019, with arrests occurring on 3.2% of the incidents, according to a study. About one in five of those arrests, 21%, were for Class C misdemeanors, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

Those crimes are punishable by a fine of up to $500, with jail time not listed as an option. However, if a driver refuses to consent to a search, they can be arrested.

The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition reported that in Harris County 10% of all arrests over a four-month period were for misdemeanors, with black drivers disproportionately ending up behind bars.

"Black drivers made up nearly half of all drivers arrested on a single non-jailable transportation offense, as well as 41.1% of all people jailed for other non-jailable offenses,” the coalition reported. “While approximately 70% of Harris County’s population is white, white drivers made up only 22.9% and 24% of the arrests for traffic and other non-jailable offenses, respectively.”

Moore said this is one of the major reasons the Austin Justice Coalition exists.

“We have the disparities," he said. "We know that far more black and brown people get pulled over for Class C misdemeanors and going to jail for Class C misdemeanors." 

Most Texans who are behind bars are there for relatively minor offenses. A study from the nonprofit Texas Appleseed, which is dedicated to social and economic justice, reveals stark figures.

“Examining jail booking records shows that in at least nine of 10 large counties, misdemeanor bookings outweighed felony bookings,” a 2019 report stated. “In the remaining county, only slightly more than half of bookings were for felony charges.”

There were 64,100 traffic stops for minor traffic violations in Texas in 2019 that led to the driver being arrested. That ends up filling jails and draining millions from city, county and state coffers to pay for the staffing and equipment used for this process.

It grinds on, even as traffic declined during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, more than 40,000 Texans were arrested for a fine-only/non-jailable offense.

There have been scores of bills introduced in the Texas Legislature over the years to change these policies and practices, with numerous ones in the hopper this year. Moore knows the track record of such legislation. Will anything pass and be signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott?

“Hopefully,” Moore said. “But in Texas we really don't get to see substantial criminal justice reform. Maybe because of all the things that happened last year with George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. But, yeah, I'm hopeful. But I'm not overly optimistic.”

While lawmakers seem slow to change, a University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs study said the vast majority of Texas residents see the need for reform.

“The George Floyd Act criminal justice reform is supported by 72% of Texans, with 52% strongly supporting it,” the report states. “The act enjoys broad majority support across gender, racial/ethnic, and generational sub-groups, with only one of 11 sub-groups not supporting it by a substantial majority. The exception is Republicans, among whom however 43% support the passage of the act. All of the main provisions of the George Floyd Act individually enjoy support that is equal to or [more commonly] greater than that of the act as a complete package.”

Moore said the high-profile cases in the last few years – Sandra Bland, Floyd and others – could finally bring a needed focus on the issue. He said he knows what it’s like to be stopped and questioned for no apparent reason as he's been in that situation.

It’s a common experience for many if not most young black men, as in the case of Rodney Reese, 18, who was arrested by Plano police and spent the night in jail after he was stopped while walking home from work during the February winter storm. Moore said such incidents keep him motivated to continue his efforts, and hope for changes in the system.

“It just makes you wonder if this will finally get people's attention,” he said. “I hope so. There's been very little progress, but, you know, maybe this is the year.”

Moore, 33, founded the Austin Justice Coalition, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and grassroots, activist-led organization, in 2015. Its goals are to demand criminal justice reform while building community at the local, state, and national levels.

Moore is a Houston native who studied at the University of Texas at Austin while dedicating much of his time to being an activist. On the coalition website, he lists his passions as criminal justice reform, creating spaces for activists, leaders and organizers of color to lead, implementing progressive and “best-practice” policies in local entities, community empowerment through community service and education and educating youth of color among other goals.