Tony Fabelo

Tony Fabelo has been the executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Policy Council, since 1991.

Tony Fabelo was the executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Policy Council from 1991 to 2003, when the agency's budget was vetoed by Governor Rick Perry.

Dr. Fabelo is the former executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Policy Council. This was the research and evaluation agency created by Texas in 1983. Dr. Fabelo was appointed by Governor Ann Richards as Executive Director in 1991 and served in this capacity until August 2003. Prior to 1991, Dr. Fabelo served in different capacities at the agency, including Director of Research and Deputy Director. During his tenure, he assisted five governors and ten regular biennial Texas legislatures in developing criminal and juvenile justice policies.

Under Dr. Fabelo's leadership the agency provided the knowledge for policy makers to design the Texas Criminal Justice Information System in 1989, new correctional rehabilitation programs in 1991 and rewrite the sentencing code in 1993. Between 1995 and 2000, Dr. Fabelo served as part of the policy team of Governor George W. Bush. He assisted the team in the development of the juvenile justice reform of 1995, the early intervention and prevention services initiative of 1997, and assisted in monitoring the effectiveness of criminal and juvenile justice policies. As Executive Director he supervised and contributed to the production of over 200 research reports.

Dr. Fabelo received in 1992 the G. Paul Sylvestre Award from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics for “outstanding achievement in advancing criminal justice statistics in the states. He was a member of the National Research Council panel of the National Academy of Sciences that issued two national reports in 2000 and 2001 on juvenile crime and juvenile justice, a member of the National Institute of Justice Executive Sessions on Sentencing and Corrections in 1999, and the Executive Sessions on Public Defense at Harvard University in 2000.

Dr. Fabelo issued a report to the Connecticut legislature in 2006 claiming its program of reducing incarceration rates was a "success". [http://www.jfa-associates.com/publications/jr/CTFinal3606TF.pdf] This policy was abandoned by Governor M. Jodi Rell after a series of heinous crimes committed in the summer of 2007 by paroled criminals, most notably the July 2007 home invasion in Cheshire. [http://www.courant.com/news/custom/topnews/hc-rellparole0922.artsep22,0,3484082.story?coll=hc_tab01_layout]

Dr. Fabelo received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Loyola University in New Orleans in 1977, a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 1979 and a Ph.D. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin in 1984. Dr. Fabelo is fluent in Spanish.

Quotes

* "Everywhere, across the [US] , we are more concerned with ensuring that criminal activity does not repeat itself, rather than keeping criminal activity from occurring in the first place."
* "We need to look at the issues of juvenile crime and setting up policies that keep youth from engaging in criminal activity as well as programs that prevent crime at the community level."