Making a Difference in the Community

Barbara Belbot, UHD associate professor of criminal justice, has done her share of “prison time” as an advocate of prisoners’ rights and as a Federal Court monitor visiting Texas prisons to ensure they complied with the court’s ruling to improve prisoner conditions.
 “Prison reform was happening all over the nation with Texas playing a leading role,” she said. “I thought I could do some good and have an impact on conditions. I did make an impact.”
Belbot continues researching the corrections side of criminal justice and the legal rights of the convicted. She is almost finished writing a textbook on the subject with a colleague at Boise (Idaho) State.
“I want students to understand the evolution of law—how the push for prison reform started in the 1960s and how it has evolved in the political context of the times. It’s fun to teach students the historical evolution of jurisprudence,” she said.
UHD College of Public Service offers a unique learning environment for individuals interested in criminal justice. Lieutenants, majors and captains from police forces in Houston and surrounding areas as well as patrol officers, probation officers and others serious about their education attend classes.
“We are educating the community’s current and future criminal justice leaders in Houston and Harris County. We are making an impact,” Belbot said.