A man wrongfully imprisoned for killing his wife and sent to prison for 25 years apathetically told his Texas Tribune Festival audience that it was a fluke.

The Texas Tribune Festival panel, which addressed criminal reform, approached subjects like incarceration rates, the death penalty and decriminalization of marijuana.

The panel consisted mostly of criminal justice intellectuals, but also featured Michael Morton, a man who spent 25 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife.

The title of the discussion was, “What’s Next for Criminal Reform?” and it was moderated by Bill Keller, the former executive editor of The New York Times.

Other speakers included Vikrant Reddy, a senior political analyst for Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation; James White, a member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 19; and Ana Yanez-Correa, the Executive Director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition.

The first question from Keller centered around the rates of incarceration in the United States and in Texas.

“More people are entering ISS (intensive supervision and surveillance), more people are entering corrections,” Yanez-Correa said. “I would describe this as on the right track.”

In the same token, she expressed opinions that more needs to be done in way of reforms.

Reddy added that federal government statistics differ from bureau statistics. The rates may seem unfavorable because the numbers include placing people in programs which are longer term, but meant to reform actions and thought processes rather than used as punishment.

Next, the moderator asked the panelists’ personal rationales “for facing the criminal justice system.”

Reddy responded first and explained he cared about the outcome for defenders because “they will live next door to you and me and if they can’t put their lives back together, that leaves the area very unsafe.”

Yanez-Correa answered that she gets inundated by email from people asking “‘How do we join?’” She spoke of correspondence from law enforcement who speak of recidivism and want to know how to stop the issue of “over-criminalization of our children.”

Both Yanez-Correa and White spoke about changing the jurisdiction of age groups.

White said that he is still working on the issue of raising the age from 17-18.

“I’m still thinking through that,” he said. “It’s important we enact reforms that are data driven.”

However, White also spoke about reforming laws such as those for truancy.

“I don’t know if it’s good public policy to hold up parents and kids and incarcerate them for missing school,” he said.

Keller followed White’s answer with a question about the obstacles of reform.

White’s response was that there are no obstacles. He continued speaking about obstacles to a different type of reform, an ethical reform. White moved that years of convictions one can rack up should not motivate prosecutors.

Keller then moved to asked Morton his opinions on his imprisonment.

“Statistically, it was a fluke,” Morton said. “It does point to some flaws these programs (like ISS) are addressing surface issues.”

Morton argued that the only thing he has seen work is trying to change the criminal.

The next question addressed how far each panelist would go to legalize drugs.

“In terms of drug legalization we (conservatives) no, we are not in favor of drug legalization,” Reddy said.

White spoke about his district in East Texas and how drug testing is policy for most of the jobs in his area. He was not supportive of legalization.

The following question was whether or not incarceration based on race was “the civil rights issue of our time.”

The panelists all agreed that incarceration based on race is a problem, but it is one that does not need solved independently of others.

“(It is an) issue of not committing crimes; (the) public safety issue moves towards that,” White said.

Reddy agreed that only focusing on race would be missing the big picture.

The other panelists agreed with Morton leading the summation with criminal justice affects everybody.

The final questions posed by Keller were centered around capital punishment.

“Why is Texas in some instances the world leader in capital punishment?” he asked.

“It’s the idea that you have government and you have government exist to serve individual liberties, you would allow government that discretion to maintain public safety,” White said.

Yanez-Correa condemned the death penalty, describing its existence purely because it’s part of the Texas culture.