In 1986 she was brutally raped, stabbed and beaten in her Austin home. Last week, she spoke to women inmates at a Texas prison named after her about the power of restorative justice and the ability to forge a better life after prison.
Ellen Halbert found her voice on the steps of the Texas Capitol when she first spoke about her experience as a rape victim while she was still recovering from her physical and emotional wounds. And that voice led her to a life of public service dedicated to improving the Texas criminal justice system for both victims and perpetrators. In 1991, she was appointed by Governor Ann Richards as the first victim to serve on the Texas Board of Criminal Justice and she served as Director of the Victim Services division of the Travis County District Attorney's Office. Due to her dedication to crime victims and tireless advocacy for rehabilitation of offenders, the 600-bed female substance abuse treatment facility in Burnet was name for her in 1995.
On October 30, 2018, Halbert recounted the night of the rape in a quiet voice to the inmates who are participating in the Bridges to Life program at the Ellen Halbert Women's Unit in Burnet. A man in a ninja suit surprised her as she was walking from her shower to the closet to get a robe. The only thing she could see were his eyes. He grabbed her hands, threw her on the bed naked and ran a knife across her feet. While he tied her feet he talked. He was a drifter, he wanted money. She wrote out an $800 check. Over the course of two hours, she was raped, stabbed multiple times and repeatedly hit with a hammer, the assailant finally hammering a knife into her head. He put his foot on her head so he could pull his knife out and left her for dead on the floor of her bathroom.
Halbert dragged herself to a phone and called her parents. Help came. At the hospital, Halbert told her father, “Don't you tell anyone I'm going to die because I'm not going to die!” (When Halbert delivered this line last week, the inmate audience snapped their fingers in support.) Recovery from such violence was not easy. She cried for many months. She wanted to lock herself in a closet and drink. But she had two teenage children at home to care for so she reached out for help. Her first goal was to release the anger and rage she felt inside. When she spoke on the steps of the Capitol, she received so much love back from the audience that she found her path. “I started talking and I couldn't shut up.”
Shortly after the attack, the police arrested the man who raped and beat Halbert. He was at a bank trying to cash the check he forced her to write. He is serving a life sentence.
While serving on the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, Halbert educated herself about the criminal justice system. She visited prisons and sought to understand what treatment or punishment works and what does not. Halbert found that although it is not appropriate for all offenders or victims, restorative justice (rather than punitive justice) is often a better option to prepare offenders to return to society. Restorative justice gives victims the chance to meet or communicate with their offender to explain the real impact of the crime, empowering victims by giving them a voice. It also holds offenders accountable for what they have done and helps them to take responsibility and make amends. Twenty years ago, Halbert joined forces with Bridges to Life, a program begun in Houston by John Sage after the brutal murder of his sister, to bring restorative justice into prisons across Texas. Last week, the 39 women enrolled in the Bridges to Life program at the Ellen Halbert Unit were excited to have their photographs taken with Halbert. The photographs will be presented to them when they successfully complete the program.
The Ellen Halbert Unit is a Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facility operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on 223 acres of state owned land behind the Burnet airport housing female offenders with six to nine month sentences for drug or alcohol related crimes. It also serves as a pre-release for women who have been in prison and must complete a drug and alcohol treatment program prior to release on parole.
After Halbert's speech, the women were allowed to ask questions. Why did you choose to help women in prison? “Not everyone belongs in prison.” Did you forgive the man who raped you? “Yes, I couldn't have that kind of hate inside me and live a meaningful life.” How did you deal with the emotional pain? “Lots of crying.” (This answer brought a round of knowing laughter.) Many in the audience thanked Halbert for coming to talk with them, including one woman who said she “would have been dead” without the Bridges to Life program Halbert brought to the facility. They all offered Halbert their condolences on the recent loss of her mother.
Halbert ended the powerful evening with a prayer, thanking God for “bringing us together.” Her audience responded, “Thank you!”
