In the news: April 2007
Returning to society after prison or jail still a challenge; 4/30/2007
AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN: Ex-convicts are making slow progress with the help of emerging programs and mentorsJulie Ghant walked out of a Gatesville prison in February with $50, the ragged used men's clothing she got from prison officials on her back and a bus ticket to anywhere. Ghant said she came to Austin in February because she heard that Travis County offered ex-offenders lots of help. The 37-year-old mother of six said she had been medicating herself with drugs and alcohol in Abilene when she landed in prison in 2003 to serve a four-year sentence for drug possession — her third criminal conviction since 1989. While she was locked up, her husband and mother died within months of each other; her children were left behind to be raised by relatives.
Former prisoners struggle with news lives, study says; 4/24/2007
COLUMBUS DISPATCH: A new study confirms some things prison officials have long known: The deck is stacked against former inmates, and the communities where they return suffer along with them. One Year Out, a study by the Urban Institute Justice Policy Center based on interviews with nearly 300 Ohio prisoners who returned to the Cleveland area, found they faced significant problems that often drove them back to prison. The Urban Institute is a Washington-based, nonpartisan, nonprofit education and research organization. "One year after release, the men in the study had little stability in their lives and desperately needed community services to help them succeed," said Christy A Visher, principal researcher and the study's co-author.
Diversions continue steady advance; 4/23/2007
TEXAS OBSERVER BLOG: Movement by the House away from Texas’ unsustainable incarceration mania through offering treatment to nonviolent offenders and parole reform received another boost today with a hearing for Senate Bill 166. The bill would put into law “progressive sanctions” to reduce the number of probation revocations. Itencourages probation departments to consider the severity of the defendant’s probation violation and, when appropriate, opt for alternative supervision programs — and not for filling an increasingly rare prison bed. The bill, authored by Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) and laid out today in the House Corrections committee by chairman Rep. Jerry Madden (R-Plano) pays special attention to reducing technical revocations.
Behind bars, with nowhere to go; 4/23/2007
DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Hundreds of Texas inmates who have been ruled incompetent to stand trial are languishing in county jails because there aren't enough mental-hospital beds to get them treatment. The waiting list has families of inmates worried that their loved ones might end up like James Mims, the mentally ill inmate who nearly died in the Dallas County Jail in 2004 after he was transferred there from a state hospital for his annual competency hearing. In response, Dallas County plans to hire three people in the next few months to oversee competency cases.
Texas prison guard shortages raises alarm; 4/15/2007
HOUSTON CHRONICLE: As leading lawmakers disagree on whether the state needs to build new prisons, Texas can't fully staff the lockups it has now. Some warn that a chronic shortage of correctional officers poses a danger. "There's a public safety issue with the shortage," said Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, Senate Criminal Justice Committee chairman and Finance Committee member. "I'm told where you need two (correctional officers), you've got one, and sometimes you have none. It means that the public is at risk of a breakout. It means you endanger corrections officers, and you potentially endanger inmates."
Prison staffing causes worries; 4/14/2007
SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS NEWS: As leading lawmakers disagree on whether the state needs to build new prisons, Texas can't fully staff the lockups it has. Some warn a chronic shortage of correctional officers poses a danger. "There's a public safety issue with the shortage," said Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. "I'm told where you need two (correctional officers), you've got one, and sometimes you have none. It means that the public is at risk of a breakout. It means you endanger corrections officers, and you potentially endanger inmates."
Unusual allies in a legal battle over Texas drivers’ guns rights; 4/5/2007
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Keith Patton was driving home one night in February when police officers pulled over his red Ford Explorer for a traffic stop. His license and insurance form were in his gym bag on the floor near the back seat. Under the bag was a .357 Magnum. Mr. Patton, 51, an oil-field geologist, software tester and martial arts instructor from suburban Katy, told the police about the gun, which he said he had bought hours before from a co-worker for target shooting. Moments later, he was handcuffed and on his way to jail, facing a charge of unlicensed carrying of a weapon.
Levin: Prisons don't hold solution to drug problems; 4/04/2007
AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN: No Texan should be fooled into thinking that we need more prisons to keep up with population growth or lock up sex offenders. The real question is whether we need more prisons to lock up more nonviolent drug offenders. Texas incarcerates 20,000 people convicted of possessing illegal drugs, not dealing them. Though our state's population grew 35 percent from 1978 to 2004, our prison system grew 278 percent. Worse, though most Texas prisoners have a substance abuse problem, only 15 percent receive treatment. Texas taxpayers could be asked to spend $420 million to construct three prisons, which would cost another $600 million to operate over 10 years.