July 2007 in the News
Crowded private prisons are troubling for governments; 7/28/2007
SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS NEWS: The silence that greeted the Idaho Department of Correction's recent call for 1,100 private prison beds was further proof of what its director already knew. "It's a seller's market. There just aren't any beds across the nation," said Brent Reinke, whose request netted one offer of 240 beds at a lockup near Dallas. He accepted. Private facilities, either owned by for-profit companies or governments that contract out their management, for years have become an increasingly important relief valve for public systems at or near capacity.
Capital punishment on decline in county; 7/24/2007
HOUSTON CHRONICLE: For more than two decades Harris County has been to the death penalty what Saudi Arabia is to oil. Save for a couple of lean years, when prosecutions were stalled for legal reasons, it has done more than its share to keep the Texas death row full and the execution chamber busy. On Tuesday night Harris County hit the century mark in executions, which places it ahead of any other state — not county, but state — in the nation. Virginia is close with 98, but the gap will only widen. Of the 380 Texas inmates awaiting execution, Harris County can claim almost a third of them. But a strange thing has happened in the numbers game.
Smart on crime; 7/16/2007
HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Substance abuse and addiction are glaring drivers of the criminal justice system. Of an estimated $38 billion spent in the United States on criminal corrections in 1996, more than $30 billion was spent incarcerating those with a history of substance abuse or those who committed crimes related to substance abuse. For more than three decades, substance abuse treatment has been identified as critical to reducing this cost and preventing recidivism. Texas has taken a giant step toward providing treatment to all in the state criminal justice system who need it.
Consultants recommend 250-bed expansion to jail; 7/10/2007
MIDLAND REPORTER/TELEGRAM: Consultants share tips for reducing inmate population that include alternative sentencing, establishment of a drug court and purchase of software to improve efficiency of justice system. Based on current trends Midland County will need a jail that can house up to 650 inmates within a decade, but by following recommendations from a consulting firm hired to study jail overcrowding the number of new beds needed could be reduced to 150, the Commissioners' Court was told Monday.
Suicide Exposes Squalor in Texas Prison; 7/07/2007
ABC NEWS: After months alone in his cell, Scot Noble Payne finished 20 pages of letters, describing to loved ones the decrepit conditions of the prison where he was serving time for molesting a child. Then Payne used a razor blade to slice two 3-inch gashes in his throat. Guards found his body in the cell's shower, with the water still running. "Try to comfort my mum too and try to get her to see that I am truly happy again," he wrote his uncle. "I tell you, it sure beats having water on the floor 24/7, a smelly pillow case, sheets with blood stains on them and a stinky towel that hasn't been changed since they caught me."
New jailers work without training; 7/5/2005
DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Dozens of newly hired Dallas County jail guards are going straight to work, supervising inmates for months before undergoing any formal training or taking the state's licensing exam. Though officials say there have been no incidents attributed to the untrained guards, the practice of immediately putting them in contact with inmates is considered by some experts to be potentially dangerous – and costly. The practice is legal: Temporary jailer licenses from the state allow recruits as young as 18 to work inside jails while they await a spot in a training academy. A sheriff's department has one year to get them trained and certified as jailers.
Perry axes 49 bills; 7/05/2007
EAST TEXAS REVIEW: Gov. Rick Perry exercised his constitutional duty as governor this past weekend in vetoing dozens of bills adopted by the 80th Legislature. Yet of the 1,481 bills passed this session, Perry vetoed only 49. Compared to what he’s done in past sessions, he went easy on victims. Here’s a look at what made the chopping block: Budget Perry signed the $151 billion state budget for fiscal year 2008-09 and used his line item veto power to cut $650 million in what he called “unnecessary spending.” However, his line item veto totaling $297 million for the Health and Health Services budget is money that must be paid to the federal government.
Texas prisons brace for task of monitoring inmates' expanded phone privileges; 7/02/2007
DALLAS MORNING NEWS: AUSTIN – Legislators have agreed to give the state's prison inmates greater access to phones. Now comes the hard part: making sure convicts won't be dialing numbers to harass victims or commit more crimes. State prison officials say that is the primary challenge of equipping the nation's second-largest prison system –with more than 154,000 inmates – with a new pay telephone system. Inmates can only call people on approved lists, and all calls must be monitored under the new law. "That's going to be a huge job, like keeping track of all the calls in a city the size of Waco," said John Moriarty, the prison system's inspector general.
After years of resistance, Texas prisons answer call for inmate phones; 7/01/2007
AMERICAN-STATESMAN: For decades, top Texas officials predicted the worst if convicts in the nation's second-largest prison system were given broader access to telephones: riots, contract murders, drug smuggling, harassment of victims. The fears scuttled several attempts by telephone industry lobbyists to launch toll-call services like those operated in other states. So clear was the opposition that candidates for Texas governor once pledged never to allow phones. Texas inmates have been allowed one five-minute call every 90 days for good behavior.