In the news: March 2006
Prison overcrowding back on agenda; 3/23/2006
SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS NEWS: Ten years after Texas legislators went on a prison-building binge to ease overcrowding, the issue is back — a big sign that something bigger is wrong with the corrections system and needs to be fixed, criminal justice groups said Wednesday. The House Committee on Corrections heard testimony from more than 10 organizations, including the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, to gather ideas and discuss ways to alleviate overcrowding in the state's prison system. Texas had to reduce the overflow of prisoners in the 1990s because of a federal court order, nearly tripling the number of inmate beds.
Citizens address corrections system concerns; 3/23/2006
THE DAILY TEXAN: Invited speakers and other concerned citizens from across the state voiced their concerns about the Texas criminal justice system Wednesday at a Texas House Committee on Corrections hearing. Issues raised included student and staff safety at juvenile detention centers, the overcrowding of jails across Texas and methods to reintegrate inmates into society upon release. Ana Yanez-Correa, the executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, stressed the importance of changing methods for treating nonviolent offenders. According to Yanez-Correa, one of every 20 adults in Texas is in prison, on probation or on parole.
Officials, advocacy groups call for probation reform; 3/22/2006
STAR TELEGRAM: Even though Gov. Rick Perry vetoed legislation last year designed to ease restrictions on nonviolent offenders who are placed on probation, lawmakers should try again to pass similar legislation to reduce prison crowding and help rehabilitate low-level lawbreakers, a legislative panel was told Wednesday. The House Corrections Committee heard testimony from probation officials and advocacy groups who said that closer monitoring of probationers and treatment programs for people with substance abuse problems have gone a long way to keep nonviolent offenders from straying. “Texas cannot sustain a broken probation system and the escalating cost of prison overcrowding,” said Ana Yanez Correa, who heads the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, a watchdog group that monitors trends in prison, parole and probation policies.
Mentor program aims to steer inmates’ kids to different path; 3/20/2006
SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS NEWS: A new joint effort might not only change the lives of thousands of children, it might make Texas a new role model. Gov. Rick Perry awarded Big Brothers Big Sisters of Texas a $3.78 million grant March 9 for Amachi Texas, a program designed to help children of incarcerated parents by pairing them with a mentor. The goal for the 20-month program is to help 1,300 children through one-on-one mentoring and to deter them from a lifestyle that could propel them to prison, like their parents.