In the news: May 2007
Senate OKs bill to reduce prison need; 5/28/2007
DALLAS MORNING NEWS: A bill that permits early release for certain prison inmates and gives those on parole a chance to shorten their terms passed the Senate on Sunday, but it may not make it to a House vote today before the Legislature adjourns. The bill, crafted by Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, and Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Richardson, aims to reduce prison populations and keep the state from having to build new lockups. It also calls for a Sunset Advisory Commission review of the state's criminal justice agencies within four years – instead of the requisite 12 – "largely because of all the new programs funded in the budget," Mr. Whitmire said.
TDCJ sunset passes; 5/28/2007
AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN: A day-long drama over whether the reauthorization of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice would derail in the Texas House just ended. Result: Approval, 144-0. Earlier in the day, parliamentary points of order had been placed on both the conference committee report for Senate Bill 909, the TDCJ sunset bill, and a separate catch-all bill that would have reauthorized the agency of the sunset bill failed. The death of both bills would have meant the prisons agency would have to go out of business, and questions about the validity of the points of order by Reps. Robert Talton and Delwin Jones had kept legislative leaders nail-biting all afternoon.
Prison reform as method; 5/23/2007
AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN: The Texas Legislature appears well on its way toward enacting significant and welcome change to meet society's obligation and need to punish lawbreakers without breaking the treasury and turning minor offenders into major criminals. The session began with state officials proposing at least 12,000 more prison beds by 2012, at a cost of $520 million to build three prisons and fund drug- and alcohol-treatment programs. Construction costs are only the first expense; prisons must have guards 24 hours a day, seven days a week; prisoners must be fed and clothed, and they must get medical care.
Parole, rehab proposal gets House support; 5/22/07
AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN: A linchpin of the most significant changes in Texas' criminal justice system in more than a decade was approved Monday by the Texas House, including a new legislative panel to monitor whether rehabilitation reforms are working. The House version of Senate Bill 909 — called the sunset measure for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles because it continues the operations of those two agencies past next September — establishes a process under which low-risk offenders can be freed from parole and probation early if they do well and do not commit new crimes.
Texas short on guards as lawmakers mull new prisons; 5/22/07
AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN: The repeated staccato cries of "Oosh! Oosh!" echo through the tall East Texas pines from inside a low one-story modular building. "No matter how big you are or how strong you are, here's the place where you hit somebody," training officer Louis Garcia tells about 40 men and women in workout clothes. "Trace your ribs up to your sternum, take your knuckle and knock on it. On this sternum, no meat grows. "That's where we punch." Jabbing at a nonexistent opponent, the group responds, crying out with each thrust of their arms and hands.
Amon and McLemore: Curb HIV infection rates in Texas prisons; 5/10/2007
AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN: "The Bible people come to the prisons once a month. Let the condom people come in once a month. The purpose is the same — to save lives." Last month, Texas State Representative Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) spoke these words to the House Committee on Corrections in support of his bill permitting community organizations to distribute condoms in Texas prisons. In the United States, more than two-thirds of all new HIV infections occur among minorities. And because of the increasing imprisonment of drug users, and the disproportionate incarceration of minorities, the number of people with HIV or AIDS behind bars in the U.S. is more than three times higher than in the general population.
Treating prisoners could save money, study says; 5/09/2007
AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN: Texas could save more than $493 million during the next four years if new drug-treatment and community programs for convicted felons are adopted, new estimates from a private think tank suggest. The forecast by the Texas Public Policy Foundation bolsters the arguments of Senate and House criminal justice committees that have endorsed pending legislation to drastically expand the number of treatment, probation and community-based rehabilitation programs as an alternative to building new prisons. Even so, the Senate version of the budget bill includes funding for three new prisons in the proposed budget — at a cost of more than $1 billion over the next decade, including $233.4 million to build and $750 million to operate. The House-passed version has no funding for new prisons.
Let non-violent felons vote; 5/08/2007
DAILY TEXAN: The words "convicted felon" can leave an awful ring in our ears. According to the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, one in 11 Texans is a felon. And although the majority of those felons have committed nonviolent crimes, they've all been denied the right to vote. Thousands of acts carry felony charges, including stealing cable service and electrocuting fish. Spraying graffiti is a felony offense if property damage totals more than $1,500 or if it is done to a church, cemetery, community center or fence enclosing a commercial cattle farm. TCJC estimates there are nearly 20,000 inmates serving time for drug offenses in Texas, about 5,000 of whom were sentenced for possessing small quantities.
Senate budget tightens the purse strings; 5/06/2007
HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Buffeted by a public outcry over toll roads, parks and the Texas Youth Commission, the Senate is seeking to better control state agencies by tightening funding strings. Whether the House will agree to rein them in as much will be a key area of negotiation as the two chambers try to resolve differences in a budget that will top $150 billion for the next two years. "Over the years, the Legislature has been somewhat lazy and somewhat asleep," said Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, Senate Finance Committee chairman. "My last election was a wake-up call for me." Ogden, who got nearly 62 percent of the vote in November but expected to do at least 10 points better, said, "People weren't coming out to vote against me, they just weren't coming out to vote. ...