Recommendation 5: Texas should restructure its criminal penalty levels.
Texas should reduce the length of sentences for low-level, non-violent drug offenses – which could ultimately save the State millions of dollars each year and provide more effective protection of public safety.
· Possession of less than one gram of a controlled substance should be a misdemeanor rather than a felony.
· Between 4 grams and 28 grams (an ounce) of a controlled substance should carry a maximum of 10 years in prison for possession rather than 20 years, and a maximum of 20 years in prison for manufacturing or distributing, rather than the current maximum of life in prison.
· Offenders with 4 grams of a drug should be distinguished from more serious offenders with 200 grams. Rather than the current penalty range that applies to all offenders possessing 4 grams to 200 grams, a new category should be created to apply to offenders possessing 4 to 56 grams (two ounces).
· Possession of the smallest amounts of marijuana – less than two ounces – should be a fine-only Class C misdemeanor, instead of carrying jail time as a Class B misdemeanor.
Texas should also reduce the length of sentences for other low-level, non-violent offenses.
· An individual’s third petty theft offense should be a misdemeanor, rather than a felony. Or, as an alternative, there should be a minimum value attached to theft convictions (e.g., $500), to ensure that the smallest $1 theft does not become a felony.
· All graffiti offenses should be misdemeanors, unless the offense was committed on certain types of buildings currently designated by statue.
· All prostitution offenses should be misdemeanors, instead of having a mandatory felony enhancement for repeat offenders.
· Essentially, judges and juries should have the discretion to apply penalty enhancements, instead of having mandatory penalty enhancements based on the offender’s criminal record or due to an offender re-using drugs.
Finally, Texas should dramatically overhaul the Texas probation system by reducing the lengths of probation terms – which are sometimes as long as 10 years in length in Texas.
· Extremely long probation terms increase the chance that probationers will eventually fail to meet their rules of supervision and face a technical revocation (e.g., failure to pay a fee), even if they have made serious long-term improvement in their lives.
Instead: locally tailored, swift, certain, and graduated systems of sanctions, appropriate to the severity and frequency of the violation, should be created for each probation violation. This system should involve written probation procedures with recommended responses to each probation violation.
· Furthermore, judges should evaluate their procedures for dealing with probation violation and conduct judicial reviews during probation terms.
Ultimately, if Texas would shorten its maximum probation terms to be more in line with the rest of the country and release people from probation after they have successfully made serious long-term changes in their lives, then our probation officers could carry fewer cases at a time. Our system could become stronger and more responsive to those probationers who require more personal attention in order to succeed.