For years, in the great tradition of Texas Sheriff’s, Judges, and D.A.’s, politicians have campaigned on the slogan that they will be “tough on crime”. And they certainly have been. Texas ranks right near the top in total incarcerations as well as per capita incarcerations. But in the last few years, because even conservatives have noticed that Texas has a revolving door of inmates going into prison, cycling out and then going back to prison, we’ve concluded that what we’ve been doing is not working. So, the new cry is “get smart on crime”. In many ways this is a step in the right direction. We’re seeing more and more non violent crimes being relegated to alternative adjudication and lesser sentences. And now, because of the state budget shortfall we’re seeing a dramatic proposal in the state criminal justice system.
From the Grits for Breakfast Blog this comes:
For the first time last week, legislators began publicly considering legislation that would actually, significantly reduce the prison population, though by tinkering with parole mechanisms on the back end instead of tackling the overall sentencing structure.
The House Corrections Committee on Monday heard legislation from state Rep. Alma Allen, HB 2352, that along with legislation proposed by state Sen. John Whitmire, would significantly reduce Texas’ prison population and reduce caseloads for the parole board by removing one of the grounds for setting off offenders for release on “mandatory supervision.” (Watch the hearing here, beginning at the 1:04 mark.) The bill doesn’t apply to so-called “3G” or serious, violent offenses, and the parole board could still deny release if they determine that “the inmate’s release would endanger the public.”
Requiring the automatic release of offenders is expected to result in decreased demands upon the correctional resources of the State due to shorter terms of confinement in prison. In fiscal year 2010, 8,594 offenders were discharged from prison and after removing from that group those ineligible for release to mandatory supervision, 5,506 of those offenders would be subject to the provisions of the bill. Of the 5,506 offenders subject to the provisions of the bill, 805 offenders accrued no good time and would still be subject to discharge release leaving 4,701 offenders released to mandatory supervision and serving shorter terms of incarceration (approximately 3.21 years). It is likely a substantial number of currently incarcerated offenders would be released as a result of the bill but the number would be contingent on the amount of good time accrued and time served by these offenders on the effective date of the bill, and the ability of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to process offenders for release.
Keep in mind, of course, that even if they’re “set off” another time or two, most of these folks will be getting out soon, anyway. In fact, if they serve 100% of their time, when they leave there is no state supervision at all upon reentry. About 72,000+ prisoners leave TDCJ each year, about half of them with no community supervision by parole officers at all.
In any event, going forward this legislation would decrease demand for prison capacity by thousands of prisoners each year (10,000+ annually by the 4th and 5th year) who have not been determined to “endanger the public.” Chairman Jerry Madden laid out the legislation in Rep. Allen’s absence, declaring that, if the state must reduce its prison population as a result of cuts in HB 1, this is one of the safest ways to do it. The fiscal note says Allen’s bill would save $124 million over the next biennium, and much more in the out-years. Combined with Sen. Whitmire’s legislation, the two bills would save more than $270 million over the next biennium – much more in the out years. Still not as much as needed to make all the budget numbers work, but a good start, if they’ll do it.
If passed, the results of this bill are questionable. If prisoners were low risk, why were they sentenced to longer sentences in the first place? And if they are released early many of the same issues will exist with their reentry. Programs in prison that were to help offenders make the transition back to the free world will be cut, thus making an already iffy system even more problematic. And issues of job training, employment, housing, drug and alcohol rehabilitation will continue to plague the ex-offender and society at large. In the last legislature a bill was passed removing the prohibition of licensing for ex-offenders in certain fields of endeavor. It was vetoed by the governor. That bill, would cost little or nothing to administer and would open job opportunities that the ex-offender either had before incarceration or that he/she could qualify for because of training in prison or on the outside. So, we’re still not very smart about crime. We continue to bury our heads in the sand. On the other hand the legislature is seriously considering passing a bill to allow students and faculty at Texas universities to carry concealed handguns. I guess that’s the Texas answer to being smart about crime.
And access to jobs continues to be an issue under proposal before the legislature. Until Texas really gets smart about crime, bills such as the one proposed for early release will do little to cut the recidivism rate and help ex-offenders mainstream into society. The issue of how we deal with the criminal justice system is an issue that affects all our congregations. Will there be TMO leaders who are angry and passionate about this issue to work to create a constituency for criminal justice reform? Are there members of our congregations who are willing to tell stories about the pain caused by family members who are incarcerated or who have paid their debt to society but still are branded as pariah? And what about all the victims of crime, past, present, or future who still live in fear that their neighborhoods are still not safe? So the big question remains, are you safe?
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