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April 27, 2005
Whitmire Leads Efforts on CJ/Prison Reform
The Austin American-Statesman reports that sweeping reforms in the Texas criminal justice and probation system will be unveiled this week. Houston's own Senate CJ Committee chief, Senator John Whitmire (SD15) and House Corrections Committee chair Jerry Madden have been able to craft a draft proposal after negotiations with DAs, judges and probation officials.
The main goal of this reform is to avoid building new prisons. Because of current criminal justice law, the prison population is growing at a rate that would require the state to build another six prisons in the next five years at a cost of almost $300 million. There are better options, especially options that will save the state money, while assuring, as Whitmire says, a plan that is "tough on crime" and "smart on crime."
The following are among the proposals in the draft:
*Limiting probation for felony crimes to five years, from a maximum 10 years currently, with an option for judges to extend that time. Probation for state jail felonies — generally nonviolent, lesser crimes — would be reduced from five years to three years.
•Giving judges more flexibility in imposing sentences aimed at changing offenders' lives, including setting conditions that must be complied with in a particular order, such as completion of drug treatment, followed by community service time, followed by other community-based self-help programs.
•Allowing judges to terminate probation early for offenders who change their ways.
•Encouraging the use of community-based corrections initiatives, such as short trips to jail and proven programs to get offenders to stop using drugs and drinking, as a way to change patterns of criminal behavior at the local level rather than in a state prison.
•Leaving intact laws on deferred adjudication. Senate leaders had discussed abolishing deferred adjudication, under which a criminal charge can be dismissed once a person completes probation, but Whitmire said that idea proved controversial and has been dropped.
Whitmire said the draft Senate plan would give local community justice councils more say in crafting local probation plans by limiting community service time to 40 hours annually to make it an attainable goal and would remove mandates on judges in how they sentence offenders to probation.
* In addition, the Senate draft would allow judges to release state jail felons early from incarceration for good behavior. Those sentences are for a flat two years now.
Senator Whitmire has proven himself an effective legislator during the 79th Session on this issue. Contact your state elected officials and ask them to support the initiatives that have been developed to reduce the prison population, reduce costs, and ultimately, reduce crime and recidivism, thus assuring the opportunity for ex-offenders to re-enter the "real world" and become good, productive tax-paying citizens.
Posted by Stace Medellin at April 27, 2005 06:06 AM | Permalink
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Comments
Some of you have been following the fallout from the Police State in living color at the Haliburton Demonstrations on May 18. The HPD, with 30 mounted officers turned on the people, peacefully marching, chanting and demonstrating in the designated caged areas on the sidewalks and and park adjacent to the Four Seasons Hotel. All this while providing personal escort service to Haliburton shareholders traversing to their meeting in the hotel. It was well covered today in the Houston Press, May 25 issue. Even better covered by our only real media outlet with still photos and video footage of the brutality against the people in progress, www.HoustonIndymedia.org. Not a word of coverage on the speakers at City Council on the issue on May 24. Some coverage of a brief statement about an "investigation" from the Mayor on the early news May 24, with footage of mounted officers pumelling and trampling peaceful demonstrators in the background. Strangely, this major civil liberties issue was displaced by more important fire and wreck stories on the later news across the local TV spectrum. But, the bad news is that it appears that the investigation might be provided.......yes, you guessed it, by the Internal Affairs division of the very Police department who instigated this brutal assault on the rights and bodies of patriotic citizens expressing their outrage at the war profiteering by our very own Haliburton Corp. Yes, Boopsey, the fix and Whitewash is in at the HPD with the proverbial fox guarding the hen house syndrome for which the HPD is infamous, led by our very own Mayor Bill White. CopWatch and ACLU, we need you.
Mayor White, your Police State is in full view.
Posted by: stan merriman at May 25, 2005 05:22 PM