January 04, 2007, 15:24
Gordon LeMaireRehab
Rehab pushed in prison debate
Key legislators resisting department's call for three more units
Thursday, January 4, 2007
By EMILY RAMSHAW
The Dallas Morning News
Texas prisons are packed, and state corrections officials are urging the Legislature to build three units. But traditionally tough-on-crime lawmakers appear ready to take a different approach � rehabilitation.
Legislators at the forefront of the debate say they can meet a projected shortfall of 11,000 beds in 2011 by moving thousands of low-level or parole-ready prison inmates into supervised community programs and by bolstering substance-abuse programs to free up beds held by minor drug and alcohol offenders.
Texas prisons already hold 151,000 inmates, and the state is short 3,500 corrections officers. Adding prisons isn't cost effective, these lawmakers say, and doesn't get to the root of the problem.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice "has fewer and fewer allies as the facts get out," said Sen. John Whitmire, the Houston Democrat who chairs the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.
"We're at a crossroads," he said. "There's a strong consensus to do things differently, to continue being tough, but to be smart about inmates who need a different kind of treatment."
Corrections officials say they are already working to bolster treatment programs and provide housing alternatives for low-risk inmates. They want more money for in-house substance abuse treatment facilities, halfway houses, mental health services and local community supervision programs, some of which were slashed in 2003 budget cuts.
But even with such solutions, the officials argue, new penitentiaries are unavoidable. The state needs two new general-population prisons and another emphasizing alcohol treatment to house a combined 5,000 inmates, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice says.
"We're not just suggesting building new prison units � we're looking for ways to transition them back into society," said Michelle Lyons, an agency spokeswoman.
A push to expand the state's prison system nearly a decade ago tripled capacity to more than 150,000. Already, the state has more inmates than it can manage and is contracting with county jails to house inmates � the result of rising conviction rates, longer sentences and declining parole approval rates in that time period, according to a state Sunset Commission report on the prison system.
"It's not an ideal situation. We would like to be able to house the inmates in our own custody," Ms. Lyons said. The new prisons, "coupled with the expansions of existing programs, are what we're looking to do to alleviate capacity issues."
Formidable opposition
But corrections officials have a formidable � and bipartisan � opposition. Rep. Jerry Madden, the Plano Republican who serves as Mr. Whitmire's counterpart on the House Committee on Corrections, jokes that the two unlikely bedfellows are an "allied front � the compassionate Republican and the fiscally responsible Democrat."
Both say they fear pouring money into new prisons just to watch them fill � what Mr. Madden calls the "build it and they will come" phenomenon. They're ready to take a more progressive, preventive approach, they say.
Low-level, nonviolent inmates could be placed in intensely monitored community probation programs, instead of left in prison, Mr. Madden said. There are 900 inmates currently approved for parole, he said, but not enough halfway houses to hold them.
"We need to think about what the alternatives are for people you and I are not afraid of," he said. "That's giving them assistance to straighten out their lives."
Another option? Getting imprisoned drunken drivers and other drug offenders into treatment programs, Mr. Whitmire said, instead of letting them take up general population prison beds. According to the Sunset Commission report, nearly 60 percent of inmates have a chemical dependency but only 5 percent are admitted to substance abuse programs in prison. In some cases, they can't be released without finishing the rehabilitation program � but the waiting lists are six months or longer.
There are about 5,500 inmates with drunken-driving convictions "housed with murderers and rapists," Mr. Whitmire said. "The easiest thing in the world would be to just build another prison. You have a whole damn prison you could release tomorrow."
Vowing to stay tough
Corrections and parole officials say it's not that cut-and-dried.
Even with improvements in rehabilitation and shorter waiting lists for programs, officials say, more prison space will be needed within four years. And many of those inmates aren't ready for supervised release into the community, they say � which is why it hasn't happened yet.
And in Texas, where criminal justice trends have included tougher penalties and longer minimum sentences, some experts say a more flexible parole and probation system might not be politically palatable.
But legislators say their proposals are anything but a softie approach to criminal justice. When it comes to murderers, rapists and child molesters, Mr. Madden said, "we'll lock them up and throw away the key."
But they firmly believe these efforts will cut costs in the long run without jeopardizing safety. According to the Sunset Commission report, a combination of inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation programs could result in 2,000 fewer incarcerations a year and save $31.9 million annually. It would also delay the need for new prisons, the report says � which rack up hundreds of millions of dollars in debt service bills and annual staffing and maintenance costs.
"The tragedy, during the buildup, was that we did not provide more funds for rehabilitation," said Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas. "Now we end up with prisoners who, upon their release, are no more skilled, but meaner and tougher than when they entered."
Legislators say they plan to start working out the appropriations details this month, as well as designing a bill to fix an ailing parole and probation system. They're asking corrections officials to reconsider their request for new prisons.
Ms. Lyons said agency officials are ready to come to the table. They just don't want to find themselves out of beds in 2011.
"Hopefully, we won't find ourselves in that situation," she said. "Everyone in the game knows what the challenges are and realizes we have a capacity issue."
Maybe it's just karma, but I am in the process of indicting three cases (all within the last week) where the darlings barely got out/started probation before they reoffended. How is rehab any good for these guys?January 06, 2007, 18:52
JBHey, there has not even been a bill presented, so how can the issue be decided? It is typical for legislators to make many bold announcements before and during the session. But that's a long way from passing a bill.
Similar statements were made last session, resulting in a bill that was vetoed by the Governor. We need to continue doing our part -- speaking out to newspapers, radio and television and contacting our state reps and senators and participating through TDCAA in the legislative process.
The legislative process really is an amazing trip and well worth seeing. C'mon, give Shannon a call. He is just sitting in his office, lonely, and waiting for someone to tell him what needs to be done.
If you have a "darling" who would make a great poster child for what's wrong with early release, it is simple to contact a local reporter and ask them to do a story. I did so with a "nonviolent" drug dealer who was paroled out of a 60-year prison sentence, only to be re-caught and reparoled. Makes for a great example.
January 08, 2007, 15:59
Shannon Edmondsquote:
Originally posted by JB:
C'mon, give Shannon a call. He is just sitting in his office, lonely, and waiting for someone to tell him what needs to be done.
Thanks, John B., but I'm already married, so consider that position filled.
Oh, you mean
legislatively. In that case, yes, I am always eager to have more help riding herd on all these bills. Austin is lovely this time of year, so y'all come on down and see what's what!

January 09, 2007, 11:24
RTCIt seems to me that there was overwhelming support during the last session for probation reform / early release. If anything, due to the last election results, support has only gotten stronger and seems to be more than enough to override any vote (at least by my count). So running up to Austin to voice complaints seems to be a waste of time.
It seems to me the better thing to do is to try to get ahead of the ball and make some suggestions on how best to do the reforms. Simply arguing against early release is a losing bet since all you are going to do is turn everybody off and ALL of your arguments will be ignored. But if you argue in favor of early release - but with certain exceptions that are REASONABLE and in keeping with the theme of reform - people will be more open to what we have to say.
The rock bottom line is that no new prisons will be built - period! So we need to make constructive suggestions on how best to use what little we've got. Otherwise the Leg. will just ignore us (like last time) and they'll do whatever they want to do.
January 09, 2007, 11:39
GretchenThe point is that we deserve to be a part of the process as well. The point is the big fat I TOLD YOU SO when everyone who isn't involved in the system seems to think they understand the realities faced within the system, goes along with what's popular, and it still doesn't work.
I think you're right to the extent that we have to present reasonable solutions for our own credibility's sake. But we also can't just give up on what's important and what we believe just so that we will be listened to. If you tell them what they want to hear, of course they'll listen. It takes fortitude to stand up for what you believe in. The difficulty being, of course, that not everyone agrees on the proper solution, and not everyone can be happy with the result.
Not that prosecutors ever disagree, of course. I've NEVER seen that before...

January 09, 2007, 13:25
JBWell, RTC, you sound pretty sure nothing will happen with prison construction. But, that's why sometimes you hear legislators making such pronouncements early in the process. They look to scare off anyone from coming to Austin and daring to disagree.
As a policy of prison population management, I personally don't think early release is ever appropriate. And that's what some legislators want to use it for.
The "system" doesn't need yet another re-write that moves the game pieces around. It needs financial support for the programs that are supposed to be used within the current system. An example is the state jail felony.
The state jail division no longer exists in law. It was superceded, through an amendment of the Adminstrative Code, to consolidate it into the prison system, all of it being now called "Correctional Institutions Division.
There is no longer a state jail director. So no one promotes programs in state jails.
There are virtually no programs in state jails. Almost no treatment. So, they have become virtual county jails.
So, why should we buy into yet another new system, that will likely follow a similar path?
Let's re-invest in what already exists. Promote the good work that should be going on in state jails. Put back the programs. Add the treatment.
Otherwise, it will all end in yet another round of early releases and rising crime rate.