For any new system there are unintended consequences. Do you see any here? Will prosecutors be pressured by injured parties to try some cases because of the shortened probation? Might 5 years on probation might be harder to sell than ten? Understanding that change is coming, should we not call for more intermediate sanction facilities? I am probably ignorant but I am unaware of any options outside of jail therapy and prison. The upshot is, as has been flogged to death on this site, if the sanction of revocation goes away, what sanction replaces it? I have used TDC boot camp some but appropriate candidates are few and far between. Boot Camp and drug treatment are more rehabilitative than punitive,and rehabilitation certainly has a place, but what of the punitive component of "punishment?" For the absconder of three years, under some proposals, we would wield the threat of an additional year of probation. Under others, which presume early release, the State would not have a right to be heard in the matter; Judges would understandably want to lessen the load on their probation officers and there would be no way to make a record in opposition to the Court's order of release. Then there are the technical violations of working at the YMCA while on sex offender probation. I know change is coming and I am ready to live with it but I wish the Leg. would replace any arrows they remove from my quiver.

[This message was edited by BLeonard on 04-14-05 at .]

[This message was edited by BLeonard on 04-14-05 at .]

Why is change for the worse inevitable?

I think, if you look at the big picture, that things look good for us, so long as we insist that probation not be weakened or gutted.

Here is what we have in our camp.

1) There is no general groundswell in Texas to go easy on criminals. In fact, it may well be that most Texans think the criminal justice system is too relaxed. Building prisons and making probationers abide by the common sense rules of probation are popular. I have never heard anyone (outside the legislature or newspaper editorial boards) say that money spent on prisons is a big boondoggle.

2) Texas does not spend an inordinate amount on criminal justice. It's my understanding that our current budget appropriates only 6.8 % to public safety and criminal justice. It is one of the smaller accounts. Education gets 42.7% and Health & Human Services gets 33.9%. Business and Econ Development gets 12%--almost twice as much as criminal justice.

3) We have a governor who is not shy about vetoing bad bills.

Of course, none of the above matters if legislators and the governor do not get lots of advice about how bad "probation reform" is from the attorneys who represent their constituents in the criminal courts, i.e. prosecutors. It also requires that prosecutors give their advice in a manner that any good attorney would when advising a client: straight and unvarnished. Then, if they make the wrong decision, it is their problem, and they cannot say later, "But we were told by prosecutors this would be ok."

We need to pay attention to what the legislature is doing, and we need to speak up clearly to our reps and senators, and raise the alarm when dumb ideas that threaten the public (like most of the ideas in "probation reform" do)come up in the legislature.

From what I am hearing out of Austin, it is not a question of if, but how much. They are not going to spend more now on prisons, period. There are too many other areas for spending without regard to the percentage of state budget allocated to TDCJ. I think our position cannot be flat "no;" we get no seat at the table if it is.

We are better off keeping probation as it is, even if that results in more people going to the joint than it can handle, resulting in more inmates being early released, than we are in "reforming" it so that it is less effective. Once probation is "reformed" it will be very difficult to ever fix it again. The statute books are littered with bad ideas, which are never repealed.

In 2 years the leg. will meet again, and they have the chance of coming to grips with the problem they have ignored for the past 4 years, namely the need for more prisons. That is a problem that is much easier fixed than re-fixing probation again.

The legis. lives in its own world up to a point, but eventually they have to meet up with reality. The reality is that the public expects state government's 1st purpose is to protect them from the bad guys. We need to be loud and clear about the effects of weakening probation.

I came across this blog on the Legislature http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/

Lots of thoughts on probation reform.

I have not read the bill, so I have an uneducated question. If 5 years is the maximum length of probation, can that term of probation be extended? If so, for how long?

[This message was edited by Mark Edwards on 05-10-05 at .]

Now that bills have been sent to the floor of the House and Senate, we can see what is coming: eligibility for early release for both sex offenders and drunk drivers (with no minimums); up to two years to shock a felon; eligibility for jury probation for repeat offenders, and so on. i believe most prosecutors will be making fewer probation offers. Other legislation such as the "reforms" of state jail felonies will encourage the defense to demand trials. Overall I forsee a general backlog in the courts and not the prisons.

My investigator keeps talking about if he could be a dictator for just a short time, the first thing he would do is to do away with probation all together. I love democracy, but I am leaning toward joining his coups. He also shares my extreme distate for the famous State Jail "felony", such a misnomer. And don't even get him started on burglars.

You all know that this latest wave is just waiting for some legislator to be a victim of one of these people who are released early or don't get revoked for "technical violations", etc. before there is a renewed hue and cry for a get tough on criminals policy to return. I remember the cry one such legislator made when his firearms were stolen and you mean that is only a State Jail Felony? A "property crime"? But I pontificate, I got to use that word too, so that's all for now folks.