JaniceG260
04-11-2003, 07:07 PM
By STATE REP. JOSEPH DESHOTEL
Earlier this month, a new report showed that states could actually save money while implementing common-sense criminal justice policies that could help reduce crime. That's good news for Texas, a state with a massive $10 billion shortfall and more people under the control of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice than live in the city of Austin.
According to the report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, nonviolent, drug-addicted offenders achieved significantly lower re-arrest rates and higher employment rates through drug treatment programs than comparable offenders who were sent to prison. The five-year study found that participants who completed an alternative drug treatment program were 33 percent less likely to be arrested, 45 percent less likely to be reconvicted and 87 percent less likely to return to prison than the comparable group that was sent to prison instead of treatment. And these rates were achieved at about half the cost of incarceration.
Reflecting the findings of this new report, a series of bills was filed in the Texas Legislature that proposed sensible criminal justice policies designed to lower corrections spending while protecting public safety. By diverting nonviolent drug offenders from expensive prisons into more effective treatment programs, the state can free up money needed for other needs such as medical care, schools and roads. The proposals include slight reductions in the criminal penalties for certain nonviolent crimes, diversion to treatment and giving low-risk inmates full credit for good-time credits earned in prison. With the savings from these common-sense policies, the state could fund sensible treatment and supervision programs such as drug courts.
Spending more than $2.5 billion annually on its prison system, Texas can't afford to waste any more money on an ineffective approach. Texas prisons grew faster than any other system in the country during the 1990s, adding nearly one out of every five prisoners to the nation's prison boom. One out of every 21 adults in Texas is either in prison or jail or on probation or parole, an extraordinary level of government control over its citizenry. There are now about 77,000 people imprisoned in Texas for nonviolent crimes.
The situation is worse for African-Americans. The incarceration rate for African-Americans in Texas is seven times the rate of whites. Nearly one out of every three African-American men in their 20s in Texas is under some form of criminal justice control. These numbers reflect ineffective public policies, and deep-seeded and disturbing attitudes toward people of color in our state. For example, Harris County is responsible for incarcerating more than half of the state's drug offenders. On April 1, the spokesman for the Harris County district attorney testified before the House Corrections Committee that Latino people have "cultural ideas about the use of some of these substances [that is] far different from the normal overall Texas point of view." He also indicated that the best approach to dealing with those people is incarceration while dealing with white offenders -- or, as he put it, people who look like him -- is treatment.
Other states have already responded to their fiscal crises by implementing less expensive and more effective corrections policies. Louisiana, with one of the highest incarceration rates in the country, eliminated some of its mandatory sentencing laws and returned discretion to judges. And the Republican-controlled Legislature in Michigan recently abolished mandatory sentences for drug offenders, a bill that Republican Gov. John Engler signed in December.
Moments of crises can be opportunities for important reforms and changes. During this fiscal budget crunch, Texas has a unique opportunity to reduce wasteful spending on a broken corrections system and implement policies that will actually reduce crime. This session, the Texas Legislature must take these important steps to reduce crime in our state.
Earlier this month, a new report showed that states could actually save money while implementing common-sense criminal justice policies that could help reduce crime. That's good news for Texas, a state with a massive $10 billion shortfall and more people under the control of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice than live in the city of Austin.
According to the report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, nonviolent, drug-addicted offenders achieved significantly lower re-arrest rates and higher employment rates through drug treatment programs than comparable offenders who were sent to prison. The five-year study found that participants who completed an alternative drug treatment program were 33 percent less likely to be arrested, 45 percent less likely to be reconvicted and 87 percent less likely to return to prison than the comparable group that was sent to prison instead of treatment. And these rates were achieved at about half the cost of incarceration.
Reflecting the findings of this new report, a series of bills was filed in the Texas Legislature that proposed sensible criminal justice policies designed to lower corrections spending while protecting public safety. By diverting nonviolent drug offenders from expensive prisons into more effective treatment programs, the state can free up money needed for other needs such as medical care, schools and roads. The proposals include slight reductions in the criminal penalties for certain nonviolent crimes, diversion to treatment and giving low-risk inmates full credit for good-time credits earned in prison. With the savings from these common-sense policies, the state could fund sensible treatment and supervision programs such as drug courts.
Spending more than $2.5 billion annually on its prison system, Texas can't afford to waste any more money on an ineffective approach. Texas prisons grew faster than any other system in the country during the 1990s, adding nearly one out of every five prisoners to the nation's prison boom. One out of every 21 adults in Texas is either in prison or jail or on probation or parole, an extraordinary level of government control over its citizenry. There are now about 77,000 people imprisoned in Texas for nonviolent crimes.
The situation is worse for African-Americans. The incarceration rate for African-Americans in Texas is seven times the rate of whites. Nearly one out of every three African-American men in their 20s in Texas is under some form of criminal justice control. These numbers reflect ineffective public policies, and deep-seeded and disturbing attitudes toward people of color in our state. For example, Harris County is responsible for incarcerating more than half of the state's drug offenders. On April 1, the spokesman for the Harris County district attorney testified before the House Corrections Committee that Latino people have "cultural ideas about the use of some of these substances [that is] far different from the normal overall Texas point of view." He also indicated that the best approach to dealing with those people is incarceration while dealing with white offenders -- or, as he put it, people who look like him -- is treatment.
Other states have already responded to their fiscal crises by implementing less expensive and more effective corrections policies. Louisiana, with one of the highest incarceration rates in the country, eliminated some of its mandatory sentencing laws and returned discretion to judges. And the Republican-controlled Legislature in Michigan recently abolished mandatory sentences for drug offenders, a bill that Republican Gov. John Engler signed in December.
Moments of crises can be opportunities for important reforms and changes. During this fiscal budget crunch, Texas has a unique opportunity to reduce wasteful spending on a broken corrections system and implement policies that will actually reduce crime. This session, the Texas Legislature must take these important steps to reduce crime in our state.