Criminal Law

Geo Group's purchase of Houston private prison company leaves it highly leveraged

Posted on August 15, 2010
I noticed recent news that the Geo Group, a private prison company which has been expanding aggressively in Texas, saw its earnings increase last quarter not because its operations became more profitable but because they purchased yet another competitor, this time the Houston-based Cornell Group...

Red-light cameras make intersections near my home more dangerous

Posted on August 13, 2010
I've lived in central East Austin for the past 20 years, so when the City of Austin installed red-light cameras the two closest to me (and through which I frequently pass) were at MLK/I-35 and 15th/I-35. And at both those intersections, it turns out, traffic accidents increased significantly after red-light cameras were installed...

Exoneree's choice: Take state compensation or roll the dice in court

Posted on August 13, 2010
The New York Times has a feature on the dilemma facing Michael A. Green, a recent exoneree out of Harris County who "whether to take a $2.2 million compensation payment from the State of Texas or file a civil lawsuit in the hope of exposing the truth about the investigation that led to his incarceration...

Graffiti Abatement: Murals target tagging hotspots

Posted on August 13, 2010
Denver is experimenting with grants to local arts programs to create murals at graffiti hotspots, reports the Denver Post ("Programs give graffiti arts a legitimate outlet," Aug. 13):Aimed at reclaiming graffiti hot spots from taggers, these urban-arts programs are among 12 that have just received grants, ranging from $500 to $7,500, from the Denver Office of Urban Affairs...

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Correction: Insuring unlicensed drivers

Posted on August 12, 2010
Thanks to the reader who alerted me via email to an error I've been making fairly routinely when discussing the Driver Responsibility Program, including I fear in testimony earlier this week to the House Public Safety Committee. I've mentioned several times that insurance companies won't write policies to unlicensed drivers, arguing that when the state revoked licenses under the Driver Responsibility Program, it is increasing the number of uninsured drivers...

Would diverting mentally ill from jails and prisons expand the economy?

Posted on August 12, 2010
Jackie Shannon, who is chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of MHMR Services in San Angelo, has a column today in the Standard-Times which opens with the question, "Would you be surprised to learn that the odds of a seriously mentally ill person being in jail or prison in Texas compared with being in a hospital are 7...

Glut in private prison beds bodes ill for overbuilt county jails

Posted on August 12, 2010
Here's some bad news for all those counties that speculatively overbuilt their jails planning to profit from federal contracts: They've got tons of competition. The blog Texas Prison Bidness reports that private prison company CCA said on a recent conference call with investors that there are 12,500 unoccupied beds in its system...

When will TYC sex abuse trials begin?

Posted on August 12, 2010
I've got to agree with the Texas Civil Rights Project that it's long past time for trials to begin in the Texas Youth Commission sex-abuse scandals out in Pyote. Scott Medlock at TCRP blames state District Court. District Judge Jay Gibson for the delay, but the last judge assigned to the case, Bob Parks, wouldn't set the cases for trial, either...

Privatizing jail healthcare

Posted on August 12, 2010
Nueces County outsourced their jail healthcare to a private company out of Alabama that issued a bid $1 million per year lower than their closest competitor, reports the Corpus Christi Caller Times. Presumably this includes mental health, judging from Naphcare's list of services covered on its website...

Panel on juvenile parole and reentry

Posted on August 12, 2010
At lunchtime today I attended a panel hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation regarding juvenile parole and reentry, focused on:How can Texas enhance its approach to parole and reentry to break the cycle of youth crime so there are fewer victims and taxpayers pay less to re-incarcerate the same youths?Featuring:The Honorable Jim McReynolds, Chairman, House Corrections CommitteeThe Honorable Robert Eckels, Former Harris County JudgeCheryln Townsend, Executive Director, Texas Youth CommissionDavid Reilly, Chief, Bexar County Juvenile Probation Department TPPF's Marc Levin set the stage by describing the state's somewhat fragmented juvenile parole system, run by the state in larger jurisdiction and by contract, usually with local probation departments, in more rural areas...

Do traffic stops reduce calls for police help?

Posted on August 11, 2010
The abstract of this recent paper offers up a suggestion with potential public safety implications:Using data from the Police?Public Contact Survey (PPCS), the current study examined how experiencing traffic stops affect the likelihood that Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics will contact the police for services...

Flawed science behind alcohol breath tests?

Posted on August 10, 2010
We tend to think of flawed forensics happening in high-profile rape and murder cases because that's largely who DNA exonerations have let out when bad forensics falsely convicted them. But the truth is many forensic methods and technologies in use today have not been vetted to a high standard of certainty, including forensics in more common cases like alcohol breath tests used at DWI stops...

Lege hearing today focuses on Driver Responsibility Program, police proliferation

Posted on August 10, 2010
This morning the Texas House Public Safety Committee will meet to discuss a pair of Interim Charges that may interest Grits readers.Interim Charge #3: Monitor the Driver Responsibility Program and consider methods for overall improvement of the program...

Commission on Jail Standards: Toothless Watchdog?

Posted on August 10, 2010
Is the Texas Commission on Jail Standards too cozy with the county jails it regulates because it's "dominated by law enforcement interests"? That's the question posed in a story by Brandi Grissom today at the Texas Tribune. Commissioners affiliated with county jails must abstain when TCJS is evaluating their home facility comes up, notes Executive Director Adan Muñoz, but the bigger issue raised would be whether commissioners are willing to set general standards high enough out of fear their own county might not pass muster...

DPS Director: No public safety benefit from Driver Responsibility Surcharge

Posted on August 10, 2010
At the House Public Safety Committee hearing today, state Rep. Stephen Frost asked Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw whether there is any evidence that Texas' Driver Responsibility Program (DRP) improves public safety or has increased the number of drivers with insurance...

Incarceration rates headed "straight up again" if Texas cuts diversion programming

Posted on August 09, 2010
At the Dallas News, Robert Garrett reports on a concern I've expressed here on Grits that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice plans to focus budget cuts on treatment and diversion programs while keeping the prison budget whole ("Addiction program for offenders too valuable to lose, proponents say," Aug...

A market solution for graffiti costs?

Posted on August 09, 2010
I noticed this editorial out of Montreal, Canada titled "Make graffiti 'artists' pay for their hobby," which makes the predictable and uninteresting argument that the justice system should require graff writers convicted of the offense to pay for cleaning up the damage they caused...

Mentally ill languish in Bexar jail awaiting assessment, competency restoration

Posted on August 08, 2010
Several notable stories out of San Antonio this week related to mental illness in county jails deserve Grits readers attention:Bexar breaks law on menally ill inmates, Aug. 1County cannot decide not to comply with the law, Aug. 5 Jail is not answer for mentally ill, Aug...

Warning Judge Keller

Posted on August 07, 2010
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct yesterday issued its response (pdf) to Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller's request for a writ of mandamus from the Supreme Court of Texas, declaring Keller's request outside the bounds of the SCOT's jurisdiction...

Prison ministry by and for youth

Posted on August 07, 2010
Here's a nice article from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about high school athletes at Southlake-Carroll taking time for a weekly softball game with TYC youth from McFadden Ranch. The story opens:Take a 20-minute ride from the well-manicured community of Southlake through the back roads of rural Roanoke and you might, if you can find it, stumble upon McFadden Ranch...

Keep 'em waiting

Posted on August 06, 2010
Paul Kennedy has a couple of posts up alerting me to the City of Houston's new policy of requiring citizens to wait needlessly for hours in municipal court while instructing officers to "ignore subpoenas for morning appearances" to save money. Reported the Houston Chronicle ("HPD's new municipal court policy wins few fans," July 28):In an effort to slash $4 million in Houston police overtime, officers have been ordered to ignore subpoenas for morning appearances in municipal court, a policy change that has infuriated citizens, riled defense attorneys and angered police union officials...

Amnesty, Indigence rules for Driver Responsibility surcharge finally published

Posted on August 06, 2010
New rules for Amnesty, Indigence and Incentive program were issued by the Department of Public Safety in today's Texas Register for the Driver Responsibility Program. I'll have much more on this next week heading toward the upcoming House Public Safety Committee meeting on the subject...

Leadership needed to reduce Harris County jail overcrowding

Posted on August 05, 2010
Both Dallas and Harris Counties are up on today's Texas Commission on Jail Standards agenda (pdf), and I'd be headed up there to listen in if paying work didn't obligate me to focus my attention elsewhere. In the meantime, Brandi Grissom has a story at the Texas Tribune on overcrowding at the Harris County Jail based on a letter (pdf) from legislators to TCJS' Adan Munoz and the executive director's response (pdf)...

Medical pot in Texas?

Posted on August 05, 2010
Julian Aguilar at the Texas Tribune reports something I'd heard rumored: That there will be a significant push to allow medical marijuana in Texas over the next couple of sessions. Supporters:cite a poll that found a majority of Texans support legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes...

Shift steroid testing dollars from students to cops

Posted on August 04, 2010
Kuff criticizes the high-school athletics steroid testing that this blog has derided since its inception, noting that "About 50,000 tests since February 2008 have found only about 20 confirmed cases of steroid use." Chuck opines that the program at one point cost $3 million per year before it was scaled back in reaction to reports of its ineffectiveness...

Constables' roles debated in context of budget crisis

Posted on August 04, 2010
County-level budget crises are raising long-simmering questions about the proper role of constables and whether they should act as mini-Sheriff's departments or stick to serving civil papers and acting as court bailiffs. In Van Zandt County in East Texas:Precinct 4 Constable Pat Jordan spoke earlier this week about the history of the office of constable in Texas...

DPS trooper pay still lags big Texas cities

Posted on August 03, 2010
Brandi Grissom at the Texas Tribune ("State of Pay," Aug. 3)comparing Department of Public Safety trooper salaries to the larger Texas cities, citing low DPS pay as contributing the agency's more than 10% vacancy rates among troopers. Here's a chart from the Tribune detailing max pay at various agencies (excluding overtime):Read the full story...

Notable innocence coverage

Posted on August 02, 2010
Three notable innocence-related stories today from the Houston Chronicle:Odds still against clearing inmatesProtocol for the wrongly convictedWaking up after a 27-year nightmareIn the first story, Jeff Blackburn from the Innocence Project of Texas says he thinks there are "thousands" of innocent people incarcerated in Texas prisons...

SCOTUS, felons and the Voting Rights Act

Posted on August 02, 2010
Texas has one of the more progressive stances among states regarding disenfranchisement of felons at the ballot box: Felons may vote again once their sentence is complete and they're "off paper," including any stint on probation or parole. But the incomparable (and sorely missed as NY Times SCOTUS reporter) Linda Greenhouse has a blog post titled "Voting Behind Bars" that raises the possibility that SCOTUS may soon rule on whether incarcerated felons may vote, and as I look at this particular crop of SCOTUS justices, I scratch my head and wonder if there's a chance they might do so...

Female inmates training dogs in Brownwood

Posted on August 01, 2010
I've seen reports of similar programs in adult settings and always thought it was a good idea, so I'm pleased to see notice on the TYC website that the Ron Jackson unit in Brownwood, which houses female inmates, is experimenting with youth training dogs as part of their treatment curriculum:PAWS is a unique program that uses the natural relationship that comes from the bond between humans and animals living together and being responsible for each other...

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