Sunset Commission Sets the Tone for Criminal Justice Reforms in 2013
By Kate Vickery
Policy Intern
The last time that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice was up for Sunset review, the prison system in Texas was bursting at the seams. Today, thanks to some positive reforms during the 2007 session, adult incarceration rates have leveled out. The state has a long way to go to make a real improvement in our chronic over-incarceration problem, but thanks to the advocacy of groups like the ACLU of Texas, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, Texas Civil Rights Project, and many others, reforms are starting to be made.
All of these groups were in attendance for the Sunset Advisory Commission hearing on June 5, 2012 at the Capitol. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Board of Pardons and Paroles, Windham School District, and Correctional Managed Health Care Committee are under review by the Sunset Advisory Commission.
Our Policy Strategist Matt Simpson and I attended to give the ACLU of Texas’ testimony on a number of issues that are currently not included in the Sunset Commission’s recommendations. It is important to start the conversation on these important issues because the Sunset process often sets the stage for the legislative priorities for the next session, which will begin in January. The ACLU of Texas is particularly interested in:
- increasing the use of parole/probation, especially medical parole;
- decreasing the use of administrative segregation (solitary confinement);
- improving the treatment of and services for youth certified as adults;
- and creating more independent oversight mechanisms for TDCJ.
We were pleasantly surprised by the support for reform of the Medically Recommended Intensive Supervision (MRIS) program. MRIS is a mechanism for releasing elderly (Texas’ oldest inmate is currently 90), and mentally and terminally ill individuals who are not a risk to public safety. Currently, the sickest inmates can cost the state up to $1 million per year each for health care while posing no public safety threat. Senator Whitmire called for lawmakers to make a “tough vote” for a bill that would make it easier to release these individuals, underscoring that this likely will be an uphill political battle.
Medical release was one of many issues discussed throughout the day and it was inspiring to hear the testimony of the agencies dedicated to criminal justice reform and the powerful stories of family members of incarcerated individuals.
To download the full Sunset Commission staff report and recommendations for all four agencies, go here. You can watch the full video of the hearing here.
To get more involved in these important issues, sign up for ACLU of Texas e-alerts!
June 12th, 2012 at 1:30 am
It is time for the State to stop convicting individuals of possessing small amounts of marijuana or when they are under the influence of prescription drugs legally prescribed by a physician or charging them with felony evading when they were not speeding were following all traffic signals and stopped when they felt it was safe to. It is time to do away with privately run jails and prisons when their finanial incentave is based on the number of occupied beds and not based on the number of inmates successfully completing rehabilative programs and subsequently released. It is time to stop putting offenders in jail or costly probabtion programs that offer no treatment for drug abuse. Our tax dollars would be better spent on helping to rehabilitate those addicted to drugs whether illegal or prescription and better spent helping them to find jobs.(idle persons addicted to drugs will keep find illegal ways to pay for drugs). Also, it is time to stop putting individuals enrolled in College programs in jail for drug addiction or putting them on probation. First offenders should get a deffered sentence that requires they pass all of the courses and do not have further arrests.
I am also tired of the power of prosectors in the judicial system of County and District Courts. Unless they are going to apply the law and charge individuals equally, there should be a means for individuals, without hiring an attorney to have the Judge at the defendants arraignment determine if the arrests was legal.
Also, if an individual can’t afford counsel and rejects appointed counsel, why shouldn’t they be allowed to have anyone they choose speak for them, If they are pro se, they should have that right under the Constitution. The individual they appoint to speak on their behalf should not have to be a lawyer, factually, the defendant may not be as well spoken or well versed on the charges in question and should have the right to have someone speak for them at their discretion. But then, that would be taking money out of the pockets of attornies who make their living off of representing Class B and C misdemeanors and who basically just advise their clients to take plea bargains. It amazes me how many of these attornies quote fees for handling an individuals case but they fail to mention it does not include actually defending them at trial. What a crock.
June 12th, 2012 at 1:32 am
It is time for the State to stop convicting individuals of possessing small amounts of marijuana or when they are under the influence of prescription drugs legally prescribed by a physician or charging them with felony evading when they were not speeding were following all traffic signals and stopped when they felt it was safe to. It is time to do away with privately run jails and prisons when their finanial incentave is based on the number of occupied beds and not based on the number of inmates successfully completing rehabilative programs and subsequently released. It is time to stop putting offenders in jail or costly probabtion programs that offer no treatment for drug abuse. Our tax dollars would be better spent on helping to rehabilitate those addicted to drugs whether illegal or prescription and better spent helping them to find jobs.(idle persons addicted to drugs will keep find illegal ways to pay for drugs). Also, it is time to stop putting individuals enrolled in College programs in jail for drug addiction or putting them on probation. First offenders should get a deffered sentence that requires they pass all of the courses and do not have further arrests.
I am also tired of the power of prosectors in the judicial system of County and District Courts. Unless they are going to apply the law and charge individuals equally, there should be a means for individuals, without hiring an attorney to have the Judge at the defendants arraignment determine if the arrests was legal.
Also, if an individual can’t afford counsel and rejects appointed counsel, why shouldn’t they be allowed to have anyone they choose speak for them, If they are pro se, they should have that right under the Constitution. The individual they appoint to speak on their behalf should not have to be a lawyer, factually, the defendant may not be as well spoken or well versed on the charges in question and should have the right to have someone speak for them at their discretion. But then, that would be taking money out of the pockets of attornies who make their living off of representing Class B and C misdemeanors and who basically just advise their clients to take plea bargains. It amazes me how many of these attornies quote fees for handling an individuals case but they fail to mention it does not include actually defending them at trial. What a crock.