Thursday, June 03, 2010

Parole board rejects most inmates recommended for medical release

Coupla notable stories out today regarding medical parole:
Emily Ramshaw at the Tribune offered this graph showing how many sick or disabled inmates are approved for medical release by the parole board compared to how many were recommended by TDCJ and Texas' Correctional Managed Health Care Commitee:

12 comments:

Charlie O said...

Rissie Owens is a moron.

Gritsforbreakfast said...

That's unnecessary, Charlie. Not everybody who disagrees with you is a moron. And like her or not, Rissie Owens is not stupid.

sunray's wench said...

This is nothing that most of us who read your blog didn't already know. Trouble is, nothing any of us say is likely to make any difference while the BPP have complete discretion and absolutely no public accountability. They should perhaps be presented with the bills for the medical care these inmates rack up while not being paroled.

R. Shackleford said...

All aspects of the Texas prison system are in dire need of serious accountability. And possibly an asswhooping.

Anonymous said...

Yea, but whose gonna give it to them.

Those who say they want to hold them accountable don't when the opportunity actually presents itself to do so.

Nothing but a bunch of double talk!

When you have someone in prison that doesn't belong there and nobody cares but you, that's when you really know what a complete farce the entire justice system is.

Anybody really think it's fixable!

Anonymous said...

Yea, but whose gonna give it to them.

Those who say they want to hold them accountable don't when the opportunity actually presents itself to do so.

Nothing but a bunch of double talk!

When you have someone in prison that doesn't belong there and nobody cares but you, that's when you really know what a complete farce the entire justice system is.

Anybody really think it's fixable!

Deborah said...

I agree with the individual who said "When you have someone in prison that doesn't belong there and nobody cares but you, that's when you really know what a complete farce the entire justice system is."
My husband is in prison for a bad check he wrote 20 years ago; because he had 2 prior crimes (in his youth!) they threw 15 years at him and revoked his parole after it had expired (we have a 'writ of habeaus' in Harris Co right now! You find out how really "WHACKED" the TDCJ system really is, and no one cares, until their loved one gets thrown in there! Also, my husband says in his unit there are guys who are dying and no one gives a rats a$$ what happens to them, much less their families! The parole board has their own set of rules! If you are likely to commit a crime again, they let you out of prison with $50 and a bus ticket, so you will go back out and commit a crime and get thrown back into the system! I HATE Texas Criminal Justice System!!!! They make NO sense!

Charlie O said...

Then let me re-phrase. Rissie Owens makes moronic statements.

“You can be sick, have an illness or a disease, and still be a threat,” said board chair Rissie Owens. “Our decisions aren’t based on numbers, on quotas. And we feel like we’re making good decisions.”

Anonymous said...

Numbers? Quotas? Not whether they they are eligible and meet all the criteria for parole, have a good record while in prison, not whether they are a threat to themselves or society, not whether they have the skills and ability to be an asset to their community. Numbers and Quotas! As long as that's what is looked at when deciding parole, it doesn't matter who you let out or who you keep in, now does it?

BPP doesn't think of inmates as human beings, with feelings and a desire to come home to their families nor that their families need them to come home. I had one tell me that's not even a consideration!

Like I said, no justice, just political double talk. Who really cares enough in any part of TDCJ or the elected officials to actually take the time and put in the effor required to fix the problem. Senator Whitmire? Judge Sparks? The articles that talk about not enough inmantes making parole or how they are going to stop all the secrecy - sounds good but if they don't walk the walk, it's all talk!

It's not about how much money TDCJ needs to keep their prisons open, it's about the cold-blooded, non-caring mentality of those on the parole board who hold the inmate's lives and futures in their hands. They just getting paid to crunch number and meet quotas!

TDCJEX said...

There are three words that will help you understand why this is happening and why for most prisoners parole is a cruel false hope dangled in front of them they do all that is asked of them only to be set of endlessly usually the reason of the set of nature of offense something that cannot ever change

Kenneth Allen Mc Duff

If you do some research you will see that after he was sentenced to death a second tome he won the death row lottery in 1972 and was the one in a million psychopath who with a lot of hep got out and brutally killed again he never should have been released on parole . when his sentence was reduced to life with parole . Had he been kept in prison I have no doubt that TDCJ .BPP the CCA and many laws would be very different in TX .

Do a search on Kennth Allen Mc Duff . Try Google Scholar or SSRN if you have it

To this day BPP an TDCJ a the CCA and every elected officials still fear another MC Duff so they just keep TDCJ full and seek or hand down extreme sentences . When in fact most so called violent offenders are least likely to re -offend and so “ called non violent drug offenders “ among the most likely to re offend . DOJ and BOJ statistics .


Then there are the reactionary “tuff on crime “ pro death penalty organizations that some how get ahold of the confidential parole files and send in a number of protest letters a protest will end any chance of parole . How these reactionary groups get a prisoners record that is impossible for a attorney should be investigated .


Any onea can filea protest letter and the voters must meet with the victims or family in th ecase of homicide but not the prisoners . While it is good politics it ias terrible policy that is wide open for lots ofabus

A good person ot talk ot is he is willing is Bill Haberen He is probably the most knowledgeable person in Tx aboutr BPP and parole

Also TDCJ depends on the unpaid labor of convicts to run thu nits with out SSIs and other trusties who do almost everything but security , mail room and administration at least officially . Some drive TDCJ vehicles around they cannot be all that dangerous .
with out them running all 112 uniots would be extremely expensive .Not that spending moist of the health care budget on elderly , il or disabled prisoners is cheap it eats a lot of money and will get more expensive one way or another

There is not any incentive to parole any one when the voters are not concerned about it and will simply reelect the politicians who are making this mess . I will predict that Goodhair wins , and most incumbents are retrunec to office . After all they bring the goodies home you see wasteful spending is tax dollars spent on some one other than you and the programs you don't like

Charlie you are not helping us , I don't agree with Risse, Goodhair and the likes of John Bradley or Kelly Siegler But I wont call them names Goodhiar is satire thanks to Molly Ivins . I understand you anger bit keep in mind they happen to run the show right now calling names is not going to win any friends . Instead talk about your wife's time on Murray .That should be eye opening how women there are treated it is not how any one would want thier mother, sister ,wife , girlfriend, lover , or daughter treated .

Anonymous said...

08:42 How are women treated at Murray?
Doe anyone know?

Anonymous said...

Coryell county is a demonic possessed county with generations of people living there who profited from the abuse of children. When the reform school for boys was closed and TDC took over, moving female offenders there, the cursed townspeople continued the cycle of prisoner abuse. This is the same citizenry that was given a letter of commendation by the acting governor prior to the Morales vs Turman case that exposed the extreme child abuse and mismanagement in the Texas Youth Counsel. You can bet your bottom dollar those elderly female offenders are suffering much more abuse from those awful people than the little boys who occupied Valley School, some of who are still there.
Sheldon tyc#47333 II c/s