tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post7966653070230267648..comments2024-03-25T20:06:39.794-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: Texas 'state jails' strayed far from their original purposeGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-33840854048492199662013-01-04T17:57:40.428-06:002013-01-04T17:57:40.428-06:00"The current "probation" sytem is s..."The current "probation" sytem is setup to pick their pockets and get them back into prison as soon as possible."<br /><br />That comment simply is not true. Painting probation with a broad brush like that is silly.<br /><br />Probation does work. Treatment does work. People can and do change.<br /><br />The problem is the lack of resources. <br /><br />Talk is cheap.<br /><br />Give community supervision some funds and then a real difference could be made, but there is stull those District Attorneys and Judges who are clueless about what Probation has to offer. <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-47215417985944800002013-01-01T22:45:11.535-06:002013-01-01T22:45:11.535-06:00Our entire criminal justice system has lost its wa...Our entire criminal justice system has lost its way and is in need of major reforms. I hope those reforms come sooner rather than later.Memphishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01636056194130886380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-59231346373272609342013-01-01T12:38:24.777-06:002013-01-01T12:38:24.777-06:00Neither the state jail system nor the institutiona...Neither the state jail system nor the institutional division of TDCJ really have the programs in place for "rehabilitation" that most people think they do. I am personally familiar with two cases. One young man did two state jail commitments. After release he still had no GED, no job skills, and had never had his serious mental illness treated. By the time he was back home, his mental illness, along with his record, made employment impossible. While untreated and delusional a year ago he got into a fight with a crack dealer and got 20 yrs- aggravated. TDCJ has him back on psych meds, but for how long? The second young man was sentenced to state jail (Actually, the slime DA in the case manipulated him into a plea agreement that allowed the DA to stack the sentences- something forbidden in the law) yet could not receive adequate medical care in a state jail. So he did 6 of his 8 calendar years in "real" prison. And still it required literally daily fights with UTMB's medical staff to get him even adequate care. The head of the UTMB program called him "the poster boy of wasted dollars". He was a 20yo, non-violent, first time offender thief.<br /><br />As for Project Rio, what a waste of money. The first young man went to learn construction skills.. He was taught how to read a tape measure, proper hammering technique and other worthless skills. Seriously.Phillip Bakernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-51156565218302516952013-01-01T11:48:09.355-06:002013-01-01T11:48:09.355-06:00no 8:04 the big problem with probation is what we ...no 8:04 the big problem with probation is what we have not is not real probation but in fact parole.<br /><br />Once apon a time parole meant you were still serving your prison sentence and were still under control of department of corrections.<br /><br />probation meant you were released as a probationary citizen You have the same rights and privilages as any other citizen. The only diff was that if within a certain amount of time if you comitted a new crime they could use the probation violation as a way to lock your ass up while investigating the new crime.<br /><br />There was no visits to the probation office. No fees no tests. You walked out and were done with the govt UNLESS you comitted a new crime.<br /><br />The current "probation" sytem is setup to pick their pockets and get them back into prison as soon as possible. <br /><br />The Former United States of America's prison industry sytem is a multi BILLION dollar a year sytem that requies "X" number of bodies to carry out those contracts. If they don't have them they fail and lose billions add in the FACT that crime is at a 60 year low even with all the new so-called civil infraction crimes that now call for prison time...rodmsithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-75674925577021128572013-01-01T08:08:49.055-06:002013-01-01T08:08:49.055-06:00Community supervision sounds good. Too bad this po...Community supervision sounds good. Too bad this population treated probation as a joke when they were offered that opportunity. Some was given several chances at probation, but complying with those terms goes against the prevailing standards of the community they live in. <br /><br />Treatment sounds good, but the values of treatment are the exact opposite of the values of the hood. Once released, it seems natural to revert to the values of the hood, to those of their friends, family members and gang members. Those earnest treatment professionals and their exhortations soon becomes a dim memory.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-61367616836584540822013-01-01T08:04:02.106-06:002013-01-01T08:04:02.106-06:00Community supervision sounds good. Too bad the thi...Community supervision sounds good. Too bad the this population treated probation as a joke when they were offered that opportunity. Some was given several chances at probation, but complying with those terms goes against the prevailing standards of the community they live in. <br /><br />Treatment sounds good, but the values of treatment are the exact opposite of the values of the hood. Once released, it seems natural to revert to the values of the hood, to those of their friends, family members and gang members. Those earnest treatment professionals and their exhortations soon becomes a dim memory.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-46980162414322165032013-01-01T07:10:46.494-06:002013-01-01T07:10:46.494-06:00You cannot mix different custody levels of offende...You cannot mix different custody levels of offenders, say G2s with G4s and expect a good result. As TDCJ tightens its budget noose, it has cut programs that prevent recidivism, such as Project RIO.reddognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-40586642738919490952013-01-01T01:51:01.547-06:002013-01-01T01:51:01.547-06:00i have to give grits this one bark. When half the...i have to give grits this one bark. When half the people you lock up were not real criminals to begin with it's no suprise they don't reoffend when released. The only real suprise is most don't run for the nearest border when released.rodsmithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-45009347678315510392012-12-31T15:04:43.406-06:002012-12-31T15:04:43.406-06:00The stunning statistic in the Legislative Budget B...The stunning statistic in the Legislative Budget Board report from January 2011 (which Jeanette Moll used in her TPPF report) is that state jail offenders had a rearrest rate of more than 64% while offenders who had been to prison had a rearrest rate of about 49%. Something needs to be done, but "something" always involves resources.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13366755249816544531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-29257268989029193872012-12-31T14:14:23.830-06:002012-12-31T14:14:23.830-06:00FWIW, BGB, Oklahoma's recidivism rate is as lo...FWIW, BGB, Oklahoma's recidivism rate is <a href="http://digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/compoundobject/collection/stgovpub/id/70132/rec/21" rel="nofollow">as low as ours</a>, for more or less the same reason.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-57930181903504920042012-12-31T14:07:35.290-06:002012-12-31T14:07:35.290-06:00Tdc Tdc Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-81901502956294088032012-12-31T13:34:41.909-06:002012-12-31T13:34:41.909-06:00You make a good point Grits, but it is still very ...You make a good point Grits, but it is still very unlikely that the Texas prison recidivism rate is as low as 26 percent.BarkGrowlBitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04830589594331819236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-39747965381432317552012-12-31T12:18:11.207-06:002012-12-31T12:18:11.207-06:00BGB, Texas' (relatively) low recidivism rate i...BGB, Texas' (relatively) low recidivism rate is mainly because we incarcerate so many more people per capita that the system captures lots more low-risk folks than other states, who in turn are less likely to recidivate. See this <a href="http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2006/11/texas-recidivism-rates-is-why-are-they.html" rel="nofollow">past Grits discussion</a> on the subject.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-3945209329625123772012-12-31T12:03:34.365-06:002012-12-31T12:03:34.365-06:00If anyone believes that the state prison recidivis...If anyone believes that the state prison recidivism rate is only 26 percent then I've got a good deal on some beachfront property in Phoenix for them.<br /><br />The recidivism rates in most states have hovered around 40-50 percent for years. What kind of magic pill has Texas found to come up with that low percentage? Could it be manipulations of statistics like those of NYPD and other police agencies to make themselves look good? Could it be that parole officers are looking the other way?<br /><br />Something smells rotten the state of Denmark ... err, that is Texas!BarkGrowlBitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04830589594331819236noreply@blogger.com