Moooooo

Ann points to an Austin Statesman editorial calling the Texas prison system a "sacred cow with a high-decibel moo." Entitled, "Even hardline conservatives seeing prisons differently," the Statesman declares that Texas runs the "largest penal system in the free world," and argues for shifting more nonviolent and drug offenders onto probation. (What's this free world stuff -- maybe I missed something but I thought Communism fell like 15 years ago?) I see differing numbers on the question of who has the world's largest prison system, but Texas is always in the top three. The editorial follows a report earlier in the week by reporter Mike Ward.

The paper's analysis, if not their proposals, echo the budget dilemmas Ann outlined earlier this week in her notes from the Texas elected prosecutors' conference on state sentencing options.