Regular readers know that long sentences in Texas have caused the healthcare costs for elderly prison inmates to dramatically rise.
As the Texas House prepares to hear legislation (if it makes it that far down the calendar before Thursday) that would increase use of statutory provisions for medical releases from prison, Parole Board Chair Rissie Owens has proposed altering one of the rules identified in committee hearings as a barrier in current rules to more medical-based releases. Here's the first proposed rule change from the Texas Register, essentially just a small deletion:
An offender who is otherwise eligible for release and meets the criteria for Medically Recommended Intensive Supervision (MRIS) as required by Government Code, §508.146, may be considered for release on parole [This allows medical releases to move forward independent of reguar parole reviews, where release rates are at historical all-time lows. Chairman Madden's legislation would have required this change anyway, but it's good to see Mrs. Owens (whose husband Ed is now executive director of the Texas Youth Commission) proposing the change of her own accord.if the parole review date is more than six months from the date of application for MRIS].
Another proposed rule change removes the requirement that new information be present to request a special review including medical reviews, and also includes language which puzzles me as to its significance:
When the special review panel decides the offender's case warrants a special review, the case shall be re-voted by the full board. The presiding officer shall determine the order of the voting panel [I don't know enough about how parole panel voting works to understand the significance of this last change. Perhaps some more knowledgeable reader can clue me into what they're trying to accomplish with that rule amendment in the comments?which board office will begin the voting].
The other two, though, are modest but positive improvements. It's nice, for a change, to see an agency doing something postive through rulemaking instead of waiting on the Legislature to order them to do so after a crisis. We need to see a lot more of that kind of initiative from the Board of Pardons and Parole.
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9 comments:
I'm not an expert but here's how I think it works. There are usually 3 votes. The first vote can be yes or no. If the second vote is the same as the first vote, there is no third vote. The third vote is essentially a tie breaker.
When the full board votes it would have to work differently. I think the key here is that the review and vote is sequential rather than all at the same time. This means that there are not a bunch of folks at a table in front of a parolee like we see on TV.
It's true they do this by fax, not all in a room. Does anyone else have any insight?
Scott,
I have been reading your blog for over a year and need some advice. Last week I caught a possession of meth (In st of Arknsas) when I was unlucky enough to have been at this guy's house who had the swat, DTF, national guard, you name it swoop in and bust the place early in the a.m. I guess the guy who owned the house was charged with intent to manufacture, etc. Anyways, I had a FTA from a ticket I got a few months ago so they searched me, etc. I spent 3 days in jail-3rd day I got to see judge who gave me a $5000 bond. Now I am out. A friend of my fathers is a DA in another county and he told him that I shouldn't get a lawyer cause they'd only mess me up. WTF! Sounds like stupid advice. His reasoning was that when it came to meth I should just take any deal I could get. Again, WTF!! what do you think, and can you give me any advice or pt me to other blogs that may be of help to read and write to. I value you opinion a lot and would appreciate any advice you have. Thanks, J
I can't advise you except for this: I sure wouldn't go into a drug case without an attorney, even if I intended to plea, but especially if I just happened to be in the house. I'll almost guarantee that if your friend got into trouble, his father the DA would hire him a good lawyer in a heartbeat! You should too.
I saw this on the Texas Register several days ago and this was my first thought when I read it. This has to be voted on my the entire board, so instead of sending it to vote by board location, by changing the law to read this way, the lead voter can now chose in what order the board members get to vote in order to get the majority vote to go in the direction that they want it to do. They pretty much know how each member is going to vote by their past experiences. By doing it this way, it can be denied or approved, mostly denied, quicker.
From personal experience, Special Review is just as secret as the Parole process. When a mistake is made, they will grant a Special Review to make it look like they're trying to correct the error. In reality, it seems to work like the appeals process in Texas. It is just a rubber stamp and nothing changes no matter how badly they messed up the process.
To anonymous 12:27PM, what is seen on TV in other states does not happen in this state. The offender is interviewed at the unit level by what is called an IPO. Some IPO's give a great interview, look through a parole packet if one is presented, makes notes and gets the parole folder ready to send to the appropriate board for voting. One recent IPO interview at the Allred Unit was done at 4:45 PM. The IPO didn't look at the parole packet and appeared disgusted that she had to work until 5 PM. It can take weeks, if not months for the parole folder to get to the voting board office. Then the three voting board members decide the fate of the offender. You are correct in assuming that if two vote one way, there is no need for the third vote. However, if the first two vote two seperate ways the third voting member might then visit the offender before casting the final vote.
I did a quick study of the percentages of NO votes at the Amarillo board office in 2005. It was amazing to find that of ALL voting members throughout the state, of the top 6 who voted no more often, 3 of them were in Amarillo. Just makes me tingly all over to have one of my guys up for a vote in Amarillo.
I also have times when I am tracking a vote for someone and I find most board offices to be very friendly and helpful. However, the last time I called the Amarillo Board some snotty woman told me she didn't have to tell me anything. So much for any form of professionalism from that office.
I haven't personally seen one MRIS that I was involved in be released. I think they have to be so close to dead that the coronor is knocking on the door before they are released.
There is nothing Rissie Owens can do at this point to restore my faith in the parole procedures in Texas. Until our legislators take the word "descretionary" out of the rules, and until they stop giving so much power to these people, our offenders will remain in prison for longer periods of time. We need the mandatory laws back in place so there is incentive for good time, for work and for a clean prison record.
I have not done a study yet, but I think women do more time per crime than their male counterparts. I guess we need to keep those female units full at all times.
Mrs. Rissie's gesture is too little far too late in my opinion.
Wow, i agree! Someone has to do something about this parole board. Bring back the ol guys and rules. Im tired of "NATURE OF OFFENSE" reasons. These parole monsters are not seeing anything in those parole packets. Senator Whitmire HELP! get rid of em or do the job right. they still got 1/3 lawbreakers in prison that are suppose to be out already. There is a lifer that is been locked up for 27 yrs. and has had 5 set offs. What the heck do they want from him or anyone else in that position. Get rid of them and they will have plenty of beds.
Just a little info from a parole guy, I work in the Amarillo area and I am very familiar with the Parole Board and how they vote. Each office has a Board member and 2 commissioners. The order of vote in each office is random. Best of three wins for non SB45 cases. SB45 cases (3g or very heinous crimes) are voted only by Parole board members and the file does travel office to office but the voting order is random. As for quality of votes, its anybody's guess as to the reasons and they don't answer to anyone but the Governor and he doesn't ask many questions. Anyway, that is the way it really works.
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