I've been a little busy today but here are several news items that deserve Grits readers attention:
Investigator calls for HPD crime lab special master
With problems continuing to surface at the Houston Police Department Crime lab, investigator Michael Bromwich told a joint legislative committee that the agency needed a "special master," a move opposed by Chief Harold Hurtt and Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal.
TYC intake facility officially transfers to TDCJ
The Texas Youth Commission's Orientation and Assessment duties have been officially transferred from the unit in Marlin to the facility in Mart, near Waco. The Marlin unit has been transferred to the adult prison system. Good luck to all the former Marlin employees.
Shaquanda featured in Seventeen
TYC's most celebrated former inmate, Shaquanda Cotton, told her story in a two-page spread in the current issue of Seventeen magazine, reports the Paris News. It's a full-page article written in the first person with Veronica Byrd.
El Paso bribery scandal
Since I've been writing recently about bribery I should point out coverage of a simmering payola scandal in El Paso County involving the commissioners court. A commissioner and the county judge's chief of staff have already been indicted.
Prison warden dies in accident
Prison warden Clarence Mosley died in an apparent accident in the employee swimming pool at the Ferguson Unit in Madison County. Condolences to his friends and family. Mosley had been with TDCJ for 22 years.
Texas jail capacity expanding
Nicole at Texas Prison Bidness has an item on jails currently planned or under construction in Texas. She also provides an interesting chart detailing the 18 Texas counties where jail operation has been privatized.
Warden Clarence Mosley died at the employee swimming pool on the Ferguson unit grounds, not his own.
ReplyDeleteThanks, and I'm sorry I screwed it up. I've corrected it in the text.
ReplyDeleteNow, if you could just correct the spelling of his last name; Mosley.
ReplyDelete:)
Texas just executed prisoner number 400 since capital punishment was reinstated. We should reflect on all of the misery these killers inflicted on society.
ReplyDeleteI usually reflect on how ironic it is that we kill people to punish them for killing people. "It's wrong to kill and we're gonna kill you for doing it."
ReplyDeleteI usually reflect on why it's wrong to show people that kidnapping or criminal confinement is wrong by confining them in a prison.
ReplyDeleteCan't follow the apples to oranges comparison. But you're right, the punishment should fit the crime. I say: Let's bring back the good old Medieval days. Thieves get their hands cut off. Women who commit murder will be strangled and then burnt. People who illegally hunt will have their ears cut off, high treason will be punishable by being hung, drawn and quartered and slaves or servants who try to run will have a foot chopped off.
ReplyDeleteShaquanda Cotton. Poor child. A victim of her mother's low self-control.
ReplyDeleteIf this occurred you would have a lot less crime.
ReplyDeleteIf this occurred we would live in a fascist dictatorship.
ReplyDelete@9:36-If only it were that simple. Less crime? Maybe, but consider the financial costs...infections, prosthetics, hearing aids, disability payments...the list is endless.
ReplyDeleteAnd when I reflect on little Ms. Cotton I get distracted thinking, "What is a Shaquanda? Does that word mean something?"
Hey 9:47,where have you been? We're already living in a facist dictatorship. It's called the Bush/Cheney Regime!!
ReplyDeleteThe solutions to crime can be more easily found in the social problems that contribute to criminal behavior. Writing about chopping off people's feet and hands is a waste of time and energy.
ReplyDeletePunishment only targets the problem after it occurs. Incarceraton separates the criminal from society but does nothing about the causes of crime.
Far more effort needs to be directed toward removing the causes of criminal behavior. Decriminalization of victimless activities would be a good place to start!!
RE:TYC intake facility officially transfers to TDCJ
ReplyDelete"As hard as one might try a person just can't underestimate TYC"
That is a faithful saying that one can always depend on. Some swamps are just to big to drain. Its a crying shame.
I'm sorry, did you say the employee swimming pool at a TDCJ unit??? Really?
ReplyDeleteWOW are there tennis courts and room service too?
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