Friday, December 09, 2011

Parole board snubs Lege: Won't implement bill on paroling/deporting immigrants

For reasons I've never understood, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles tends to view legislation or court rulings governing their activities as optional and often just refuses to comply. The best example is probably their imposition of "Condition X" (sex-offender conditions) on thousands of prisoners never convicted of a sex crime despite repeated state and federal court rulings telling them they can't do it. Or their refusal to boost medical parole rates, costing the state many millions over the last several years by turning down the large majority of sick, elderly inmates recommended to them for release. Years ago they were ordered to create release guidelines they seldom follow, especially for low-risk offenders. It's been going on as long as Grits has followed the agency.

Now the latest example of parole-board hubris arises: The board will not any time soon implement legislation encouraging parole of illegal immigrants who're eligible for deportation, choosing to ignore a bill passed in the latest session by departing House Corrections Committee Chairman Jerry Madden. According to a notice (pdf) on the agency's website.
The Board of Pardons and Paroles continues to meet with officials of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) and the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to appropriately implement HB 2734, passed during the 82nd Texas Legislative Session. This bill intends to have the Board require illegal criminal aliens incarcerated in Texas prisons to leave the United States if granted parole release when they are legally eligible for parole release under the normal parole review process that currently exists for all incarcerated felons. The BPP continues to be concerned that many of the foreign born offenders in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice do not have final orders of deportation at the time of their parole review, but ICE has assured us they are working on that issue.

THERE IS NO APPLICATION PROCESS FOR INCARCERATED ILLEGAL CRIMINAL ALIENS TO APPLY FOR PAROLE RELEASE CONSIDERATION AND NO REQUESTS FOR PAROLE BASED ON THIS LEGISLATION WILL CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD NOW OR IN THE FUTURE. When implemented this law will be just an additional required condition of supervision for those offenders with ICE detainers in effect at the time of their release. (emphasis in the original)
This agency repeatedly exhibits remarkable chutzpah with such pronouncements. Basically the parole board is saying: "Sorry, we're just not going to implement that law because we have our own policy concerns that we believe trump the Legislature's." The Lege can come back in 2013 and order them to create an "application process for incarcerated illegal criminal aliens to apply for parole release consideration" when there is an ICE detainer, but the bill author is leaving the Lege so it would be up to someone else to take up that mantle.

This bill was mentioned in an article by Mike Ward this week as a possible source of budget relief for Texas' chock-full prisons. After all, this was among the few, significant bills passed this year enacting policy changes to reduce inmate numbers, which are rising beyond capacity. But clearly from this notice, TDCJ and legislators must look elsewhere in the near term to reduce costs. The parole board just looked at Madden's bill, turned up their nose with a sniff, and said, "Sorry, we ain't doing it."

Grits finds that attitude and practice as remarkable as it is frustrating: I can't think of another agency that ignores the Legislature and courts with such impunity and gets away with it as often as does the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. I'm looking forward to hearing this discussed during the agency's Sunset review next year. If anybody needs a major, 12-year tune-up during Sunset it's this arrogant bunch.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

" The BPP continues to be concerned that many of the foreign born offenders in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice do not have final orders of deportation at the time of their parole review, but ICE has assured us they are working on that issue."

And, knowing the fed, I think this is a VERY valid concern, and I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them regarding this. "..working on that issue." Yeah, right. They were working on unemployment, too. Remember?

A Texas PO said...

With all of the consternation over the budget lately, I'm surprised that TDCJ didn't make a recommendation in their SER for Sunset to bring BPP completely back under its wing. It almost seems to me that the largest contributing factor to continuing budget woes in CID/TDCJ is BPPs refusal to follow its mandate. And what's wrong with turning over deportable offenders to the feds? Even if it takes 2 years to deport an offender, that person won't be locked up in a state-run facility during that time, but rather a federal one.

Gritsforbreakfast said...

7:55, The feds deport folks in the Safe Communities program from jails by the thousands, so I don't see why you're concerned. Just don't parole them until the deportation order is ready. But don't refuse to create a process to follow the law. You, or they, may not agree with the new statute, but it was passed by the Lege and signed by the Governor. There are laws I disagree with but abide by; I just don't understand why it's not the same for them.

Anonymous said...

Oh, my God, Grits! You almost made me choke on my coffee while I was reading your comments!Just a couple of days ago you were praising Harris Co. D.A. Pat Lykos and other prosecutors like her for flipping the proverbial "bird" at the Legislature over State Jail felony drug possession cases; and now you're complaining about BPP effectively doing the same thing? Have you no shame? How about a little consistency here, Brother?

Gritsforbreakfast said...

8:26, you seriously misunderstand. Pat Lykos brought Harris County's policy in line both with both legislative intent regarding the paraphernalia law and the standing practice of every other large county in the state - if I recall correctly including at DPS, whose narcotics division places "no priority" on user-level arrests.

She wasn't bucking the Lege at all on that, but instead it was Chuck Rosenthal who insisted on not using the state's paraphernalia law, tying up crime-lab resources to prosecute residue cases as felonies. The switch was totally within Lykos' discretion and consistent with drug-enforcement practices throughout the state; she's not "flipping the bird" at anybody.

Now, on DIVERT there's a much stronger argument to be made that she's thumbing her nose at the Lege by giving the equivalent of deferred adjudication for DWIs, but others maintain it's kosher. I haven't studied the byzantine controversy well enough to offer an informed, independent judgment on that question, but it's certainly a far better example than the crack-pipe cases.

None of that justifies the parole board's actions, though. As I mentioned in the post, though you occasionally see folks buck the Lege (arguably like Lykos on DIVERT) on this or that issue, you seldom see anyone do it with such breathtaking brashness, nor with such frequency, bordering on inevitability, as seems to occur at the Texas parole board.

Anonymous said...

GFB...
Tune-Up! Poshninny, how about a complete colon cleansing overhaul!

Anonymous said...

I continue to have "concerns" about irrational marijuana laws so I think I'll go smoke a joint.

We have "concerns" about ICE deportation policies so we won't follow this new statute.

How are those two statements any different? Basically the "concerns" are a front for "I don't care about the law, I'm going to do what I want." The parole board gets away with it, and as it turns out, so do most pot smokers. There are too many laws, so people and institutions are both losing respect for them.

Prison Doc said...

I hope you will repeat your call for public comments on the Sunset review. When I first read it I thought you were over the top, but perhaps this is the best opportunity to have some real impact on this "rogue" agency. Their antics with regarding to paroling our incarcerated nonviolent guys amazes me every day.

don3330 said...

Good Grief! At the rate things are going, we're gonna be looking at a need for another billion dollar prison building bill in 2013, and the shortfall is already looking to be worse than 2011. Only thing I see to do is for the state to go ahead totally zero fund education. Gut up and just do it! I mean, it's either that or prisons, so no choice do I see. (meant to be facetious; hope it's not prescient. :)

Anonymous said...

Sewers have to be cleaned after some time. Its hard to swallow, but if you don't clean the sewer, it just gets worse. There are limits to everything. Thanks for the honesty.

Anonymous said...

A parole board that answers to no one? I wish as a citizen I had these powers. Honestly they need to fire all those on the board and start all over again. I am sure the Governor can find more trash to sit on the board because no decent human being would and if they did maybe they would obey the laws of the state. Our state ledg is weak knee and it shows by the things they pass and their follow up. This agency BPP is out of control.

Kevin Stouwie said...

To be fair, when an inmate has an immigration detainer, that does not mean he will be paroled into a jail cell that is administered by ICE. I had a client who made parole with an immigration detainer, and he was sent home by ICE and told to show up for his immigration hearings. He hired an immigration lawyer and I never found out what happened after that.

In light of the possibility that they parole out to the streets, it is possible that BPP is trying to get a deal in place where ICE can promise BPP that ALL illegals paroled go into ICE custody, not the equivalent of being out on bond from a criminal court case.

Deborah said...

I am shocked that after 2.5 years my husband (a non-violent offender, by the way) was interviewed for parole this week. Yay!
But I have to say about this; you see, he has told me that alot of people in his unit are being interviewed in preparation for release and people are being moved around. But the Board of Paroles and Pardons is an entity all their own, with their own rules that only they are privy to! I answered the questionnaire sent to me by the Sunset Review (as everyone should) and sent a scathing report about the entire TDCJ (can you tell I am so fed up with them?) One of the questions they asked me is "Do you believe that the Board of Pardons and Paroles should be combined with the Parole Department?" I answered I think they should be one entity, because one seems not to know what the other is doing! The Board, Parole Dept, Classifications, the Contractor for food service and commissary and TDCJ in general is LONG overdue for a huge overhaul! Yeah, send the illegals back to their own countries and before they go, give them one last gift-- fingerprint them all, so they will not be allowed back here to break our laws!