Monday, October 05, 2015

Susan Hawk back on the job, tablets for jail inmates, LWOP totals, and other stories

Here are a few items which Grits doesn't have time to blog about but which merit Grits readers' attention:
Prisoners in TDCJ Sentenced to Life Without Parole

2014: 683
2013: 581
2012: 485
2011: 382
2010: 290
2009: 203
2008: 121
2007: 49
2006: 4

*Total at the end of each fiscal year, 2015 not yet posted

5 comments:

  1. There are other US states that permit their state inmates (not jail) to have/purchase tablets, MP4 players, buy music, etc without the state succumbing to total chaos and an increased crime or recidivism rate. Those states also permit their inmates to make international phone calls, and some even allow visits during the week *gasp*.

    Just because an unpopular ex Minister of Education in the UK wants to use Texas as a model for the UK's much smaller and geographically more urban prison population, doesn't mean there isn't more Texas can do to drag itself into the 21st century.

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  2. LWOP: You can't call it "exponential" but those LWOP numbers seem really big and there is no reason not to expect their continued growth. Smarter people than I will have to handle this.

    Prison Doc

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  3. Yes, Doc, while they might not be smarter than you by any means, at some point the taxpayers will have to wake the hell up and take a close look at exactly what they are knowingly & willingly funding. When taxes, fees or dues are paid by the public at large to accomplish a goal that is considered wrong when their are alternatives, the public at large is guilty as charged. Until the mass awakening occurs, it's a free-for-all.

    The only two times criminals should be sentenced to LWOP is when they allegedly KILL or allegedly RAPE. When it's discovered that one didn't KILL or RAPE, he/she can be released with large amounts of taxpayer funds for life.

    Speaking about taxpayers responsibilities - Increasing the bribery to go away to One Million Dollars per year vs. the current bribery payout plan, would put an abrupt end to any & all false arrest and junk/fake jury trials.

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  4. a jury in your favorite county will hand down a death sentence this week. State v. James Calvert

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  5. @Rex, perhaps not my favorite county, but as the Austin Lounge Lizards sang, it's that "Godforsaken Hellhole I Call Home." (I'm still partial to Hank Card's version.)

    @PrisonDoc, I agree with you, they're going up fast. Though I realize I'm in the minority, and there are people I respect who disagree with me vehemently over it, I never thought that 2005 deal eliminating capital life for LWOP was a good one, and this is precisely why.

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