We don't talk anymore (police-public contacts down), DPS-TDCJ fingerprint spat, study finds Dallas cops with military backgrounds shoot more, and other stories

Here are a few odds and ends of which Grits readers should be aware:

On the pitfalls of recruiting ex-military personnel as urban police
An academic study of shootings at Dallas PD found that police officers who'd served in the military are up to three times more likely to fire their weapons than those who have not. Yikes!

You can't use our fingerprints, get your own!
The Texas Department of Public Safety and Department of Criminal Justice are in a spat. DPS won't give the prison agency permission to include fingerprints for "pen packets" prosecutors prepare when a defendant is sent to prison.

'The Love Story that Upended the Texas Prison System'
Awesome long form historical perspective on Texas' prison litigation in the 1970-80s from Ethan Watters at Texas Monthly, told through the lens of a romance.

Studying state jail felonies
The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition just issued a new report on state-jail felonies that goes on Grits' to-read list.

2/3 say don't arrest indigent Texans for nonpayment of fines/fees
A recent survey by the Texas Office of Court Administration found that 66% of Texans disapprove of jailing defendants over fines and fees when they cannot pay.  Both TX political parties called for ending such arrests in their 2018 platforms

Sweep 'em!
The Houston Chronicle editorial board called for a sweep of all but one Republican misdemeanor-court judges in Harris County after they fought bail reform tooth and nail in the federal courts instead of just fixing the problem. "These excuses are not enough to justify the perpetuation of a criminal justice system that [federal Judge Lee] Rosenthal says has resulted in 'thousands of constitutional violations' of both equal protection and due process." I thought this was a particularly clear-eyed view of the stakes of taking a throw-the-bums-out approach:

We do not make this recommendation lightly. There will be unfortunate consequences that weaken our misdemeanor courts in the short term. Harris County will lose experienced judges. Diversion courts will need new leadership if they are to continue. It’s possible that over the next four years we’ll face different sorts of challenges and scandals in pursuit of a new kind of judiciary. Our star ratings may seem off as we endorse challengers against incumbents with higher scores. But this is about something bigger than individual judges. This is about a criminal justice system in dire need of reform.

DNA QA @ HFSC
A commenter recently pointed out this report from July by the Texas Forensic Science Commission about non-standard-conforming work at the DNA lab at the Houston Forensic Science Center, and their the failure to solve problems with their processes after they became known. See also this site which publishes HFSC quality assurance documents. Recording these links here so I can look at them more closely, later.

We don't talk anymore: Police-public contacts down
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, "The portion of U.S. residents age 16 or older who had experienced contact with the police in the preceding 12 months declined from 26 percent in 2011 to 21 percent in 2015."

How federal justice reform happens in 2018
If the FIRST-Step Act and federal sentencing reform move anytime soon, it may be in the lame duck period after the election.

Now hear this!
Several podcasts I want to listen to soon may also interest Grits readers:

• Coercive Plea Bargaining: From the Cato Institute
• Rethinking Prisons, Police, and Overcriminalization: From The Federalist
• Prosecutorial Immunity: From the Federalist Society
• Staining the System: On blood spatter analysis

Off topic fun
Somehow, when the fan fiction, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality first came out in serial fashion, chapter by chapter, I got turned onto it and enjoyed it immensely. Eventually, though, thanks in large part to the length of time between installments, I lost track of it somewhere around Chapter 101. Then I ran across the complete, finished product recently on a slicker website and thought I'd share it for anyone looking for a fun diversion. Many of us who work in political realms could use one these days. Count Grits among those whose ready for election season to be over.