tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post1878235187685341169..comments2024-03-25T20:06:39.794-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: 308 bills push tuffer penalties; cuts to DWI, domestic violence probation look like political suicideGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-57123786624444218952011-03-26T11:36:28.347-05:002011-03-26T11:36:28.347-05:00"I laughingly joke w/ the Probation officers ..."I laughingly joke w/ the Probation officers in New Braunfels about how their head felony prosecutor wants to put them out of business by putting everyone in prison- they smile, but nervously, because they know I'm right." That is simply "funny stuff", except only you think you are funny. Probation officers don't think you are "right." They probably think you are full of ridiculous opinions that are meaningless. Probation officers don't have a lead felony prosecutor. Probation officers aren't part of the DA's office. New Braunfels doesn't have a lead felony prosecutor. Comal County has a lead felony prosecutor. The majority of the population of Comal County isn't in New Braunfels, it is the surrouding communities. My guess is the lead felony prosecutor doesn't even live in Comal County.<br /><br />Lead felony prosecutors in any county don't have the power to put a CSCD out of business. In New Braunfels, there are plea agreements just like anywhere else and those plea agreements often, most often, are for probation. When it comes time for motion to revokes, well then the prosecutor may "get his way" with prison sentences, but they are always puny prison sentences where the offenders is released from prison after serving very little time just to be back on the street with the same behavior and the offender often is back on the docket with a brand new crime. So, the prosecutor gets to know the offenders real well. He hasn't put anyone out of business, only has perpetuated the same behavior on every level.<br /><br />He gets to see the same names on the docket over and over again. If the prosecutor wanted to put probation out of business, he would live within a continuum of sanctions and allow the CSCD to utilize community corrections approaches to supervise offenders instead of making agreements to place technical violators in prison for minor amounts of time. <br /><br />The prosecutor isn't the fact finder. A Judge or Jury determines that, so if it is Judges and Juries who place offenders on probation, then how could a prosecutor ever put a probation department out of business.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-8613057691083927752011-03-26T07:30:36.281-05:002011-03-26T07:30:36.281-05:00IMHO, this is a circuitous route to benefit those ...IMHO, this is a circuitous route to benefit those who always make out on tough on crime legislation- the private prison industry.I laughingly joke w/ the Probation officers in New Braunfels about how their head felony prosecutor wants to put them out of business by putting eveyone in prison- they smile, but nervously, because they know I'm right. I have believed- for years- that having a full time legislature is bad public policy, especially when it is populated by Bradley supporters and their minions. Real reform -like increased funding for pre trial diversion and treatment- is a ludicrous proposition, since the elites surrounding Perry and his cretins do not make out on such reasonable suggestionsTedbyrdnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-60268240821598385272011-03-25T14:40:49.491-05:002011-03-25T14:40:49.491-05:00Okay, Anon 8:54, school me . . .
You and I clearl...Okay, Anon 8:54, school me . . .<br /><br />You and I clearly do not agree on what constitutes "major change" in SB 880. How do you rationalize the necessity of taking a four-sentence section of the law that addresses pretrial intervention services provided by CSCDs (GC 76.011) and restyling it to explicitly authorize pretrial supervision of bailed defendants by CSCDs <i>as well as</i> anyone else the court orders the CSCD to supervise? Oh, and please tell me where the CSCD will get the money to do this (without naively suggesting that the supervision fees will cover the expenses).<br /><br />Please school me!Thomas Hobbeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10832779920216463979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-64200855217968606352011-03-25T14:13:22.349-05:002011-03-25T14:13:22.349-05:00We have been sold out in Criminal Justice. Cost sa...We have been sold out in Criminal Justice. Cost saving alternatives have been tossed out the window. Full prisons can't be closed so there is a mad dash backwards to the way we were.Angeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00323251252533007308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-58482584270625634562011-03-25T14:12:57.499-05:002011-03-25T14:12:57.499-05:00So is it State Representative Mallory-Caraway push...So is it State Representative Mallory-Caraway pushing for enhancement to the domestic violence law? LOLAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-18064343700686736392011-03-25T13:13:42.256-05:002011-03-25T13:13:42.256-05:00If they reduce the low level drug penalties they w...If they reduce the low level drug penalties they will become midemeanors, then get put on probation, but have noone to report to....So then they will be wandering around aimlessly in pursuit of a Probation Officer, get even more confused and frustrated, smoke some more weed to calm down and then get arrested again.<br /><br />I guess the only answer to this problem is to hope that they will have such an addiction at this point and more than a misdemeanor amount of drugs on them the next time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-44056828342006624072011-03-25T12:46:15.151-05:002011-03-25T12:46:15.151-05:00Sorry, 11:28, but you do anti-death penalty advoca...Sorry, 11:28, but you do anti-death penalty advocates a huge disservice with this flippant piece. That there are- and always have been- folks who are attracted to/obsessed by imprisoned men is neither new nor relevant. Those of us who work against the death penalty do it from the most sincere of impulses: a religious abhorrence of judicial killing with its consequent effects on society, the families of those executed, and those who actually do the killing; a deep belief that they "justice" system, already known to be so deeply flawed in every other area, is even more broken in death penalty cases; the sincere and, I believe, well founded belief that we have already executed innocent people. We are truly "pro-life". The death penalty is a throw back to a more blood thirsty era and appeals to the very worst emotions of the masses. That some deluded women fall in "love" with killers is hardly relevant.austex1151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-26672110234970228072011-03-25T11:28:02.894-05:002011-03-25T11:28:02.894-05:00Are the anti-death-penalty campaign and the "...Are the anti-death-penalty campaign and the "criminals are innocent" campaigns fueled by infatuation?<br /><br /><br />Why are women drawn to men behind bars?<br /><br />Ian Huntley, the man charged with the Soham murders, gets bundles of fan mail every day. Meanwhile, more than 100 British women are engaged or married to men on death row in the US. Denise Mina investigates the appeal.<br /><br /> <br />Denise Mina<br /> The Guardian, Monday 13 January 2003<br /> <br /><br />Three years ago a German waitress called Dagmar Polzin fell in love with a murderer while waiting at a Hamburg bus stop. She saw his photo on a Benetton anti-death-penalty poster. Bobby Lee Harris, a North Carolina man with an IQ of 75, was on death row for stabbing his boss to death during a robbery on a shrimp boat. Polzin was overwhelmed by the picture,<br /><br />"It was something in his eyes," she later said. "There was this remorse, sadness. I was attracted. I knew he was the one."<br /><br />Within the year Polzin and Harris were engaged and she had moved to America to live with his family. This story seems a little surprising, but if you see the picture that Dagmar fell in love with it is, frankly, astonishing. He may have many charming accomplishments to recommend him as a husband, but Harris is not a bonny boy.<br /><br />Polzin's romance is not an isolated incident: no matter how extreme or appalling the crime with which they are associated, it seems there is always a woman keen to stand by the man. It was recently reported that Ian Huntley, the Soham man charged with the murders of schoolgirls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells, receives bundles of fan mail from women every week - many containing photographs of themselves.<br /><br />Prison romances seem in no danger of dying out. But the cliche of the prison bride as wig-wearing trailer-trash is misguided: the women come from all sectors of society. Carlos the Jackal become engaged to his lawyer last year. The famous Glasgow hard man Jimmy Boyle married a psychiatrist he met in prison. The most common form of contact, certainly for many of the 100 or so British women currently engaged or married to American men on death row, is through anti-death-penalty campaign internet sites.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-33767576695468835252011-03-25T08:54:51.394-05:002011-03-25T08:54:51.394-05:00Proposed Senate Bill 880 does not require probatio...Proposed Senate Bill 880 does not require probation departments to supervise people on Pre Trial Release. The ability to place people on pre trial release has existed for many years, but most departments/counties just don't do it. It states a department MAY supervise them.<br />If you compare the proposed bill to the current Government Code Sections 76.001 and 76.015 the major change is the amount a department may charge for supervising the defendant. The charge is increased from a maximum of $40.00 to $60.00.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-58430783283482127332011-03-24T23:45:17.582-05:002011-03-24T23:45:17.582-05:00None of this is even close to making sense. How c...None of this is even close to making sense. How can Texas be spoken of as a State to be emulated as Texas has shown that up-front funding makes a difference in how many people end up in prison; and then behave like this? So very confusing. <br /><br />If things occur as predicted by the TDCAA, then the supervision of the probationer will be nil at best. Docket sizes will be ridiculous at the Felony and Misdemeanor level. <br /><br />Having local counties get involved with assisting probation departments with funding for misdemeanors. Give me a break, it wont' happen. County Court at Law Judges have clout but not that much clout. CSCDs will have to co-mingle funds with the County, what a nightmare.<br /><br />Diversion Programs have come too far for Texas to screw this up. If the legislature does make such a huge mistake, probation departments will begin seeking assistance for specialty programs such as Drug Courts. Not such a bad idea, but then the adult probation departments will begin answering to the Federal Government instead of the local authority. Why aren't Judges raising hell about all this nonsense?<br /><br />CJAD needs to get involved, much more involved with this process. Standards for CSCDs will have to be re-written. Misdemeanors will not be supervised. Misdemeanors will pay fees and that will be it. Maybe they will fill out a form every now and again. <br /><br />Public Safety is not the focus of the legislature, obviously they aren't paying attention to empirical research as it relates to evidence based practices.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-67459577515098432942011-03-24T23:02:28.699-05:002011-03-24T23:02:28.699-05:00Anon: Come work in Tyler where the pay is high an...Anon: Come work in Tyler where the pay is high and the police have so little to do that they spend all their time writing twice as many speeding tickets as any other Texas town our side. The lege can write whatever they want. Our guys worry about that stuff? Heck no!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-65854687135349857962011-03-24T22:13:20.950-05:002011-03-24T22:13:20.950-05:00DWI is a social problem/crime needing probation su...DWI is a social problem/crime needing probation supervision more than any other crime. Ignition interlocks, treatment, and supervision of these irresponsible citizens who contribute to society but have alcohol issues is what is needed. Not more laws. As a police officer I can tell you right now we are overloaded with laws and policies. Making more of this nonsence is not what is needed. <br /><br />We in law enforcement have one of the highest turn over rates of all professions. This includes police officers, troopers, deputies, correctional officers, and probation officers This is due to the work load, low pay, cuts in benefits, and cuts in our departments operating budgets all the while saddeling us with more laws while cutting social programs for probation, parole, mental and substance abuse treatment. <br /><br />just my .02cents in case any lawmakers are reading this informative blog.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-17040757472203158382011-03-24T18:48:22.142-05:002011-03-24T18:48:22.142-05:00I stand corrected, Mr. Hobbes.I stand corrected, Mr. Hobbes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-34532689897344466252011-03-24T18:37:41.925-05:002011-03-24T18:37:41.925-05:00Gee, Anon 4:17, you might want to make that three ...Gee, Anon 4:17, you might want to make that <i>three</i> types of caseloads. For whatever reason (although it's probably linked to the fact that pretrial services in Harris County no longer supervises defendants out on a financial bond, Sen. John Whitmire decided to file a bill (SB 880) that would authorize local probation departments, among other things, to supervise bailed defendants, <i>regardless of the type of bond on which they were released</i>.Thomas Hobbeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10832779920216463979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-55361588744319608122011-03-24T17:44:53.923-05:002011-03-24T17:44:53.923-05:00And let me guess: not one fiscal note.
Meanwhile,...And let me guess: not one fiscal note.<br /><br />Meanwhile, I couldn't help but snicker about one tough-on-crime bill which proposes to revoke permanently the driving privileges of anyone receiving their fifth DWI conviction.Don Dicksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04216181226322913663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-20112865541359387122011-03-24T16:17:14.684-05:002011-03-24T16:17:14.684-05:00Unless something is done to restore the misdemeano...Unless something is done to restore the misdemeanor funding, adult probation will consist of two types of felony caseloads: those sized realistically for sex offenders, aggravated assault offenders, and felony DWI offenders, because they are the greatest risk to public safety; and the regular caseloads which will have 200 or more (maybe way more)offenders, some of whom may be seen only every 90 days. The misdemeanor caseloads will be even larger, of course, because the loss of misdemeanor funding will mean that there will be fewer officers around to supervise the cases. Is it madness? Yes. The old saying applies: you get what you pay for, and in the case of adult probation, you may be getting a lot less than you are getting now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com