tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post4596530448140915610..comments2024-03-15T05:45:01.402-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: California contemplates big reductions in inmate numbers before SCOTUSGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-69353642324434803852010-12-02T06:51:01.955-06:002010-12-02T06:51:01.955-06:00Actually, Michael, I do believe it - the number is...Actually, Michael, I do believe it - the number is somewhat dated but is all that's available. IMO the reason is that Texas overincarcerates low-risk offenders who aren't likely to re-offend, anyway.<br /><br />BTW, 5:00, it's not just CA. Florida spends $2.5 billion per year on prisons and their GOP governor elect wants to <a href="http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/Rick_Scotts_Prison_Budget_Ideas_111094859.html?ref=859" rel="nofollow">cut a billion from their budget</a>. Mass incarceration is a rich nation's hobby - now that the bills are coming due we can't afford it.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-39735310303899527152010-12-02T05:49:12.711-06:002010-12-02T05:49:12.711-06:00I don't live in Texas anymore. So I say keep p...I don't live in Texas anymore. So I say keep putting assholes in jail. Sooner or later they will get around to the dickheads who post here supporting the corporate prison government/state. It's only a matter of time.zeetynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-10084284477367614882010-12-01T23:54:13.454-06:002010-12-01T23:54:13.454-06:00Scott, you don't really believe that recidivis...Scott, you don't really believe that recidivism in Texas is down to 28%, do you? I mean, half the national average? Come on, those numbers have been tweaked somehow. It is not even reasonable.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-6279587002909389152010-12-01T17:30:42.574-06:002010-12-01T17:30:42.574-06:00A still relevant excerpt from:
Cruel and Unusual ...A still relevant excerpt from:<br /><br />Cruel and Unusual Still<br /><br />by William Wayne Justice<br />Published on: Thursday, April 01, 1999<br /><br />http://www.texasobserver.org/archives/item/13630-1014-cruel-and-unusual-still-<br /><br />“The measure of a prison system’s constitutionality, as always, is not its production of policies, but its treatment of inmates.<br /><br />Texas prison inmates continue to live in fear – a fear that is incomprehensible to most of the state’s free world citizens. More vulnerable inmates are raped, beaten, owned, and sold by more powerful ones. Despite their pleas to prison officials, they are often refused protection. Instead, they pay for protection, in money, services, or sex. Correctional officers continue to rely on the physical control of excessive force to enforce order. Those inmates locked away in administrative segregation, especially those with mental illnesses, are subjected to extreme deprivations and daily psychological harm. Such practices and conditions cannot stand in our society, under our Constitution.”<br /><br />You need to keep in mind most inmates will one day be released so the question is what will they have learned in the process? <br /><br />Judge Justice wanted them to return with less psychological harm done.Alannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-3876993757855844502010-12-01T17:00:51.402-06:002010-12-01T17:00:51.402-06:00I look at California and I don't see all the p...I look at California and I don't see all the problems and the changes. I look at California and think - I wish there were more criminals released to my community.<br /><br />(Left the pesky "the" out)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-90067010975679495672010-12-01T16:58:25.758-06:002010-12-01T16:58:25.758-06:00I look at California and I don't see all probl...I look at California and I don't see all problems and the changes. I look at California and think - I wish there were more criminals released to my community.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-82603579532621059392010-12-01T11:22:52.404-06:002010-12-01T11:22:52.404-06:00I can't really bring myself to thank God for J...I can't really bring myself to thank God for Judge Justice, whose actions were as heavy handed in the opposite direction as were the negatives he sought to correct--but now as the pendulum swings more toward the middle again, I agree that the reforms of the 70's did do a lot of good. <br /><br />But the long sentences for minor crimes and the difficulty of anyone obtaining early parole frustrates me on a daily basis.<br /><br />Sorry, no suggestions here--just venting.Prison Dochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03651611135066437902noreply@blogger.com