Early Voting Begins: Oppose Proposition 4, New Jails

Early voting begins today for the Nov. 6 election, but in an age when television advertising rates make mass education campaigns extremely expensive, I doubt proponents or opponents of new jail construction in Harris and Smith Counties will be running too many television ads, not to mention backers of the statewide Proposition 4, which would issue debt to pay for three new adult prisons and another TYC youth lockup. Luckily, this spoof ad for "Incarcerex" from the Drug Policy Alliance could easily substitute for an educational spot for Texas voters who must decide whether they support building more jails and prisons:



That pretty much sums up why new prisons have been placed before voters: To further the ambitions of politicians who take us for fools. Prison employees oppose new state prisons because the state doesn't adequately staff the ones we've got. At the county level the problem is more complex, but bottom line, overcrowded lockups in Texas stem far more from poor decision making by elected officials than they do concrete public safety demands, especially in Smith and Harris Counties which face controversial jail votes.

Another dose of Incarcerex won't cure what ails Texas corrections, but that's what we'll get if taxpaying voters can be convinced to foot the bill. Grits encourages Texans to vote "No" on Proposition 4, and folks in Harris and Smith Counties should do the same for county jail bonds.

Hat tip: Robert Guest at I Was The State.

Texas' new sex offender law misplaces focus on stranger danger, could make victimization more likely

The Dallas News this weekend offered up two excellent articles by Dianne Jennings and Darlean Spangenberger on Texas new sex offender law, the difficulties prosecuting child sex abuse cases, and treatment programs aimed at reducing recidivism:

• Opening convicts eyes to crime, Oct 21
• Do tough sex laws help or hurt?, Oct 20

Sunday's article on sex offender treatment reports that 26,000 of Texas ~155,000 prisoners are sex offenders, but most receive no treatment while incarcerated. Eighty percent serve their entire sentences with no parole:

Though the Legislature voted to double the treatment program's budget to $4 million, most of the state's incarcerated sex offenders still will get no treatment, said Geralyn Engman, manager of the treatment program at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

The program is part of a larger debate on whether sex offenders can be cured – or at least learn how to manage their impulses.

Effective sex offender treatment has been elusive, experts say.

Still, state officials involved in treatment said 5 percent to 13 percent of sex offenders are rearrested for sex crimes. The only other criminal less likely to reoffend is a convicted murderer, said Allison Taylor, executive director of the Texas Council on Sex Offender Treatment.

A recent state audit of the Texas prison program shows some encouraging results. Reincarceration rates were more than 60 percent lower for offenders who went through the program than for those who did not. Most returning to prison went back for technical violations, not new criminal charges.

Those recidivism numbers are much lower than for other types of offenders - I think most people would be surprised to learn that sex offenders are LESS likely to recidivate than other offenders, and perhaps even more surprised to learn that murderers' recidivism is even lower. It's true, though, if counterintuitive.

For these serious offenses, a typical reason given by the Board of Pardons and Parole for refusing to grant parole is "the nature of the crime." But maybe we're taking the wrong lesson from "the nature of the crime." Right now that phrase is typically invoked to describe the horror of the crime, the effect on the victim, and as an argument for maximizing punishment. Perhaps the nature of the crime might instead imply the need for certain treatment regimens before re-entering the population, or for restorative justice approaches that better respect victims' rights and real needs.

Indeed, Saturday's story focuses on the ironic truth that tougher laws may make things worse for victims, since they or their family may be less likely to report abuse if it means a 25 year minimum or a death sentence for a family member.

"We're focusing on stranger danger," she said of the crackdown, which includes 25-year minimum sentences and the death penalty for some child rapists. "That's not who's molesting the vast majority of our children."

According to federal statistics, juvenile sexual assault victims know their perpetrator a staggering 93 percent of the time. Often, it's a family member. Frequently, it's another child. Rarely is it a stranger.

Texas' push to increase punishment for sex crimes was driven by top state officials wanting to send a "no tolerance" message. Although the laws are politically popular, most such crimes are never reported; those that are prosecuted often end in a plea bargain with a relatively light sentence, and about a third of sexual offenses are committed by juveniles not covered by the enhanced penalties. ...

Parents are reluctant to take a relative or friend to trial; children may make poor witnesses; and despite depictions of the tattooed ex-con hiding in the bushes, most sex offenders look like the harmless guy next door.

"We all have a kind of image of what a monster is ... one of them is that guy lurking out there who's going to kidnap our child and sexually molest and abuse them," said Dr. David Lisak, psychology professor at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, who works with prosecutors, judges and police.

"Unfortunately, the majority of sex crimes involve people like 'Uncle Jimmy,' " he said, "and Uncle Jimmy's not a monster. And all of a sudden we're not so sure Uncle Jimmy should be put in prison."

All of these concerns were raised when the legislation was being debated, but bill proponents wouldn't listen. In an odd twist, the sponsor of Texas' Jessica's Law, Rep. Debbie Riddle (R-Tomball) places any blame on the victims and their families - not ham-handed law-writing - if her new statute causes children to be abused more frequently:

Ms. Riddle said she's confident the new law will deter and punish those who know their victims and strangers – "anybody who has such a hole in their heart, such a high degree of evil, that they would sexually assault or sexually abuse a child."

Such talk sounds good, Dr. Lisak said, but "it's actually very rare that that kind of political reaction makes for good public policy."

Crimes in which a child is snatched by a stranger are extremely unusual, despite public paranoia. Of almost 800,000 missing children in a one-year period, just 115 were victims of a stereotypical kidnapping, and half of those involved sexual assault, according to the Department of Justice.

The legislative changes are "a way for everybody to feel like they've done something that's going to be real helpful – but not have to really deal with the issue," said Dr. Liz Hodges, director of the incest recovery program at The Family Place in Dallas.

Dr. Hodges said a better way to combat child sexual assault would be more affordable counseling services and greater awareness and education to increase reporting.

UPDATE: Michael from Corrections Sentencing linked to this post and offered caveats that I 100% endorse, along with some free advice for Texas pols:

Only one little quibble, Grits. It’s true that most studies show that sex offenders have lower recidivism rates than other offenders, but here are some provisos. Their crimes are harder to detect, it depends on the type of sex offender we’re talking about (drunk one-timer v. sociopath, for example), and many of them recidivate not with new sex offenses but with non-sex crimes. There’s a lot of legislative lunacy done in the name of protecting kids from sex offenders all lumped into one big evil bag, but there are truly some heinous people out there, too, who need serious punishment because treatment doesn’t work on them, as the one offender above admits. That’s why a smart legislature would be funding researchers and treatment providers to get clear pictures of who truly are the low recidivists, who are amenable to treatment, and who can never be trusted. It would be a much wiser investment than the kind of thing the Morning News is documenting in TX and is found just as bad in most other states.

[Oh, and Grits, you guys in TX need to stop letting your legislators eat lead paint and then get quoted. They’re all sounding like this expert American historian.]

See prior, related Grits posts:

• House Corrections Committee: Community-based treatment more effective for sex offenders
• When tough on crime is hard on the coffers
• Are child molesters rational, or not?
  
• Victim advocates oppose sex offender enhancements
• Unintended consequence: Why the death penalty for repeat child molesters would harm children's safety

Youth Commission Roundup

I wanted to point Grits readers to several disparate items related to the Texas Youth Commission:

Joint Legislative Hearing Monday Week
After legislative committees met to discuss TYC in each of the last two weeks, staffers get another week to prepare before yet another hearing, this time by the joint House-Senate committee on TYC Operations and Management, which meets on Monday week at 10 a.m.. Acting TYC executive commissioner Dimitria Pope had to cancel a scheduled speaking engagement in Lubbock at the statewide conference of the Juvenile Justice Association of Texas in order to attend the hearing. Guess who they invited to fill her speaking slot?! (Hint: Initials are GFB.)

Mart Understaffing Means Reduced Orientation Time
The Waco Herald Tribune, one of the better mid-sized papers in the state, had a good article this week by David Doerr (10/18) analyzing changes at TYC's Mart unit, especially focusing on how understaffing has caused TYC management to cut youth orientation periods in half to reduce the number of kids at Mart:

Officials also are trimming down the assessment process at the Mart facility from what used to be about a two-month stay to 30 days. The faster TYC staff can evaluate offenders and send them off to institutions throughout the state, the sooner the youths can adjust to their new surroundings, start treatment programs and earn education credits, Cazabon Braly said.

Sarada Pokuri, a TYC psychologist who evaluates inmates as they come into the unit, said the agency is creating an electronic system to speed up the assessment process. Hiring an additional 12 needed psychologists also will help accelerate processing, she said.

But the agency’s greatest personnel need is juvenile corrections officers.

Lawmakers approved additional funding to reduce the ratio of officers to juveniles throughout the state from more than 20 to 1 in some cases to 12 to 1. More than 145 juvenile corrections officers are needed at the Mart units to meet that standard.

Currently, officers have to work overtime to meet the standard at the orientation unit. At the second Mart unit, which operates as a long-term stay facility, the ratio is closer to 16 to 1, Superintendent Curtis Simmons said.

TYC has hired far fewer JCOs than its lost since the new management came on board, despite Executive director Dimitria Pope's contention that all facilities routinely meet legislative mandated 12-1 staffing ratios. That's obviously not true at Mart, and almost certainly not for most TYC facilities.

How TYC Changes Affect Local Juvie Justice
Another Waco Tribune Herald story by Cindy Culp (10/18), who's written several good articles localizing the TYC story in the Waco area, focuses on the effects of TYC's scandals and reform legislation on the local juvenile justice system. In particular, a local judge is using new reforms as an excuse to make probation lengths longer:

McLennan County’s juvenile judge, Alan Mayfield of the 74th State District Court, said he plans to deal with the new rule by leaving youths on felony probation for longer terms. In the past, a youth who committed a first felony offense would usually be placed on probation for a couple of years. If he stayed out of trouble during that time, he was in the clear.

Now, however, teens who commit a felony likely will be left on probation until they are 18 years old, Mayfield said. That way, if they get out of control later, he will be able to yank their probation and send them to TYC even if those future crimes are just misdemeanors.

While that might seem contrary to the spirit of the reform, Mayfield said he sees few other options. Some misdemeanors are serious offenses, he said, such as carrying a gun or possessing drugs.

Children can stay at the county’s juvenile detention center only for short periods, and placements at private facilities such as boot camps are expensive. The county doesn’t have enough money to put large numbers of youths in such facilities, he said.

That makes little sense to me - if a kid who the judge did not think deserved to go to TYC stays out of trouble and completes a two-year probation stint, the system has done about as well as it can expect to do.

Further extensions may give judges more punitive options in the case of lesser offenses (e.g., all misdemeanor drug crimes are marijuana possession, only), but won't improve public safety and for the most part needlessly increases the chance a kid is sent to TYC. Counties should develop their own community-based options for misdemeanants - the old method of shipping your problems off to somebody else won't work anymore.

I similarly fail to see the wisdom in sending misdemeanants to private boot camps, which have a record as spotty or worse than TYC itself as far as abusing kids in their charge. Under SB 103 local officials are still legally accountable for how kids are treated, even when they're out of sight and mind, so I don't see much wisdom in handing them off to the boot camp folks, who are mainly out to make a buck. (See this recent report from the GAO on boot camp shortcomings.)

Culp also describes how changes in prosecution authority may relieve McLennan County investigators and prosecutors who weren't really equipped to handle such cases. Good reporting from along the Brazos on this topic.

Cleaning Up Victory Field
After the Ombudsman suggested to the Legislature and the media that the Victory Field unit in Vernon be closed, staff and youth at that agency apparently immediately began a rapid-fire cleanup effort. I was forwarded an email from a VCFA employee the next day that read,

Staff:
Great job cleaning yesterday. We should be ready for the team that will be on campus today and tomorrow. If they talk to us, we should be very positive about all of VFCA.

Another forwarded internal email declared,

The kids are so sleepy today that they can not keep their heads up. They were up until after 12:am cleaning on the dorms. If they would keep this place clean on a daily basis instead of just when “company” is coming once every 6 months!

Yup, that would be nice, wouldn't it?

See recent, related Grits posts:

• Harrell: Victory Field "closest thing" to Coke County
• TYC's conservator report now online
• Pope: Staff still using pepper spray either "corrupt" or lack "reading comprehension"
• Open Thread: What should the Legislature know about TYC
• Ed Owens: Get me out now! New York Times covers mounting Youth Commission troubles
• Texas Senate Committee begins long march toward private prison oversight

130 Houston lawyers, 70%of Grits readers say: 'Sanction CCA Presiding Judge Sharon Keller'

So the results from Grits' weekly reader poll are in, with just over 300 Grits readers expressing an opinion on the subject, "Should Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller be sanctioned for refusing to accept a 20-minute late death penalty appeal without consulting her colleagues?"

Seventy percent of Grits readers agreed Keller should be sanctioned - 19 percent believed the sanctions should be something less than termination of her employment as Texas' highest criminal court judge, while a dominating 51% of Grits readers said Keller should be removed from office.

By contrast, 9% of readers thought Keller did the right thing, and 21% said she was "technically" right but "morally" wrong.

For myself, I waffled on this question. I was prepared to believe she was technically in the right, but now I don't think so. If it were only that she'd been a stickler for the timeline, you could make that case. But Keller wasn't the duty judge that night, so that means she usurped the authority of the person who should have made the decision - and that judge has publicly said she would have stayed the case.

So, believing she deserves sanction, that leaves determining the appropriate punishment. Again, part of me leans toward a temporary suspension or limited sanctions, just because the recommendation to remove a high court judge potentially threatens judicial independence and overturns the will of the voters. But if you believe Keller violated the judicial canons in a way that denied a condemned man access to the justice system hours before his death, the gravity of the issue demands her removal from office, in my opinion, not just her sanction.

These survey results come amid more rumblings from the grassroots urging the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct, reports the Houston Chronicle ("More lawyers join criticism of Keller," Oct. 18):

Joining a swelling tide of criticism, 130 attorneys from Harris County have filed a judicial conduct complaint condemning the actions of Judge Sharon Keller, who presides over the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

The latest complaint against Keller, filed late Wednesday by the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, also was signed by state District Judge Susan Criss of Galveston, retired state District Judge Jay W. Burnett and six regular citizens.

Keller has come under fire since she ordered the court clerk's office to close promptly at 5 p.m. on Sept. 25, denying death row inmate Michael Richard more time to file paperwork requesting a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court. He was executed a little more than three hours later.

Another complaint was filed previously with the state Commission on Judicial Conduct by 20 Texas attorneys, including former State Bar President Broadus Spivey, Houston defense attorneys Dick DeGuerin and Stanley Schneider and University of Houston Law Center professor Michael Olivas.

That group is being represented by Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project.

Congrats to Houston criminal defense lawyer-blogger Mark Bennett for spearheading this complaint and getting it done. See prior Grits discussions on this story for more detail - these topics have been hashed out pretty thoroughly in Grits' comments.

UPDATE: A former briefing attorney for the Court of Criminal Appeals finds Judge Keller's decision reprehensible and contrary to her own experience at the court, wondering if the judge is "dumb or just mean."

Meanwhile, Burnt Orange Report reminds us that non-lawyers who'd like to join a formal complaint against Keller may do so here. Also, Rep. Jessica Farrar has filed her own complaint with the commission, which BOR has placed online here.

NUTHER UPDATE: R.G. Ratcliffe at the Houston Chronicle analyzes Keller's most controversial rulings.

Texas jail commissary corruption may run deeper than anyone knew

Mid America Services, the Dallas-based company that allegedly bribed the Potter County Sheriff to receive jail commissary contracts, was also at the center of bribery accusations that let to the indictment but ultimate dismissal of similar charges against then-Dallas County Sheriff Jim Bowles in 2004. Reported the Dallas News, the

Dallas-based company [was] at the center of an earlier case – which has since been dropped – against former Dallas County Sheriff Jim Bowles.

Sheriff Michael Shumate, 58, is accused of accepting bribes from Mid-America Services Inc., which handles food services at the Potter County Jail.

His attorney pointed to other investigations of his client in the past two years that resulted in no charges.

Sheriff Bowles was indicted in 2004 on a felony charge of misapplication of fiduciary property. He was accused of transferring more than $100,000 of campaign donations to personal checking and investment accounts.

Those charges grew out of a special prosecutor's investigation of former Mid-America Services Chairman Jack Madera and his dealings with Texas sheriffs and county officials.

A state district judge dismissed the charges against Sheriff Bowles in 2004, the same year that a felony indictment against Mr. Madera was thrown out. Mr. Madera died of cancer later that year.

Wednesday's indictment alleges that Sheriff Shumate engaged in organized criminal activity by taking illegal contributions from Mid-America. He did not report the contributions on his campaign finance reports as required by state law, according to a news release from the attorney general's office in Austin.

The same charge was leveled against Mid-America and its current president, Robert Austin Jr., who are accused of giving Mr. Shumate the money to retain the jail contract, District Attorney Randall Sims said.

Sounds to me like it's time to revive that special prosecutor's investigation against Mid America Services, which holds other jail commissary contracts around the state including in Tarrant County. The Bexar County Sheriff recently had to step down to avoid a commissary-related felony bribery rap involving a different company, Premier Management Enterprises, which also just lost its contract in Kleberg County over similar allegations. (Thankfully, commissaries in adult Texas prisons are operated by TDCJ.)

It's clear that Texas needs to perform a comprehensive investigation/audit of county jail commissary contracts statewide. The obvious entity to investigate would be Attorney General Greg Abbott. But that would anger a lot of local pols and generate entirely predictable blowback, so I'm not holding my breath for him to do that. Otherwise, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards lacks the staff and perhaps the expertise and authority. The State Auditor might be another agency that could investigate in greater detail. Or perhaps one of the legislative committees on criminal justice will include the subject in an interim study.

But since none of that is likely to happen anytime soon, for now I'd call on every local newspaper and media outlet in the state (including any ambitious bloggers) to talk to your local Sheriffs' Office. Find out if commissary services are contracted or performed in house, and if it's a contract, file open records requests for all the communications you can lay your hands on between the company and the department, particularly the Sheriff. Odds are, similar corruption is going on elsewhere that nobody has uncovered yet.

Here's more detail from the Attorney General's press packet regarding the Potter County indictments:

Media Links

Kenneth Farren indictment No.1

Kenneth Farren Indictment No. 2

Robert Austin engaging in organized criminal activity - bribery indictment

Mid-America Services engaging in organized criminal activity - bribery indictment

Michael Shumate engaging in organized criminal activity - bribery indictment

Michael Shumate accepting illegal contribution indictment No. 1

Michael Shumate accepting illegal contribution indictment No. 2

What Would Jesus Do about uncorroborated snitch testimony?

It really is time right now to demand corroboration for testimony in court by criminals who receive leniency for their own crimes. I don't think it overstates the case to say the integrity of the entire justice system is at stake.

I can't stand to read too many more stories' like Clay Chabot's. He's the latest Texas convict for whom a new trial was ordered after DNA evidence concluded the primary witness against him in 1986 committed "aggravated perjury," according to Mike Ware of the Dallas County DA's office.

Bottom line, the real rapist accused another man who may not have even been there. The man he accused spent 21 years in prison, while the snitch walked, sentenced to time served on a misdemeanor theft charged. Reported the Houston Chronicle ("DNA evidence leads to new trial for inmate after 21 years," Oct. 19):

[Gerald] Pabst testified that he helped tie up Crosby [the victim], but that Chabot raped and killed her. Chabot told police he had not been involved in Crosby's death and was home with his family. But Pabst testified that Chabot was there seeking revenge for a drug deal gone bad.

Chabot was convicted of the rape and murder, and Pabst was released for time already served on a misdemeanor theft charge, according to the district attorney's office.

The argument for allowing compensated snitch testimony (paid for by either cash or reduced culpability for crimes they've committed), is that Texas law currently leaves assessing witnesses' credibility entirely to a jury. So somehow, the argument goes, it would take away jurors' "rights" to require corroboration.

I say thats a bunch of horsehockey. Prejudicial evidence may be excluded from the jury's consideration for any number of reasons. More importantly, the "let the liars testify" argument ignores solid research that shows deception and lying often succeeds. People are commonly fooled by liars. You CAN fool some of the people some of the time, not infrequently including prosecutors, judges and jurors.

At the Deception blog recently I was interested, if unsurprised, as a parent, to learn that, "according to a study by Leif A. Strömwall, Pär Anders Granhag and Sara Landström, by the ages of 11-14, children are able to deceive adults 54% of the time, when given the chance to prepare their lies (and even when they can’t prepare the figure is 43% …)." Indeed, even babies are able to deceive their parents!

How much more effective would an adult liar be, especially one hyper-motivated because their own life and freedom were at stake?

Given that some people clearly are effective, believable liars, well-practiced from an early age, how can a conviction be obtained "beyond a reasonable doubt" when we rely on jurors' assessment of the credibility of someone they don't know, particularly when that person is compensated and has a huge motivation to lie?

Clay Chabot's case shows how deal-cutting for testimony can corrupt the judicial process, suborn perjurious testimony and ultimately cause wrongful convictions. Adding insult to injury, after the trial Dallas prosecutors let the snitch who actually committed the rape free to return to the community, where one speculates he probably went on to commit more crimes.

Requiring corroboration for eyewitnesses, even those who aren't compensated, dates as a legal concept at least back to Mosaic Law which required that, "One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established." (Deuteronomy 19:15) Christ formally affirmed this doctrine as part of the New Testament covenant in Matthew 18: 15-16, as the Apostle Paul did in Second Corinthians.

I don't know the history about when, why, or by whom requirements for corroboration of witnesses were discarded from western legal and religious canons, but every time I see a case like Clay Chabot's, I think the rule needs to stage a comeback.

If you had 1,200 pounds of marijuana in the back of your semi, would you consent to a police search?

Supposedly this guy did, but it sounds really unlikely to me.

If Governor Perry hadn't vetoed legislation in 2005 requiring written or recorded consent for searches at traffic stops, it would be possible to know for sure.

Judges appoint cronies over more experienced lawyers in Houston juvie courts

Why do Harris County juvenile court judges refuse appointments to board-certified juvenile attorneys while giving lucrative assignments to their less qualified friends? That's the question Rick Casey asks in his Houston Chronicle column this morning, and it's a good 'un. Reports Casey:

Since somewhere around three-quarters of defendants in juvenile court get court-appointed attorneys, such cases are a major source of income for more than a few lawyers, especially those who are tight with the judges.

John Devlin, for example, is Judge John Phillips' campaign treasurer and former law partner. Devlin had been paid $167,475 for work in the three juvenile courts this year, as of Aug. 1. More than $90,000 came from Phillips' court.

Former Harris County Republican Party Chairman Gary Polland has done even better, earning $187,056 this year as of Aug. 1.

Neither of these lawyers is board-certified in juvenile law, a level of recognition earned by demonstrating experience in a specialized area and passing a rigorous exam.

Harris County has just 14 board-certified juvenile lawyers. One is Judge Pat Shelton, two are associate judges and two are prosecutors.

Only nine are defense attorneys, meaning that in one fell swoop the judges deprived Harris County juveniles of the services of one-third of the county's board-certified attorneys.

Why? All three of the attorneys said they have been given no reasons, though they have theories.

The three juvenile judges last spring published new procedures for being added to or removed from the list of eligible attorneys. It sets some basic qualifications: one year in practice, observing various types of hearings, demonstrating "professionalism and reliability when interacting with juvenile court judges and staff."

And they must be "approved by a secret ballot by a majority of the Harris County Juvenile Judges.

The three board-certified lawyers denied appointments, Casey reports, believe they're being retaliated against by the judges for diligently doing their job. One of the attorneys "said it was possible her offense was too aggressively representing her clients. The judges like to 'move' their dockets and prefer lawyers who arrange quick plea bargains."

In any event, aren't juvenile cases subject to Fair Defense Act? I thought that 2001 statute was supposed to stop this kind of foolishness. I don't understand how these judges get to avoid using a "wheel" or other neutral selection process for juvie lawyers. Giving disproportionate appointments to your own campaign treasurer or the county chairman of your own political party certainly strikes me as presenting an appearance of an ethics violation, and possibly an actual one.

Read the whole thing, and also Casey's column on Wednesday about the kind of lawyers these judges DO like to appoint.

Report: Kids bounced from regular classrooms more likely to commit crimes

Texas Appleseed has produced a new study showing that some school districts use their discretion to kick kids out of regular classrooms into "alternative" programs at extremely high rates - 167 of the more than 1,000 Texas school districts referred kids at more than twice the statewide rate. Reports the Austin Statesman:

The report documents disparities among districts in how students are treated and recommends more standardized rules and increased state oversight.

"Where you go to school, and not your behavior, dictates whether you'll be referred" to an alternative education program, Lewis said.

Researchers for the group said that a history of disciplinary referrals is the single most important factor in determining whether a student will drop out of school. The alternative programs are often the last step for troubled youths before they enter the criminal justice system.

The report found that alternative education students are five times as likely to drop out as their peers in mainstream schools.

Appleseed Executive Director Rebecca Lightsey said that numerous studies have established a link between school dropouts and incarceration. Eighty percent of all Texas prison inmates are school dropouts, and one in three Texas Youth Commission inmates is a dropout, according to the Appleseed report.

When a student is suspended or removed from a classroom for violating school conduct policies, officials can refer that student to an alternative classroom. But in many cases, such placements are not required, and districts have the choice of imposing other sanctions, such as in-school or at-home suspensions.

So, kids sent to alternative schools are more likely to drop out, and those who drop out are more likely to wind up in TYC or in prison. Is anyone really surprised? Here's the full report (pdf, 136 pages).

From the Blogs

I just wanted to mention a few Texas blogs that have been producing remarkable stuff recently, in many cases on topics I've neglected, that may interest Grits readers:

• Texas Civil Rights Review
• Friends of Justice
• Austin Criminal Defense Lawyer
• Defending People
  

Also, a new Houston Copwatch blog is up and running with regular posts, and hopefully will find a much-needed niche as an alternative police beat blog in H-Town. My suggestion for Copwatcher-bloggers: Go sit through the civil service commission hearings and report what happens. I bet you'd be stunned at what you find.

Finally, Doc Berman at Sentencing Law and Policy has been on fire recently, and I'd suggest those interested in the topics he covers just start at the top and keep scrolling. Good job, Doc!

Who are the big American drug bosses?

I meant to write about this article when it came out, but since I didn't get to a full analysis, I wanted to at least pose the question from Dane Schiller at the Houston Chronicle (Oct. 8): "Why no big drug bosses this side of the border?"

For the record, I think there ARE big drug bosses on this side of the border. Look at the pile of money from this now famous picture taken at a bust in a wealthy Mexico City suburb earlier this year: The pile of colored paper in the front are Mexican pesos, while the familiar colored stacks behind them are good ol' American greenbacks. That tells me the money guys are Americans, not Mexican capos. I wonder, like officials in Colombia and Mexico, why we know so much about organized crime in Latin America, but so little about crime bosses here:

"I certainly would love to see where is the Pablo Escobar of Texas," Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos, who was once kidnapped by Escobar, said on a recent visit to Houston. "I would love to know."

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox shared Santos' concern.

"That is the question I always ask myself," Fox said recently by phone from California. His speaking tour comes to Houston next week. "Who crosses or permits the drugs to be crossed at the border, and when on the U.S. side of the border, who transports the drugs to the markets of this great nation?"

Governor Perry's border security council guru Fred Burton says those kind of kingpins don't exist here because, "Our law enforcement efforts are too good. Our intelligence is too good and we don't have the vast corruption." Maybe so; I hope he's right. OTOH, the same Mr. Burton nine days later released a study that said Texas is potentially vulnerable to border-region drug violence because law enforcement is "poorly coordinated, undersupplied and sometimes corrupt."

That would be closer to my own assessment. It's hard to argue with that huge stack of American cash, and hard not to wonder who in America is responsible for the distribution and profits from Mexican cartel suppliers?

Happenings: Stuff to read

Before getting back to a few extant TYC-related topics, I wanted to point Grits readers to several news and blog items I've seen this week:

More full county jails
Hays County south of Austin has a full jail, while the just-indicted Potter County's Sheriff (neighboring Amarillo) says he's not to blame for jail overcrowding. Some Howard County residents would rather live without a jail than pay to build a new one.

Interviewing Howard Witt
Shawn at the Dallas South blog has a terrific set of interviews with Chicago Tribune reporter Howard Witt (see the complete interview here), whose writing about Shaquanda Cotton and the Jena 6 put both cases on the national stage. Good job, Shawn.

Another reason why Texas prisons are full
Prosecutors seeking long, mandatory sentences for low-level, nonviolent crimes.

Professional snitch at center of "attempted capital murder" conspiracy
This case from Tyler sounds like a tangled web, and you have to wonder whether police didn't create more crime by leaving this guy out on the streets. The informant, an alleged former crack addict and thief, was arrested for burglary just one month after the investigation. He assisted police 'first to "work off' a drug charge and then for money." The drug dealer who allegedly conspired to murder the informant began a "life sentence in November 2006 for selling crack cocaine to the informant and has three pending delivery charges."

Dogfighters as victims?
Sometimes it's not just the dogs victimized in dog fighting. Reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "Authorities have also been told about 'crews' of robbers with inside knowledge about high-stakes dogfights who follow the big winners to their homes, threaten them and make off with their winnings."

Will 'Plan Mexico' work as well as poppy eradication in Afhghanistan?
Asks The Mex Files. Readers may recall this Grits profile of Dyncorp, the company paid for drug eradication in Afghanistan and South America who would likely benefit from "Plan Mexico."

More jail commissary corruption alleged

This time in Potter County. Another recent bribery scandal involving the commissary in Bexar County resulted in the Sheriff's indictment and removal from office.

UPDATE: Meanwhile, the Rockwall County DA has been indicted for allegedly dipping into government funds to pay his monthlies. For whatever reason (the prosecutions appear uncoordinated), we've been seeing a lot of official corruption cases over the last couple of years.

No wonder a new report found that "The U.S. side of the border is vulnerable [to increased drug violence] because ... law enforcement is poorly coordinated, undersupplied and sometimes corrupt." If you think law enforcement corruption is just a Mexican problem, amigo, you've got another "think" coming.

TYC Conservator Report Finally Online

Departing Youth Commission conservator Ed Owens ducked today's House Corrections hearing due to a family emergency, but TYC has finally produced his long-awaited conservator's report. It's now posted online on the agency's website.

I haven't read the full thing, but this line jumped out at me:

"During the period of assessment by the consultant hired to examine the agency’s executive administrative operations, the culture was characterized by mixed value systems, a top down communication system, an attitude of indifference towards subordinate staff and agency customer base, indecisiveness and ‘absent leadership.’"

Uh ... do you think? That's quite a statement to make about your own management as you're skulking out the door!

The report also includes this document giving the self-reported status of implementation of the State Auditor's report from this spring.

UPDATE: After an unusual overnight delay, the archived video from yesterday's House Corrections Committee hearing is now online.

Pope: Staff still using pepper spray either "corrupt" or lack "reading comprehension"

"As best as I know," said acting TYC Commissioner Dimitria Pope to the House Corrections Committee, all agency staff have all been fully informed that a lawsuit settlement changed the pepper spray policy to rescind the August 2 directive allowing its more frequent use.

Those who aren't following the proper policy are "corrupt," she said, or suffered from a lack of "reading comprehension."

I happen to have a copy of the memo from Billy Humphrey she referenced in her testimony (September 28, 2007). Read it over and tell me, if you were a JCO, when this policy tells staff to use pepper spray?

This memo has been reviewed and approved by the Office of General Counsel for TYC.

Pursuant to the terms of the Agreed Order of the Court, the Texas Youth Commission will suspend the enforcement of the terms of the Executive Director #2 FY 07 and will enstead enforce the provisions of its use of force rule codified at 37 Tex. Admin. Code Sec. 97.23.

37 Tex. Admin. Code Sec. 97.23 does not and never did totally prohibit the use [sic] OC Spray. It must be determined that the threat to the youth and staff warrant the use of OC Spray as the least restrictive and most appropriate use of physical force. Clearly the importance of the use of OC Spray in our facilities is to protect the youth from unintentional injuries possible with the use of other restraint.

What does that mean in concrete terms? I don't know. To me, the final line seems to imply that the General Counsel and Billy Humphrey want OC sprayed used instead of "restraint," which appears to contradict the lawsuit settlement.

I'm not sure that memo gave clear guidance to employees as to exactly when to use what level of force. See this prior Grits discussion of the two policies.

Harrell: Victory Field "closest thing to Coke County"

Before I run out for the morning, I should mention: Texas Youth Commission Ombudsman Will Harrell testified to the House Corrections Committee that, although he'd seen problems at every facility, that the "closest thing to Coke County is Victory Field."

He also said the abuse "hotline" has significant problems for which he blamed the vendor. There are four numbers, Harrell said; three of them didn't work and the fourth one left him on hold for ten minutes before someone answered. The hotline operator told her "the lines were full" at 9:30 at night! If so, there must be more complaints out there than we've been informed.

The news flash of the morning: Lots of TYC kids in non-mental health specific facilities have unmet mental health needs. Shocking, huh?

UPDATE: Just back in time to hear Dimitria Pope dispute Harrell's assessment of Victory Field. Although Harrell had produced a damning report on the Coke County facility (that Pope claims she never read) that her own, later investigation corroborated, Pope said she "trusted" two new hires from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards more than she did Harrell. Ouch!

One wonders: Why have an Ombudsman if the Commissioner won't take his work seriously or follow up on what he says?

MORE: From the Austin Statesman on Harrell and Victory Field, and more from the McAllen Monitor. In the Houston Chronicle Harrell said, "If I were king, I'd shut it down today."

County should try alternatives before more jail building

The Tyler Morning Telegraph this morning published an op ed I wrote opposing new Smith County jail bonds, but as a long letter to the editor instead of a column. See here. The crux of the argument:

If the jail problem is so bad it is worth spending $125 million to solve, voters should demand officials first use tools they already have to better manage overcrowding problems. To justify so much new borrowing, jail builders must be able to show they’ve tried everything else to solve the problem. Right now in Smith County that’s not the case.

Smith County voters will decide on November 6 whether to issue new debt to build the jail; two smaller jail proposals were rejected last year, and I'm hoping Tyler voters show the same good sense this time.

See prior related Grits posts:

• Debate intensifies over Tyler's $125 million 'Taj Mahal' jail
  
• Architect: Voters should accept nine-figure pricetag for new jail
  
• Tyler's jail alternative saves $1 million in first nine month
  
• Smith County voters have more options than building Taj Mahal jail
• Tyler's day reporting center reduces overcrowding, saves money
• 'Unsellable' Tyler jail still too small
• Tyler's Alternative Incarceration Center opens; DA thinks no one qualifies
• Tyler judge: End jail overcrowding with community supervision of nonviolent offenders
• More on Tyler's alternatives to jail overcrowding
• Incarceration Alternatives: From Smith County, a plan emerges
• Update: Tyler Alternative Incarceration Plan, Day Reporting Center funded
• Tyler voters: Jail bonds a 'No-No"
• Jail bond vote may become annual affair in Tyler

Youth Commission Open Thread: What should the Legislature know about TYC and SB 103?

For those who missed Friday's hearing on monitoring of private youth prisons by the Texas Youth Commission (and who don't have 3.5 hours to watch the proceedings online), the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition has summarized the main points from the speakers and legislators.

Tomorrow morning the House Corrections Committee will analyze a separate but equally important topic: the Youth Commission's implementation of SB 103, the reform legislation passed this spring.

There's definitely a lot to discuss. To TYC employees and anyone else interested in the agency, use the comments as an Open Thread to say:

What would you tell the Texas Legislature about SB 103 and its implementation?

What questions should legislators ask?

Here's the text of the bill as finally passed, to refresh your memory about what they'll be talking about.

Also, whaddya think? Will Ed Owens will show up to present his first, last, and only conservator's report? This hearing may be his swan song. Or in Owens' case, it's more like an ostrich opera.

UPDATE: This morning (10/17), I culled a "greatest hits" version of the questions and comments from this string and emailed them to members of the House Corrections Committee and key staff. Thanks, folks, for the good discussion!

Annie E. Casey Foundation active in Texas on juvenile justice

Thanks to an email from TCJC I discover that the Annie Casey Foundation held a national conference last month in Dallas on juvenile justice alternatives, and also get more information about a new project they've funded in Houston.

Conference on Reducing Over-Use of Juvenile Detention Held in Dallas Discussion included best practices & accomplishments

The Annie E. Casey Foundation's Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) funds local juvenile jurisdictions to develop data-driven solutions to juvenile detention overcrowding. The 15th annual JDAI Inter-Site Conference was held from September 25-27, 2007, in Dallas, TX.

At the conference, 500 juvenile practitioners from various JDAI sites gathered to discuss major accomplishments, share information, and review best practices. Browse through the JDAI Inter-Site Conference 2007 website to look at some of the presentations and handouts from the workshops.

A new report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Beyond Detention: System Transformation Through Juvenile Detention Reform, finds that sites with nationally renowned juvenile detention reform initiatives see major improvements within their juvenile justice systems as a whole. The report also suggests that key detention reform strategies help young people re-integrate into their communities more effectively and reduce recidivism.

Houston Receives Grant that will Reduce Juvenile Detention Overcrowding

Grant Promises a Solution to Chronic Problem

The Annie E. Casey Foundation has given Harris County a $300,000 grant to implement alternative measures to placing non-violent youth in juvenile detention. Research shows that juveniles who are detained are more likely to end up in TYC facilities and Texas prisons.

Analysts and researchers will work with juvenile court judges, juvenile probation, prosecutors and community members to develop solutions while maintaining public safety. Read the full story.

Browse through their website if you're interested in juvenile corrections, not just the conference materials, but also their Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative "Help Desk" website, which has a wealth of information on it.

Munoz: Jail Standards Commission regulates few private prisons in Texas

Interested in learning more about private prison regulation in light of the recent scandals with the GEO group at TYC and in Dickens County, I emailed the director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, Adan Munoz, to request a copy of the testimony and handouts he submitted last week to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. (See Munoz's testimony here.)

I think most people would be amazed at how understaffed they are at the Commission on Jail Standards, and even so, under Munoz IMO it's done a good job. The agency's total number of inspectors: 4 (yes, four), cover nearly 300 facilities all over the state. By comparison, the Texas Youth Commission had SEVEN full-time staff assigned to monitor the Coke County facility, and look what happened there!

Most jails are inspected only once annually, and the commission may have little ability to enforce its standards beyond threatening to shut down a jail entirely, a difficult choice that obviously would have political ramifications.

Munoz told the Senate committee that TCJS only regulates private contractors if they house county jail prisoners. However, if a facility DOES house county prisoners, TCJS inspects and considers itself responsible for all offenders in the facility, even federal prisoners or immigration detainees, because the county government, ultimately, is responsible for everyone housed there.

All told, about 11,000 prisoners are currently housed in private prisons or jails regulated by TCJS, most of them county or federal prisoners. However, that still leaves most private-prison firms unregulated in Texas beyond minimal oversight by contracting agencies (TDCJ, TYC, etc.). For example, according to Munoz's testimony, TCJS only regulates six of the GEO Group's 18 detention centers the company currently operates in Texas.

Of those six regulated facilities, he said, one was consistently in non-compliance: The Dickens unit where the inmate was housed whose mother testified Friday to the Senate Committee about his suicide. In its last two inspections, Dickens was non-compliant regarding "staffing" and "life safety issues," which incidentally strongly corroborates Ms. Noble's point about the conditions to which her son was subjected.

Before 2003, said Munoz, TCJS also had statutory oversight over five other private prisons that housed only federal or immigration detainees through intergovernmental agreements with counties. But a little-noticed bill that year, HB 3517, removed TCJS jurisdiction over over those facilities - three of them run by the GEO Group and two run by private prison vendor MTC:

So a facility could be operating with less than optimal staff, it could be overcrowded or it can continue to have infrastructure problems, but the Commission on Jail Standards has no authority to verify this through the inspection process or force coercive action.

Given news from Dickens and Coke Counties, God knows what kind of squalor these inmates are living in - they've been abandoned by the state of Texas. In addition, private facilities that contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice aren't regulated by TCJS, only through TDCJ contract oversight (unless they also happen to house county prisoners). TDCJ chief Brad Livingston told the committee the agency contracts for more than 17,000 beds statewide, only a handful of which (see below) are regulated by TCJS.

For my own future convenience, and on behalf of interested readers, I've compiled this spreadsheet of the private facilities TCJS regulates, where they are, what counties or other agencies they contract with, and how many beds they operate. As always, Texas Prison Bidness is the go-to blog on private prison issues in Texas for those looking for more information.

Private Prisons Regulated by Texas
Commission on Jail Standards, 10/07

USMS = US Marshal's Service
BOP = Federal Bureau of Prisons
ICE = Immigration and Customs Enforcement
DOC = Department of Corrections
TDCJ = Texas Department of Criminal Justice