Pubdate: Sat, 19 Jan 2013
Source: Austin American-Statesman (TX)
Copyright: 2013 Austin American-Statesman
Contact: http://www.statesman.com/default/content/feedback/lettersubmit.html
Website: http://www.statesman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/32

BEING SMART ON CRIME IS BEING TOUGH ON CRIME

Prisons are expensive and "the taxpayers and the business community 
are both being harmed," Hammond said in unveiling a series of 
proposals to fix problems association research has identified. As the 
American-Statesman's Mike Ward reported last week, Hammond said he 
will push to change the state's drug laws to divert low-level 
offenders into local treatment programs and reduce penalties for 
small amounts of drugs. Hammond, a former legislator turned director 
of the state's most influential business lobby, said he would work to 
give some ex-convicts access to state-issued licenses now denied 
convicted felons.

It's a welcome message, but it's not original with Hammond. Former 
District Attorney Ronnie Earle was delivering that sermon throughout 
a law enforcement career that spanned three decades.

Asked for his reaction to Hammond's pronouncement, Earle's comment 
was typically pithy: "TAB just affirmed that the world is round."

Alternatives to incarceration have been a cause celebre with liberals 
for years, arguments about the high cost of staffing and operating 
prisons gained traction with even the most conservative members of 
the Texas Legislature.

State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, and retired State Rep. Jerry 
Madden, R-Richardson, have championed rehabilitation programs and 
presided over the shuttering of Texas prison facilities.

It has been quite a turnaround for a state with a no-nonsense 
reputation on law enforcement. As critics of the "lock 'em up" 
approach have long noted, being tough on crime means you've got to be 
smart on crime. For years, efficiency demands weren't imposed on the 
corrections system, but declining economies have forced policy makers 
to take a hard look at government efficiency   including prisons.

"While the daily cost of probation is $2.92 per person, only $1.40 of 
which comes from taxpayers' dollars, it takes $50.79 per day for 
taxpayers to hold a single inmate in prison. That comes to a total of 
$18,000 per inmate, per year, with Texas currently housing over 
150,000 prisoners," the business association noted in its legislative platform.

After analyzing the return on that $50.79 daily investment in 
incarceration, Hammond and his association pronounced the prison 
approach unproductive. "It doesn't work," Hammond said.

Earle underscored those comments by reiterating his long-standing 
characterization of prisons as "colleges of crime." Not only do 
inmates have the time to teach one another the tricks of the trade, 
limited employment opportunities that await them once they get out - 
and most of them do get out - tempts them to return to crime. Each 
ex-con returning to prison represents money inefficiently spent if not wasted.

"Every dollar spent on prisons that doesn't need to be spent there 
can't be spent on roads, infrastructure, schools and all the other 
priorities that the state needs to have, to have a successful 
business environment. ... An inefficient corrections system hurts 
business with higher taxes," said Marc Levin, director of the Center 
for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a 
conservative think tank. Levin, who is a leader in the national Right 
on Crime campaign, is working with the business group on the proposed changes.

The business association wants to reduce recidivism rates and reduce 
prison costs. "Such reforms include, but are not limited to, finding 
cost-effective alternatives to incarceration through the 
implementation of enhanced probation programs."

The group also wants to enhance employment opportunities for 
ex-offenders by removing legal impediments to obtaining certain 
occupational licenses.

Violent offenders should be locked up, but tossing nonviolent 
convicts in with them doesn't solve problems, it creates them.

The business association's entry into the policy discussion provides 
cover for legislators afraid of being squishy on criminal justice 
issues. You can't be tough on crime unless you're smart on crime and 
throwing money at an inefficient prison system isn't smart.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D