Criminal Law

Public Defender bumper stickers

Posted on February 16, 2010
My pal Carol at Public Defender Revolution! is suggesting PD bumper sticker ideas. I like these: Visit PD Revolution to offer more suggestions.

TDCJ proposes 5% budget cuts

Posted on February 16, 2010
Though the agency requested an exemption from budget cuts, here's the proposal (pdf) the Texas Department of Criminal Justice submitted to state leadership yesterday regarding how it would cut 5% from its budget without closing any prison units - mostly by laying off more than 3,000 employees...

On the limits of price theory as punishment theory

Posted on February 15, 2010
When debating theories of punishment, frequently one hears metaphors rooted in free-market capitalism's classical price theory, where punishment is considered the "price" for certain aberrant behavior and (theoretically) a higher price supposedly deters the unwanted behavior...

Roundup

Posted on February 15, 2010
These recent headlines caught my eye and may interest Grits readers:Critics blast informant system cloaked in secrecy, NPRThe FBI, the justice system and your cell phone, Wall Street JournalFeds push for tracking cell phones, CNet NewsHow many more are innocent?, Radley Balko, ReasonProblem solving justice: How well is it working?, The Crime ReportWilliamson County DA smarts at minimum punishment handed down by visiting judge, Austin StatesmanProsecutor new US Attorney in Houston, South Texas, AP

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Stuff to read by other folks

Posted on February 14, 2010
Check out some excellent recent posts at these sites I've been perusing this morning:Texas Prison BidnessDefending PeopleCalifornia Corrections CrisisGoverning Through CrimeSustainable Prisons Project (see especially the posts on beekeeping)Rethinking ReentryPardon PowerThe Crime ReportAlso, the November Coalition has been regularly updating its web page on "Snitching," including a great deal of recent coverage.

Hawaii's HOPE program reporting outstanding results

Posted on February 14, 2010
I ran across an encouraging DOJ-sponsored analysis of outcomes from the HOPE program in Hawaii - a much-praised strong probation regimen emphasizing short incarceration stints in response to probation violations. Here are the topline results:In a one-year observation period, HOPE probationers were55% less likely to be arrested for a new crime,72% less likely to use drugs,61% less likely to skip appointments 53% less likely to have their probation revokedAs a result, they served or were sentenced to, on average, 48% fewer days of incarceration than the control group...

Reduced training for DPS troopers

Posted on February 13, 2010
Texas DPS troopers will now receive 1/3 less training than in the past before being deployed onto the streets, the Houston Chronicle reported this week:Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said reducing the length of academy training will shave costs, increase recruitment and lead to more frequent classes...

Tidbits from TDCJ board meeting

Posted on February 12, 2010
A couple of items came up at yesterday's Texas Board of Criminal Justice meeting that may interest Grits readers:Understaffing problems alleviatedThe economic downturn has apparently made TDCJ guard jobs more attractive. Executive Director Brad Livingston reported that as of January 31, TDCJ had just 512 vacancies among correctional officer slots, down from around 4,000 vacancies in fall of 2007...

Harris judicial races getting thorough blog coverage

Posted on February 12, 2010
IMO the blogosphere is at its best when folks focus on a particular niche and provide much more detail than the mainstream media or other available outlets on the issues of the day, so I've been pleased to see Houston bloggers Charles Kuffner, David Jennings, and Murray Newman covering Harris County judicial elections, providing more depth and attention than other local media and helping generate conversations about races that rarely receive much attention...

MSM acknowledges possible TX prison closures

Posted on February 11, 2010
It's not news at this point to Grits readers that state officials are considering prison closures in the face of looming budget shortfalls predicted for next year in order to protect recent diversion programs from being scrapped, but this morning the possibility was broached in the MSM by Mike Ward at the Austin Statesman, who reports ("State officials consider closing some prisons," Feb...

Here and There: Briefs

Posted on February 11, 2010
Here are a few notable criminal justice stories I'd blog about individually if I had more time:Judge: Costs for immigration prosecutions 'neither meritorious nor reasonable'Austin District Judge Sam Sparks last week questioned the wisdom of spending money to incarcerate otherwise harmless immigrants over "illegal reentry," declaring that the practice "presents a cost to the American taxpayer ...

Rethinking probation as primary punishment

Posted on February 11, 2010
Beaumont probation director Jim Stott offered this optimistic wish in Grits' comments to this post: "I hope that one day, we can effectively argue that prison is the alternative, not probation." That's an at-once ambitious and also a rather pedestrian goal - one that certainly should be achievable if the Texas Legislature continues to focus on the problem...

An 'unrepentant, hard-right conservative' was 'forced to agree' with prison diversion 'based on the facts'

Posted on February 10, 2010
Former House Corrections Committee Chairman Ray Allen had this to say about cutting corrections budgets in light of the coming 2011 budget crunch faced by the Texas Legislature:That 2003 budget cutting of probation, parole and treatment programs backfired...

SAPD won't examine DNA in possible innocence cases: DA should step in

Posted on February 10, 2010
The San Antonio PD will test a handful of old rape kits found in storage out of more than 5,000 discovered, reports KENS-5 News:For the past three months, SAPD has gone back through its 5,191 untested kits to determine which ones need to be tested. The department discovered 57 of the reported untested kits had actually been tested but had not been updated in the department?s records...

Youth crime declines as TX juvie prisons empty: What explains it?

Posted on February 10, 2010
Doug Berman at Sentencing Law & Policy pulled a fascinating fact-bite out of Marc Levin's most recent report (pdf) from the Texas Public Policy Foundation that deserves more vigorous discussion:juvenile crime has markedly declined at the same time Texas has reduced the number of youths in state institutions by 52...

Accidents Will Happen

Posted on February 09, 2010
The title of this post is the headline to a story by Brandi Grissom at the Texas Tribune published today on the subject of errors in Texas Department of Public Safety accident reports. Here are some notable excerpts:State troopers turned in hundreds of error-riddled accident reports in 2007 and 2008, according to an internal audit report compiled by the Texas Department of Public Safety last year...

Levin on crime, costs and Texas justice

Posted on February 09, 2010
I've got a couple of Marc Levin's recent reports on my to-blog list from the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Center for Effective Justice, but in the meantime via email here's a compendium of much of his recent work on Texas crime and punishment policy:Texas Criminal Justice Reform: Lower Crime, Lower Cost - January 2010 By: Marc Levin By continuing to build upon the recent initiatives that are successfully reducing both crime and incarceration rates, Texas can achieve further crime reductions and lower its corrections budget through the closure of unneeded adult and juvenile correctional facilities...

Political debates on death penalty focused on innocence, not cost

Posted on February 09, 2010
Several recent death-penalty related items merit Grits readers' attention:First, NPR's program Fresh Air yesterday aired a lengthy interview with Houston attorney David Dow, who has written a new, much-praised book titled Autobiography of an Execution, which has received wide critical praise...

AZ judge suppresses evidence from search of TX polygamist ranch

Posted on February 08, 2010
I said from the get-go that the search warrant used to get on the YFZ Ranch property in Eldorado back in 2008 was overbroad, based on lies, and that evidence derived from the Great Eldorado Polygamist Roundup should be suppressed in criminal court.Now an Arizona judge has concluded the same thing after prosecutors there tried to introduce evidence against polygamist "prophet" Warren Jeffs discovered as a result of information seized during the raid...

Odds and Ends

Posted on February 07, 2010
Here are a few recent tidbits that deserve Grits readers' attention:Dallas constables' ongoing fiascoAt the Dallas News, Ed Timms and Kevin Krause have the story of a deputy constable with a checkered past accused of committing several felony crimes, including "unauthorized use of two motor vehicles, tampering with government records and coercing two women into performing sexual acts instead of arresting them on outstanding warrants...

Index theft categories to inflation

Posted on February 07, 2010
In 1993, Texas set the current threshold for felony theft at $1,500 for a state jail felony - below that, theft receives misdemeanor charges that don't involve state prison time. The jump to the next offense category is quite significant - someone must steal more than $20,000 to be charged with a third degree felony...

Border pork wrong priority for federal stimulus funds

Posted on February 05, 2010
I'm disappointed to learn of plans to spend federal "stimulus" money on Governor Perry's pet border-security pork program instead of on tactics that actually boost the economy.Brandi Grissom at the Texas Tribune reports that the Department of Public Safety has outspent its budget - and was prepared to slash grant funds to Border Sheriffs, which are used to pay for equipment and overtime - but now they may plug the gap with federal stimulus funds, which is a tad ironic considering the Governor's criticisms of the policy...

Correa: Preserve diversion funding, close prisons to cut TDCJ budget

Posted on February 05, 2010
Ana Yañez Correa of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition has an op ed in the Austin Statesman today suggesting that budget cuts in corrections should come from closing inefficient prison units instead of cutting treatment and diversion programs. Here's how the column concludes:Overcrowded prisons force higher-risk offenders out to make room for incoming low-level offenders suffering from addiction...

Judge Number 96

Posted on February 04, 2010
The deadline for the examiner to file objections in removal proceeding against Presiding Judge Sharon Keller of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals was extended until February 17. From the Commission on Judicial Conduct's website, here are links to all documents filed with the commission in the case: In re: Judge Sharon Keller (Judge No...

Terri Hodge pleads guilty: Prisoner advocate to leave Lege in disgrace

Posted on February 04, 2010
Texas state Rep. Terri Hodge yesterday pled guilty "to failing to pay taxes on $74,000 in income, including more than $32,000 in bribes." She'd been accused of other serious charges to which she did not plead guilty, including accepting bribes from a developer and "peddling her influence to get inmates released on parole in exchange for money...

Saying "no" to John Bradley

Posted on February 03, 2010
At a January 11 meeting of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, state Rep. Paula Piereson wryly asked one of the witnesses, arson expert Craig Beyler, whether anyone had tried to prevent him from testifying. Beyler declined to point any fingers, but as it turned out it was Williamson County DA and Forensic Science Commission Chairman John Bradley who tried to convince Beyler not to attend the hearing...

Examiner's objections due soon in Sharon Keller removal proceedings

Posted on February 02, 2010
Now that Judge David Berchelmann has issued his findings of fact in Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller's removal proceedings before the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct, what happens now? What should happen?Some media outlets, egged on by Judge Keller's attorney, portrayed Judge Berechelmann's findings as essentially putting to rest allegations against Judge Keller...

Study: Cell phone, texting bans don't reduce accidents

Posted on February 02, 2010
After all the hype and hoopla about "distracted driving" and the implementation of new bans using cell phones in school zones and on texting while driving, why am I not surpised to see this? Via AP:A new insurance industry study has found that state laws banning the use of handheld devices to make calls or send text messages while driving haven't resulted in fewer vehicle crashes...

Nueces constable cleaning up evidence room mess; how many others are just as bad?

Posted on February 01, 2010
One consequence of 21st century constables taking on workaday law enforcement duties outside their traditional process-serving functions has been that these small, independent agencies with little accountability or oversight become responsible for managing complex processes for which they're not equipped, like the ins and outs of keeping their own evidence rooms...

Chron: Cops shouldn't run Houston crime lab

Posted on February 01, 2010
This editorial from the Houston Chronicle this morning decrying foulups and backlogs at the Houston PD crime lab pretty much reflects my views on the subject. The piece opens:You've got to be kidding, we thought: The Houston Police Department's crime lab has a backlog of more than 300 firearms forensics cases? On top of its backlogs of untested rape kits and unchecked fingerprints? and after years of cleaning up crummy work that led to at least four wrongful convictions?At this point, it ought to be news if HPD's evidence analysts do something well...

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