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The shortest distance to cutting 5% at TDCJ: Reduce drug penalties

A recent 35-year jury sentence for an East Texas pot dealer over a quarter-pound of weed was designed to "send a message," in the prosecutorial parlance. But the real message it sends should be to budget writers at the Texas Legislature: Drug penalties that high are not only unjust but unsustainably expensive. The Tyler case is a poster child for why it's time to ratchet them down.A bipartisan group of 16 criminal district judges from Harris County has been advocating to reduce penalties in less-than-a-gram state-jail felony cases, but this example shows how penalties are too high across the board. Like most Texas drug defendants, this fellow was no kingpin, but Texas taxpayers will foot the bill for his room, board and healthcare for many years to come...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on March 10, 2010 (boomark / email).