Georgia Learn From Texas Reforms

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CanGeoSgial*arn fromTexas Prison Reforms? MikeKlein ... < System

http://mikekleinonline.com/2010104/21ltakng-a-big-texas-look

Mike Klein Online
Public Policy Journalism
. Home o About Mike Klein

Can GeorgiaLearn from TexasPrison SystemReforms?
This article was writtenfor andpublished by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.

day acrossGeorgia, stateDepartmentof Correctionsfeedsa populationthat is the nearly equal to the number of residentsliving in Marietta. It takes thousandsof poundsof food to feed nearly 60,000adult prisoners.Payingfor the state'scorrectionssystemwith its 3l stateprisonscosts taxpayers$1 billion per year, includingthe costto manage150,000parolees. This month the PEW Center on the Statesreported the first year-to-year drop in stateprison population snce 7972. The percentagerate beganto decline lu:,2001, real numbersdid not decline until last but year. Unfortunately, not in Georgiawhich postedthe sixth largestpercentageincreasein the nation, a growthrate, and in real numbers, Georgiaprisonpopulationgrew by 843 adult felons. 1.6Yo the Just four statesincarceratemore stateprisonersthan Georgia. As public funds dwindle, can Georgia continue to spend6% of its budget on corrections? Is there a more cost-effective but equally secure balance between incarceration,reduced sentences, treatment programs,parole and probation? Does the term "corrections" imply incarceration,or does it actually suggestanother possiblepath? The searchfor solutionsmight beglr by looking west to Texas. Lone Star State Changed Corrections Strategt Five years ago Jerry Madden becamechairmanof the Texas House corrections committee. Texas faced an escalatingprison population and escalatingcosts. Madden had no criminal justice experience. But he brought to this new task the analytical focus of a retired career engineerand the discipline of a West Point graduate. His view then was, "I thought we should lock them up, throw away the key." Madden was also smart enoughto know what he did not know. He started asking questionsoutside the box. Madden brought together conservativeand liberal public policy foundations,inciudingjustice systems analyst Marc Levin at the TexasPublic Policy Foundation. He askedthem to analyznthe prison system, find common policy ground where it existedand bring forward innovative ideasthat would get Texas off

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Can Geotgia-l.earn from TexasPrisonSystem < Reforms? Mike Klein...

http://mikekleinonline.conr/20l0l04l2lltaking-a-big-texas-look-at-

the spiralof more incarceration leadingto more prisonsleadingto more incarceration leadingto more prisons."lf you build it they will come."Maddensays. "someonewill sendthemthere." Fastlbrward two yearsto January 2007. A year earlierthe Legislative BudgetBoardpredicted J'exas would need 17,000new prisonbedswithin five years. Construction costswereestimated $2 billion. at Republican GovernorRick Peny was prepared announce statewould build threenew prisons to the costing$560million. JerryMaddensawan opening, "He gaveme the perf-ect storm." New Programs Replaced Three New Prisons Madden took recommendations from his studygroupsto Perry. [{e proposed new model that would a rely on additional bedsfbr substance abuse treatment, creation the and expansion specialty of courts, probationfundingto reducecaseloads, additional additionalfunding for mentalhealthcare and halfway jails for adultsserving houses, creationof short-term the lessthantwo years,a smallincrease the in juveniles. annualparolepercentage and programs rate that would reducethe numberof incarcerated Maddentold the governor that the new modelcouldbe accomplished about$240million,not $560 for million,not $2 billion. IJisgoal: Createsomething would cost lessthan new prisons that and produce betterresults."There is nobodywho thinksTexasis soft on crime," Maddensays. "You're not soft on crime by doingsomething that's smart." Perry listened and waswilling to investin the new policy ideas. The governorcanceled new prisons his announcement. Initial Results: Fewer Inmates, No New Beds -fhreeyearslaterTexasis showing results.Now the sameLegislative Board saysTexaswill not need new adultprisonbedsuntil at least2014. Texasreduced adultprisonpopulation 1.257persons its by last year. Texasremains nation'ssecond the largest system with 154,000 inmates. behindonly California. It hassome440,000adultson probation. including170,000 I'elony probation. on 'l-exas alsoclosedfour juvenileprisons within the pastthreeyears. The statenow takesonly juveniles who are charged with felonies;juveniles with misdemeanors charged remainin countyjails. Nobody youngerthan age?l serves time in an adultprison. The stateprovidedcounties with morethan $57 million to help offsetjuvenile incarceration costswhenthe change was madein 2007. 'l'exaswas willing to considera new definition fbr Madden saystheseresultswere possible because "There are threetypesof prisoners. corrections. Thereare prisoners who willalways comeback when you let them out, thosewho will nevercome back when you let them out and thosein the middle who we callthe swingers.They may or may not comeback. It depends what we do for them." on Corrections: More Than Just Incarceration "Clorrections"was redefinedto correctbehavior,nor just incarcerate people. Maddencreatedfour principlesto drive the mission: Public safety,restitution,appropriate penaltiesfor behaviorand perhaps rnostimportant,rehabilitation. "Becausethat's what correctionsshouldbe about," Maddentold a GeorgiaStateUniversityseminarthis month in Atlanta. "That's one of the missions.What good doesit do to sendsomebodyto prisonfor a time and when they come out, nothinghaschanged?" Texasis by no meansalone in creativecorrectionssystemthinking. But it is amongfbw southernstates prisonpopulations achievingsuccess. Georgia,Alabama,Louisianaand Floridaall reportedincreased which reduced last year. The bestresultproducedby a Southernstateother than Texaswas Mississippi its incarcerated nationally. adult populationby 1.233persons.That was the sixth bestperformance

< Can Georgial-rarnfrom TexasPrisonSystem Reforms? Mike Klein...

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for PEW cited three reasons the Mississippi success:A reductionin minimum time servedbefore parole eligibility,improvedtoolsto predictwhich inmates were goodearly release and candidates a low recidivism rate .. . just0.2o/o thoseapproved earlyrelease for nationally. of compared 10.4o/o to Mississippi prisontime requirement non-violent felonsfrom 85% ro 25ohof thc reduced minirnum the for sentence beforeparoleconsideration eligibility. Nearly3,100inmates were granted earlyrelease betweenJuly 2008 and August2009,with the corresponding0.2o/o recidivismrate. SouthCarolinawas the only other southemstateto reduceits prisonpopulation year,down 1.0%. last Madden: Change People, Their Head and Their Heart its to Californiareduced inmatepopulation 4,257persons not returninglow-riskparolees prison by by was a technical violationof paroleterms. Michiganshrankits prisonpopulation when their only issue alnrost12o/o since2007by reducing numberof inmates the who servemorethan 100%of their minimum Nevadaavoided$1.2billion in new prisonconstruction heavilyin prison scntence. costsby investing education,vocationaltrainingand substance abusetreatment. people, their head, All of this makessense Madden. "We started look at thingsthat would change to to treatmentwaited six and their heart. In somecases, was growingup. Peoplewho neededsubstance it got sentto prison. Peoplewith mentalhealthproblems,shouldthey be in prisonsor monlhs and instead. in mentalhealthhospitals?" probationers Texasalsoremovedmany long-term from the system.Maddenagain:"We saidget out thereand watch themwherewe needto watchthe most,the guy or galwho hasjust beenconvicted. The guy who hasbeenout there on probationfor sevenyears,we don't needto watch him much more." prisonsystemin the nation'sninth largest state. Prisoners Georgiaoperates nation'sfifth largest the just 10%to even54,000inmates prisonpopulation cost taxpayers the $46 per day. Reducing Georgia system rvouldhavea $100millionpositiveimpacton the annualstatebudget. No maior corrections reformswere passed duringthe currentGeneralAssembly. Get Tough Meant More Prisoners, More Prisons thal featuredmandatory Stateprison populations rosedramaticallyas a result of get-toughlegislation judgeswho usedtheir discretion imposelong to sentencing, longertime served beforeparoleeligibility, terms on non-violentoffendersand politicianswho won votes by vowing to get tough on crime. High profile crimesbroughtto the public attentionby nationalmediacreatedstronganti-crimesentiment. would needto continuefor While encouraging, 2009 year-to-year the declinein stateprisonpopulations someyearsbefore a definitetrend could be acknowledged. Crime and criminalsbehindbarsare still a rn nationalproblem. The numberof stateprisoners 1972was fewer than 175,000;today they number 1.4million. This doesnot includeprisoners the federalsystem, thosein city and countyjails. in or differences reform shouldrecognize Madden saysstates that are seriousaboutinstitutingcorrections betweenkeepingbad guys locked up a long time and doing betweenbehaviorissues and criminal issues, the right thing so someearly offendersdo not return as the bad guys. Madden told the audienceat GeorgiaState,"Anybody who thinks Texasis soft on crime,raiseyour hand. There won't be a singleperson. Would you ratherhave your statetaxesgo to prisonsto keep people locked up or maybeto build roadsor pay for educationor maybetax cuts?

Can Geor.gia learn from TexasPrison System Reforms? Mike Klein ... <

http://mikekleinonline.com/2010104121/taking-a-big-texas-look-at-c

"Our departmentof corrections boughtinto the ideathat they are about corrections. We have 75,000 peopleevery year who go to a place calledhome. They leave. They go home. If we haven't done our job of makingthem a betterperson, then we haven'tdoneourjob of corrections.It's betterto have taxpayersthan tax burdens." Mike Klein is Editor at lhe Georgia Public Policy Foundation.
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April2l.2010 - Postedby mikekleinonlineUncategorized of I lGeorgiaDeparlment Corrections, GeorqiaStateUniversi{r, Marc Levin, Mike Klein Online,PEW Centeron the States, StatePrison Systems, TexasDeparlmentof Corrections, TexasGovernorRick Peny, TexasPublic Policy Foundation,TexasRepresentative Jerry Madden

4 Comments >
l. A very thoughful,pragmaticapproach which meansthe GeorgiaLegislaturewon't understand. I

apologizefor beinga bit cynical but we're the stateof Two Strikes,mandatorysentencing and bombasticrhetoric about"gettin' toughon crime." Also, rememberthe penal systemin Georgiais one of the biggestsources patronage of and free labor for local governments. Look at the recent announcement Clayton County and other metro governments of askingfor free prison labor. Stephanie Jones from Athens-Clarke Countyhadthis to say lastyear:In 2008,$1 in every $15.00 of states'budgetsof discretionary money was beingusedfor corrections, and in the stateof Georgia,every dollar spenton highereducationequaled50 centsspenton corrections. Shecontinued:Studies have alsofound that child supportand restitutionpaymentsbecomealmost nonexistent when someone responsible suchpaymentsis incarcerated. it seems for So, that we put peoplebehindbars,take away their ability to work and earn money to be responsible their for debts,take away their ability to work and earnmoney and pay taxesinto an increasingly small pool of money, and make it harderfor them to find work after they are released because the of stigmaof having servedtime in jail or prison.Even for thosepeoplelessinclinedto concern themselves with the socialand moral ramifications incarceration, of everyonecan certainlyseethe extremeeconomiccost to every singletaxpayerand personin our country. ffi Co*
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unr by Ouinn I Aprit 22, 2010| Repl:t

Mike, It's too bad the Ga. legislature either didn't consideror didn't want to go this directionswith corrections.I noticedthat they've decidedto raisetaxeson hospitals. Always enjoy your articles.Well researched thoughtful.What were you, a newspaper and reporter or something?! , Commentby Sam I April 22, 2010 Repl:t |

3 . Mike is one of the bestjournalists around giving good information and insight into important
issues. may not work for a traditionalmediaoutlet but his writing is better than most and He

I of l

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