EX-WARDEN: NO MORE PRISONS

Texas' Crowding "Crisis" Is Self-Made

AFTER decades of hard experience, experts have finally figured out
that simply putting lots of petty criminals in prison for long terms
is exorbitantly costly and mostly ineffective in reducing crime.
Alternatives such as progressive sanctions, treatment for addiction,
and careful supervision cost less and reduce crime more.

Yet now that Texas prisons are filled to capacity, a few powerful
state policy-makers still want to add to the state's bloated
106-prison system. Texas is at a crossroads. The wrong decision could
have tremendous ripple effects on our economy, public safety and
overall welfare. The state must not elect to construct new prisons.

Evidence shows that many prisoners can be safely released, easing our
self-made "crisis." "Trustees" are a case in point. Without adequate
staff for our existing prison facilities (we need about 2,700
additional corrections officers) TDCJ uses inmates instead. TDCJ
allows 6,200 prisoner "trustees" off prison grounds without any
identification to carry out duties for guards and other staff. The
vast majority of trustees, about 5,700, are eligible for parole.

The three proposed new prisons will house about 4,000 total inmates.
If we simply were to spend our money to properly staff existing
facilities and release parole-eligible trustees, Texas would
completely eliminate the immediate need for new facilities without
further policy changes. With the addition of appropriate treatment for
addiction and a stronger system of probation, we could start thinking
about closing older, expensive and less safe prisons.

Since the early 1990s we have added more than 100,000 prison beds,
including 13,000 added since the late '90s. Although there was a
nationwide drop in crime during this time, Texas' crime rate dropped
significantly less than other large states although we incarcerated
significantly more people. Meanwhile, researchers attribute only about
one-fourth of Texas' drop in crime to prison expansion. Newly released
research from the Vera Institute suggests that increased incarceration
may even lead to more crime.

Ultimately, prison expansion fails to make us safer and perpetuates a
cycle of criminality that can be broken with a different approach to
punishment. More than half of TDCJ prison admissions annually are
revoked parolees and probationers. Serving time in prison prevents
individuals from becoming independent, contributing members of
society, and prisons do not offer programs that rehabilitate
individuals so they can succeed in the job market and provide for
their families upon release.

People we put in prison who get no treatment or rehabilitation
actually leave prison slightly more likely to commit new crimes, while
individuals who receive treatment are far less likely to re-offend.

If someone in your family is addicted to alcohol or a drug, you know
that it's hard to kick an addiction, but that when you kick, you can
become a fully functioning and responsible person again. Drug and
alcohol treatment, supported and guided by a strong system of
probation, can give Texas back a lost resource -- the economic value,
creativity and responsibility of thousands who allowed their addiction
to get the better of them for a time.

Instead of new prisons, the state should strengthen probation and
support the expanded use of drug courts to divert people from prison
to better alternatives, while seeing that the parole board follows its
own guidelines to make room in our existing facilities for the violent
offenders that need to be there. We already know how to make Texas
safer and also reduce our prison population to the benefit of our
families and our communities. Now we just need the Texas Legislature
to act on the facts when it debates the budget in the coming days.

Watkins was the senior warden of the "Holliday Unit," a Texas state
prison, where he was responsible for the operations of that 2,000-bed
facility, the conduct of 500 employees and the annual budget of $9.3
million until his retirement in February 2005.