TEXAS PRISON INMATES

WE WERE NOT TROUBLED by the Justice Policy Institute report comparing the
Texas prison population to that of other states, and neither should anyone
else.

Texas imprisoned people in the 1990s at a higher rate than any other state
and had a crime rate higher than other big states, according to the study.

First, the Justice Policy Institute supports alternatives to prison, a fact
that we think influenced the conclusions of the study. They had an ax to
grind, and it was to gain sympathy for criminals who deserved their prison
time.

Second, the statistic about Texas prison population growth in the 1990s was
skewed by the fact that Texas did not have nearly enough prisons in the
1980s.

Inmates were being released after serving an average of one-tenth of their
sentences. Thus, a significant part of the growth in prison population in
the early 1990s was made up of people who were being sent back to prison for
new offenses but should have still been locked up for their earlier
offenses.

Another factor is that the Texas prison population is made up of a
significant population of inmates from other states.

We have no problem with the fact that Texas' prison population is larger
than that of the much-higher-populated California. If anything, it indicates
that too many criminals are free in California.

Locking up criminals punishes them for their crimes while making certain
that they cannot commit other crimes. However, we would like to see all
states develop programs to help young people avoid educational and social
problems that cause many of them to turn to crime in the first place.