YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW: JUST ASK TEXANS

Everything's bigger in Texas: even the prisons. And although Texas is a
world away from Newfoundland and Labrador, what's happening in Texas
prisons should send a message to us, as well.

Under the get-tough-on-crime direction of Gov. George W. Bush, Texas
now has the fastest-growing prison population in the United States.

Statistics from the Washington-based Justice Policy Institute suggest
one out of every 20 Texas adults is passing through some part of the
justice system.

Well, George W. Bush is certainly tough on crime. Just ask the
families of the 143 prisoners who were executed during his six years
as governor.

But like many grand, sweeping plans, it's hard to see that the scheme
is actually working. While Texas' crime rate is falling, crime rates
in other, more permissive states are falling faster. Texas' crime rate
fell by 5.1 percent between 1995 and 1998. New York's crime rate fell
by 20 per cent in the same period. And the problem is that prisoners
clearly cost the taxpayers money - especially in the state of Texas,
where officials now say they will need to build an additional 14,600
jail cells by 2005.

As North American politics generally moves further and further to the
right, Canadian politicians on the conservative side of the spectrum
are quick to cite the successes of various American efforts, and there
seems to be a genuine interest among the voting public for less
government, lower taxes, and, generally, a harder line. The problem is
that there are failures out there, failures that are talked about much
less often.

And whether the plan is for the abolition of government funding
agencies for business, a "flat-tax" income tax or getting tough on
crime, the solution does not always wind up being as "common sense" as
the equation would seem on its face.

That's something to bear in mind as we move further and further
towards the right wing and "get-tough" plans for crime, for social
assistance recipients and for government assistance in general.

Texas prisons are a less-than-shining example of that. The genesis for
getting tough on crime in the state of Texas seems to follow the Old
Testament adage of "an eye for an eye."

Perhaps they should also have considered: "As ye sow, so shall ye
reap." And think carefully about just what it is they are sowing.

This is an excerpt from an editorial first published in the St. John's
Telegram.