FILLING UP TEXAS PRISONS

More Inmates Doesn't Necessarily Mean Less Crime.

Texans like to see criminals get their just rewards. They want people who
are dangerous to society put where they won't harm anyone any more and
taxpayers have been willing to pay for the prisons to house them.

The result is that Texas achieved a dubious distinction earlier this month.
There are now more inmates in Texas prisons than in any other state in the
nation, surpassing even California.

With more than 151,000 inmates behind bars, the state's prison system is
already near capacity. State prison officials said last week that another
5,000 inmates are expected before the year is out.

And there are more prisons planned. The state's prison board has
recommended three new prisons be constructed that would hold another 8,550
more inmates, at a cost of $550 million.

The social implications for the state of having such a large proportion of
its citizens behind bars are enormous.

We know that inmates coming out of such a system are more hardened and
crime-wise. The prisons are breeding grounds for mean and tough gangs that
enforce a brutal code on its members when they are behind bars and even
after they are released.

And we know that the effect on families of inmates is devastating. Children
are without parents and families are likely to be in poverty.

The defense for the lock-them-up philosophy is that the crime rate has
dropped. But even that assertion is questionable.

The Justice Policy Institute says that other states - states that don't
lock up criminals at the astounding rate that Texas does - have dropped
their crime rates to even lower levels.

A study made by the advocacy group says that the Texas crime rate between
1995 and 1998 fell 5.1 percent, the smallest decrease of the five largest
states and only half of the decrease at the national level.

Simply on a cost basis, aside from the cost in human lives, can Texas
afford to continue locking up violators at a cost of hundreds of millions
of dollars if there are other alternatives to incarceration available,
alternatives that may reduce crime even more?

Felons who have done violent crimes belong behind bars.

But we know that more than half of those in state prisons are there for
non-violent offenses and the vast proportion of those are incarcerated for
drug-related convictions.

We need to find a way to put more violators in drug-abuse treatment
programs and to make use of restitution programs rather than knee-jerk
imprisonment.

We need to find ways for violators to pay their debt to society without
creating tougher criminals. Society needs to get justice for crimes without
breaking up families and creating the environment for more crime. We can
build more prisons but it doesn't necessarily mean we will have less crime,
just more inmates.