The state of Texas may be one of the toughest when it comes to capital punishment, but it been positively enlightened of late when it comes to Criminal Justice reform—at least in comparison to California. And it’s getting results.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation has just published a look at the matter in this January 2010 report titled, Texas Criminal Justice Reform:Lower Crime, Lower Cost
It opens like this:
In recent years, Texas has strengthened alternatives to incarceration for adults and juveniles, achieving significant reductions in crime while avoiding more than $2 billion in taxpayer costs that would have been incurred had Texas simply constructed more than 17,000 prison beds that a 2007 projection indicated would be needed. Similarly, juvenile crime has markedly declined at the same time Texas has reduced the number of youths in state institutions by 52.9 percent. By building on these successes in a challenging budget environment, policymakers can continue delivering improved results for public safety and taxpayers.
Yooooo-hooooo, California legislature…….? A-a-a-aaare you listening….?
Yeh, Texas does a good job of punishing it’s poor criminals, but unfortunately needs some pointers on punishing wealthy criminals. This state spawned George W. Bush and Karl Rove, who nearly ruined this country in 8 years’ time.
I’m going to read this entire pdf before commenting.
I read it, it’s amusing because the juvenile justice system in California has been ahead of Texas for light years. They’re just starting to catch up Celeste.