A Jeffersonian In East Texas

This was originally posted on 11/15/07, about what we expected to be the next move. I found it, and wanted to post it here. Seems pretty much on target, except that it took till November.

Posted by 1jeffersonian at 11/15/2007
Jailzilla Lite, Coming soon to A voting Booth Near You?
There are some of us who wonder if the outrageous figures presented in the last bond election might not have been a not so clever ploy to get taxpayers to say yes to jailzilla lite in May. Jailzilla lite. It is less filling than their regular jail and it tastes, well, you be the judge.

You are not going to solve the problems with the Smith County Jail, by building it a section at a time. There is only one cure for a jail that has gone from 28 inmates a day in the late 70′s to 950 inmates per day in 2007. (I understand that the population has increased, but not that much.) That is, to start solving the underlying problems. Why are so many being arrested for so little at such great expense to all?

If my calculations are correct, a new proposal will come to the surface that offers a baby Jailzilla with potential room for growth, at a cut rate price, more palatable for the population. Beware of such proposals! They have a tendency to grow during the birthing process. Once that camel gets it’s nose in the tent, it just keeps inching in until both humps are inside.

Besides that, we still have the problem, if it increased from 28 to 950 in thirty years, think of what it will be in thirty more! If the growth rate stays steady, it would be enormous, if it grows exponentially, as it seems to be, the figures go from enormous to astronomical! Tourism will have to be increased, just so they will have someone to arrest!

There has to be another way.

Like I said in an earlier post, at the current rate, we don’t need a jail, we need a fence.

Education, or Incarceration: Smith county officials force a choice.

It costs more than 29 thousand dollars a year to house an inmate in the TDC. That is not counting all the peripheral cost just to get him there. It costs much less to provide an education!

This aspect of criminal justice is one of the least tapped in the whole field. The fact is, that it is probably the highest common denominator in criminal justice, and gets the least attention. Looking at the rates of recidivism in Texas, and across the country, the answer becomes obvious. The State of Texas found that there is 20% lower recidivism for those who received a GED certificate and completed a vocational training while in prison.

Stopping crime before it starts.

The impact of education can not be taken lightly when it comes to avoiding the sort of lifestyle which might lead to incarceration. All of the studies, of which I am aware, say the same thing: The better the quality of the education, the less the chance of ending up in prison!

Prevention costs less.

The cost of education is a real bargain compared to the cost of prison, and that does not factor in the cost of the impact of committed crimes, or the cost of the process of getting the convicted person into the prison system to begin with.

Education is not the only factor, but it does seem to be a major factor, and may well be the major factor in this debate.

Why build a jail now?

This adds an ironic poignancy to the debate concerning the Smith county jail bond. It says something about the mindset of our county officials when they choose to present a jail bond package on the same ballot as a school bond package. It is illustrative of the fact that they either don’t understand the situation, or don’t care! I am not sure which is preferable, ignorance, or indifference, but it comes out the same.

This situation is even more dramatic, when you see that the programs and policies of our courts are lowering the incarceration rates, and that these programs are being increased, which will undoubtedly further reduce the numbers in the county facility to meet jail standards.