Posted on 06/27/2003 7:00:50 AM PDT by Pern
Thousands of low-level drug offenders in Texas will now go to treatment programs instead of state jails, a fundamental change in prosecution that was sparked by inequities in sentencing in Harris County.
The Houston Chronicle reported in December that local prosecutors sent 35,000 small-time drug offenders to state jails or prisons in the past five years, a wildly disproportionate number for the county's population.
During hearings in Austin this spring, state lawmakers grilled a Harris County prosecutor over the imbalance.
The bill, one of 1,300 that Gov. Rick Perry signed into law after the close of the legislative session earlier this month, mandates probation and substance-abuse treatment instead of jail for first-time felons caught with less than a gram of most drugs. It was sponsored by Rep. Ray Allen, R-Grand Prairie.
The law, which goes into effect Sept. 1, is predicted to lower the state jail population by 2,500 people and save the state $30 million over the next five years.
Local officials applauded the law, even as they realized it would leave them scrambling to establish more treatment facilities. Supporters said it will keep drug addicts from turning into hardened criminals.
"You can save money, save lives, ensure public safety," said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. "It's a great investment and return on the dollar to keep people from becoming permanent problems for the state of Texas."
Whitmire said he is working with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to find money to establish a residential substance-abuse treatment facility in Harris County. The Legislature also has mandated that Harris County open a drug court.
Federal grant money is available to help local governments provide treatment programs, and the state will help them track down those funds, supporters said.
"The governor's criminal justice division anticipates using grant dollars from the federal level to fund substance-abuse treatment programs around the state," said Gene Acuna, a spokesman for Perry. "There will be options."
State District Judge Michael T. McSpadden, who advocates making low-level drug offenses misdemeanors instead of felonies, said the change is "a step in the right direction."
Under current law, felons sometimes have the option of a six-month jail sentence or a longer probation term. Frustrated judges say the convicts often opt for the jail time, viewing it as the easier way out.
McSpadden praised the new law for putting a stop to that, allowing judges the latitude to give stiff probation sentences that convicts cannot turn down in favor of jail time.
A Chronicle investigation found that nearly half of the 15,000 inmates in the state jail system -- lower-security jails established in 1994 to house nonviolent felons -- were there for drug crimes involving less than 1 gram.
Forty-nine percent of those offenders were from Harris County. The county accounts for 16 percent of Texas' total population.
The change in law comes as the state is slashing money for drug-treatment programs in the prison system, a move many called contradictory.
A six-month drug treatment program in the state jails has been eliminated, and the state's Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Program was reduced from nine to six months as part of massive state budget cuts.
Larry Todd, prison system spokesman, said the state had no choice but to reduce programs because of budget constraints, but he acknowledged that drugs and alcohol are a major problem among inmates.
"The majority of the offenders coming into our system have admitted to some sort of substance abuse," he said. Many were convicted of crimes directly involving drugs, he added, and others committed theft or burglary in an attempt to get money for drugs.
Will Harrell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said the cuts are disappointing but will ultimately be offset by the change in law.
"Treatment works and incarceration doesn't," Harrell said. "It's just better public policy."
It's mind boggling how much money, our money, would be saved if the Drug War were laid to rest. But that won't happen because there are too many leaches sucking on the War on Drugs Government Teat!
So, spending your money on the WOD is "mind boggling leeching", but spending your money on drug treatment centers is just fine by you.
Where's this "saving" you're talking about?
Well, if we put people in prison, what chance do they have of becoming productive members of our society? At least with treatment, they have a fair chance of overcoming their problem, getting a job, and paying taxes. Either way, our money will be wasted on the failure that is the WOD.
I'm sure the state of Texas is getting federal money for law enforcement, Louisiana sure does.
A first time user getting treatment instead jail time, sure. But my point is that it would probably cost the same.
Kind of obvious, isn't it. Drug treatment costs less than 10% of jail and the people are still outside working and paying taxes instead of being made useless inside.
This loss of productivity of hundreds of thousands of people in prison is the biggest single cost to society of the Drug War.
Running out of money focuses the mind on what is truly needed and what is pure waste.
According to the article, "The law, which goes into effect Sept. 1, is predicted to lower the state jail population by 2,500 people and save the state $30 million over the next five years."
You can do the math yourself, but that works out to $2400. per inmate per year in savings.
What does a drug treatment program cost? I found this article which state that for Kansas, "Projections for the drug treatment program suggest that the annual cost to the state, per offender, will range between $3,213 and $6,436."
I would say that a drug treatment program for a person in jail is about double that of incarceration. Drug treatment saving for a person in prison is a different story. I will admit it's much cheaper than incarceration.
But the above article is not talking about prison programs.
It happens that I live in Kansas and have been privy to budget discussions. Prison costs are about $20K/year/prisoner. That is 4 to 5 times the rehab costs.
The distinction between jail and prison is irrelevant. People spend a small amount of time in the county jails before being sent to prisons for sentences greater than one year.
For the most part, the rehab costs are wasted. People do not get addicted to Marijuana. It is just that they agree to rehab instead of jail.
It is very relevent to my point. Jail is cheap. Prison is not.
The article is talking about drug treatment programs for people in jail not in prison. Why do you keep bringing up the cost of prison?
My point was that drug treatment for a person in jail was the same as incarceration (turns out I was wrong -- it's double). The only reason Texas is doing it is that the federal government (you and I) are picking up the drug treatment tab.
And my earlier point was that if a person is being sent to prison, they are very likely a drug dealer, not a drug user. A drug treatment program for a drug dealer is useless.
If the government says that there is a significant difference in the cost of prisoner maintenance in county jails vs state prisons, I doubt their accounting honesty.
It fails the laugh test to accept this. It is probably just some strange assignment of some of the costs of jails to other law enforcement line items. It is called creative accounting and the government is very good at it.
I would think that it would be advantageous to the State of Texas to proclaim large savings in order to get federal money to fund the drug treatment centers. Yet they only claim a paltry savings of $2400 per inmate per year (their own numbers).
If, as you say, it did indeed cost $20K per year per inmate, and they were looking at releasing 2500 inmates, I would look for $250 million in savings over five years, not $30 million, right?
There's the headline story.
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