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December 29, 2004
More Texas sentencing grits
Scott Henson at Grits for Breakfast (which I have now added to my blogroll) has been doing an especially strong job lately covering drug sentencing and the economics of sentencing in Texas.
For example, this morning Scott has this interesting post about Texas criminal justice officials pleading with the Texas Legislature to restore drug treatment funding for parolees, while claiming that cuts to treatment programs in 2003 led to greater recidivism. Scott's report is an interesting follow-up to this prior post about the efficacy of drug courts in Texas.
And yesterday, Scott thoughtfully reported here on a state bill "which would lower the penalty in Texas for possession of less than an ounce of pot to a class C misdemeanor, which is the equivalent of a fine-only traffic ticket." Both Scott's post and this news story highlight the state economic benefits that could flow from such a sentencing reform.
December 29, 2004 at 11:17 AM | Permalink
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Comments
RE:Texas and the cut in federal funds. isn't it ironic how hypocritical the feds are? They have cut their own funding for substance abuse counseling, and there is no inpatient treatment. So what happens to federal offenders who are substance abusers? they get sent back to prison.
Posted by: Sharon Valenti | Dec 29, 2004 3:32:30 PM
If a prisoner can do this through the mail, I would like to submit :
James Kevin Kopja # 531124
McConnell Unit 19-Z-51
3001 S. Emily Drive
Beeville, Texas 78102-8696
He is currently serving a 75 year sentence for theft under 200.00. He has spent approximately 13 years incarcerated and been denied an appeal in a small Texas town that the prosocuter was a close personal friend of the victim. There are an incredible amount of irregularities in the entire case.
If you do not have the resources to help in this capacity, do you know of a group that can?
I thank you for your assistance in this matter.
Sincerely,
Ann Turner
Posted by: family member of inmate | Feb 24, 2008 12:34:49 AM
Hi guys find out about drug rehab in this link.
_________________________________________________________
Roberto.c
texas drug rehab
Posted by: Roberto.c | Apr 8, 2009 4:58:08 AM
Hi. I'm an attorney in California. I'm trying to draft a letter for the judge in a Texas case in which one of my mother's former high school students pled guilty to something involving misuse of funds. The defendant was a special ed student, i.e., developmentally delayed, and none of his former teachers think he could have had the requisite "guilty mind" mens rea for such a crime. I was looking on the Internet for sentencing guidelines, e.g., a list of factors in mitigation and aggravation, but I haven't found anything official. California's Penal Code has a list of such factors. I guess Texas doesn't.
The info on the blog otherwise was interesting as to the possibility that Texas might reduce the penalty for possession of minor amounts of marijuana and that the financial consequences of such a change may have some bearing on making such a decision. The voters of California, via an initiative, legalized medical marijuana without any consideration of financial ramifications. Now, with the economic downturn, there's been a lot of talk among our legislators about legalizing marijuana more broadly, simply so the state can tax it! The citizens acted with an eye toward compassion; the politicians act with an eye toward continued funding for their offices.
Posted by: Letitia Pepper | Aug 26, 2009 1:49:25 PM
