Easter reflections and roundup on TYC

[Joanne98]

Easter reflections and roundup on TYC
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007/apr/08/easter-reflections-and-roundup-tyc/

Contemplating Christ's resurrection on Easter morning, we may indulge the view, even if for a fleeting moment - perhaps just for a flash while sitting in a church pew or watching children hunt for colored eggs - that new beginnings are not only possible but a miraculous gift from God, a birthright of humanity that's available to all.

That's what the now-473 kids being released from Texas youth prisons have in front of them: a second chance, a gift from above. And because they all have free will, some will accept the gift and some will inevitably fall back into the crowd and habits that got them incarcerated in the first place. Even so, Easter reminds us that everyone harbors within them possibilities for both sin and redemption.

One critical theme recurring in Grits' comments recently has been the idea that releasing these kids will launch some massive crime wave, but I really doubt it, and think those who indulge in such knee-jerk rhetoric should give the matter more thought. The same complaints were made recently when Dallas County had to release 700 jail inmates because of overcrowding. The tuff-on-crime crowd wailed that the local crime rate would skyrocket, but no such crime spree occurred - and that was 700 people released in one county. Releasing 473 kids back home to their families statewide simply won't cause a statistically noticable bump.

The Texas Youth Commission finds itself in many ways in the the same position as the Dallas County Jail. Health conditions are poor and there are too many inmates per guard for either inmates or employees to be safe. The only possible solution is some combination of reducing the number of inmates, increasing the number of C.O.s (probably accompanied with big pay hikes to attract new workers and substantially more pre-employment training), and spending significant amounts to improve healthcare and conditions. In addition, new alternatives to incarceration must be developed and funded for nonviolent and misdemeanor offenders. That prescription holds for both TYC and the Dallas County Jail, and actually for Texas' adult prison system as well. For all the complaining, I've not heard anyone come up with better ideas.
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007/apr/08/easter-reflections-and-roundup-tyc/

[Joanne98]

1. Editorial: Inquiry into TYC delay critical to fixing system

Editorial: Inquiry into TYC delay critical to fixing system

Web Posted: 04/08/2007 01:23 PM CDT
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/stories/MYSA040907.01O.tyc2ed0409.280e2ab.html

San Antonio Express-News

Politicians often prefer rhetoric to action, but nothing jolts them out of their lethargy more effectively than a scandal.
This phenomenon has played out with the controversy over the Texas Youth Commission.

As the shocking news — including more than 500 allegations of physical and sexual abuse — reverberated throughout the state, Gov. Rick Perry moved to overhaul the agency, placing the straight-talking Jay Kimbrough as the conservator of the scandal-plagued entity.

Kimbrough has promised to remove the agency from the "complete darkness" that has enshrouded it.

That represents a good start, but the problem may go beyond the agency itself: The allegations of sexual assault surfaced in Ward County almost two years ago, but critics contend that Ward County's District Attorney Randall "Randy" Reynolds stalled the prosecution of the cases.

Ward County Attorney Kevin Acker wants to know what motivated the delay, and his question is not only reasonable, it is critical to an understanding of why the misdeeds could have been suppressed for so long.

Acker plans to launch an investigation to find out the answer.

"If a petition for his removal is necessary, I will file it," Acker told the Austin-American Statesman. "I'm assembling a witness list, and we are opening the lines of communication to make sure whatever we do does not affect the prosecution of those cases."

Legislators told the newspaper that Reynolds may resign to head off the investigation. But whether or not he quits, the state needs to find out what went wrong in the judicial process. If investigators can find all of the pieces to this bewildering puzzle, it may go a long way to preventing future tragedies.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/stories/MYSA040907.01O.tyc2ed0409.280e2ab.html

[Joanne98]

2. Leaders grapple with whether to close some TYC prisons in overhaul

http://www.themonitor.com/onset?db=monitortx&id=1475&template=article.html
AUSTIN — State leaders remolding the state’s juvenile corrections authority expect to eventually close some of its high-security youth prisons.

Texas Youth Commission officials don’t want to say which prisons should close until the prospect receives further study over the coming months.

But, most agree change is needed in the current system, in which urban children are shipped sometimes hundreds of miles from their families to rural areas that often lack the resources to care for them and the work force to watch them.

Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, author of the Senate bill to overhaul TYC, is doubtful the Evins Regional Juvenile Center in Edinburg would be on the chopping block.

Included in Hinojosa’s bill is a provision for an interim study group to recommend to the Legislature whether to close some facilities based on which are the most remote and offer youth the least access to health care and community support, Hinojosa said.

The Legislature will have the final say on what facilities to close, he said.

“By and large, our goal is to regionalize treatment,” Hinojosa said. “There are going to be some chambers of commerce complaining, but incarcerating youth should not be used as a tool for economic development.”
http://www.themonitor.com/onset?db=monitortx&id=1475&template=article.html

Building prisons for children for economic development. There are not words to describe how much I loath the US Chamber of Commerce!

[orpupilofnature57]

3. If the crime doesn't cause violence it should have Different consequences.

Ones with du fold purpose ,rehabilitation AND fUNCTION .

[Joanne98]

4. Alot of the crime we have is caused by poverty. Thirty years of

money going to the top. They now have as much money as 90% of the country. Outsourcing, insourcing, defunding the welfare state. It's all about desperation. But I think that was the plan. I can't wait to start filling the prisons up with Republicans and their families. It's just exactly what they deserve.

[orpupilofnature57]

5. Thats too good for them , they should just have to live with the Consequences..

of their actions ,but they've also bought a buffer zone ,the rest of u.s.

[Joanne98]

6. No. Prison is the way and it's going to happen too!