Post by Anja on Aug 14, 2006 3:42:40 GMT -5
Isn't there a better way to treat our inmates?
I have a relative who has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for
drinking beer. There are some other factors involved, of course, but the
primary cause of his problem is addictions to beer and bars.
I think the sentence is unusually harsh. Anyone reading the docket in the
paper each week would marvel at the wide range of sentences meted out for
similar or much more severe crimes. In the newspaper docket call, where my
relative received 12 years for DUI (his third offense), another person
convicted of vehicular homicide got a probated sentence.
Random reading of the paper reveals no consistent pattern. A woman
convicted of murdering her boyfriend with a knife got 20 years. A U.S.
Border Patrol officer got 3 years for illegal-alien smuggling. Sworn law
enforcement officers should receive very harsh punishment when caught
breaking the law.
A woman involved in alien smuggling was accused of partial responsibility
for 19 deaths by allowing them to remain locked in a semi in the summer
heat of South Texas. Her sentence: 17 years.
In an Amarillo case that had extensive national coverage, Dustin Camp
received a probated 10-year sentence for killing Brian Deneke with his
mom's Cadillac. When his probation was revoked, the time he served was
much shorter.
Probably, this is the price we pay for our jury system.
A probable factor in the lengthy sentence for my relative had to do with a
new district attorney who needed to show the voters that he was going to
be tough on crime. (This happened shortly after Randall Sims replaced
Rebecca King as 47th District attorney.)
Like all bureaucracies, I suspect law enforcement is not immune from
"doing the easy ones first" syndrome. As an example of a crime too
difficult to solve is graffiti. I spend over $500 yearly on this problem.
I have given up on reporting the crime. Nothing ever happens. Nobody is
caught or prosecuted.
Texas has constructed a huge prison system. And it is full. The average
yearly cost per felon has reached $25,000.
What do we get for the money? According to my relative, an institution
loosely controlled, not by the guards and prison staff, but by gangs of
black and Hispanic inmates. They control the environment, such as TV and
radio fare.
It's dangerous to get on the wrong side of a gang member. Bodily harm can
result or simple harassment such as strange matter in your food.
Cigarettes and drugs are available for a price. Prison staff would have to
be involved in the smuggling operation.
Surely a more cost-effective prison system could be devised for
non-violent offenders. As an experiment, let's take a closed military
base. Lodging, kitchens, laundry and fences are already in place.
Let inmates who are obviously non-violent with histories of only alcohol
and recreational drug use be invited. The penalty for bad behavior would
be a return to the old system.
These more civilized inmates would be expected to grow and process most of
their own food. They could possibly be trusted to take responsibility for
some of their own governance reducing the need for paid staff.
It's difficult for those of us who have led a conventional life to fathom
the attraction of any addiction. We think that any rational person,
observing the devastation visited on them and those who love them could
change. Normal folk can calculate consequences and change behavior.
It may not be possible for some. My relative has pretty well ruined his
life.
For him, it's 3 strikes and you're out.
(source: The Amarillo Globe-News--Virgil Van Camp, an Amarillo resident,
is a retired printer. Van Camp's column appears every other Friday)
I have a relative who has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for
drinking beer. There are some other factors involved, of course, but the
primary cause of his problem is addictions to beer and bars.
I think the sentence is unusually harsh. Anyone reading the docket in the
paper each week would marvel at the wide range of sentences meted out for
similar or much more severe crimes. In the newspaper docket call, where my
relative received 12 years for DUI (his third offense), another person
convicted of vehicular homicide got a probated sentence.
Random reading of the paper reveals no consistent pattern. A woman
convicted of murdering her boyfriend with a knife got 20 years. A U.S.
Border Patrol officer got 3 years for illegal-alien smuggling. Sworn law
enforcement officers should receive very harsh punishment when caught
breaking the law.
A woman involved in alien smuggling was accused of partial responsibility
for 19 deaths by allowing them to remain locked in a semi in the summer
heat of South Texas. Her sentence: 17 years.
In an Amarillo case that had extensive national coverage, Dustin Camp
received a probated 10-year sentence for killing Brian Deneke with his
mom's Cadillac. When his probation was revoked, the time he served was
much shorter.
Probably, this is the price we pay for our jury system.
A probable factor in the lengthy sentence for my relative had to do with a
new district attorney who needed to show the voters that he was going to
be tough on crime. (This happened shortly after Randall Sims replaced
Rebecca King as 47th District attorney.)
Like all bureaucracies, I suspect law enforcement is not immune from
"doing the easy ones first" syndrome. As an example of a crime too
difficult to solve is graffiti. I spend over $500 yearly on this problem.
I have given up on reporting the crime. Nothing ever happens. Nobody is
caught or prosecuted.
Texas has constructed a huge prison system. And it is full. The average
yearly cost per felon has reached $25,000.
What do we get for the money? According to my relative, an institution
loosely controlled, not by the guards and prison staff, but by gangs of
black and Hispanic inmates. They control the environment, such as TV and
radio fare.
It's dangerous to get on the wrong side of a gang member. Bodily harm can
result or simple harassment such as strange matter in your food.
Cigarettes and drugs are available for a price. Prison staff would have to
be involved in the smuggling operation.
Surely a more cost-effective prison system could be devised for
non-violent offenders. As an experiment, let's take a closed military
base. Lodging, kitchens, laundry and fences are already in place.
Let inmates who are obviously non-violent with histories of only alcohol
and recreational drug use be invited. The penalty for bad behavior would
be a return to the old system.
These more civilized inmates would be expected to grow and process most of
their own food. They could possibly be trusted to take responsibility for
some of their own governance reducing the need for paid staff.
It's difficult for those of us who have led a conventional life to fathom
the attraction of any addiction. We think that any rational person,
observing the devastation visited on them and those who love them could
change. Normal folk can calculate consequences and change behavior.
It may not be possible for some. My relative has pretty well ruined his
life.
For him, it's 3 strikes and you're out.
(source: The Amarillo Globe-News--Virgil Van Camp, an Amarillo resident,
is a retired printer. Van Camp's column appears every other Friday)