There She Is?
April 25th, 2007 at 9:27 am
The House Corrections Committee: the source for early morning beauty pageant contestants. Who knew?
Some actual, nitty-gritty business deserves to be addressed first, though.
Chairman Jerry Madden (R-Plano) is carrying the omnibus TYC reform bill, HB 2807. It’s scope is broad; it took more than an hour to discuss just the amendments to the bill during yesterday’s hearing.
Amid the rapid fire adoption of most amendments, committee members questioned a few, giving a sneak peek at which reforms could run up against a “legitimate policy discussion,” Madden’s term for a potential dogfight. In particular, the chairman revealed, some judges have voiced opposition to the proposed ban on misdemeanor offenders in TYC. Nor do they care for the provision that prevents any inmates age 19 or over in TYC facilities.
The reasons were hard to tease out of the somewhat jagged discussion between committee members, but it seems the big sticking point is on the no-misdemeanors rule. Amendment 1, offered by Madden, would make exceptions to that rule, such as kids who are on their sixth or seventh misdemeanor, or kids who violate felony probation by committing a misdemeanor.
Answering another committe member’s question, Madden offered, “No, this will not satisfy the Fort Worth judge we’re getting letters from.” No other details were given. But later in the discussion, it became evident there is concern that prosecutors who want to send a defendant to TYC cannot plead felonies down to misdemeanors, resulting in more kids with felony convictions. Madden estimated that this scenario could possibly affect, at most, 10 percent of the current TYC population, or about 60 kids.
Both reforms will be worth tracking when the debates get out of committee, since judges tend to carry a lot of clout within districts.
One other amendment worth watching was Amendment 22, by Rep. Jim McReynolds (D-Lufkin). The goal, he said, was to ensure that when a court mandates a certain type of treatment, the TYC facility where that student is sent can actually provide the treatment. Lege Council crafted the language on his amendment, but there was some confusion as to whether the amendment worked as intended, even after two subsequent conversations with the council. It should be important to check back on those few sentences later in the bill’s progression.
Ah, now, finally, what about those beauty queens? Catching the author totally by surprise as he reviewed the video, Chairman Madden interrupts the hearing at the 1:23:50 mark, and then things get plain bizarre.
“We’ve got some lovely ladies that I’ve got here today,” Madden began as five women wearing tiaras entered from off screen. “We have, first of all, Ms. Plano, and that’s Cassidy — is it Arend?” he continued.
Another committee member — I can’t figure out who — quickly chimed in, “Pretty girls.”
“Ms. Frisco, and that’s Heather Hodges,” Madden said.
“Heather,” the unknown member affirmed.
Madden then introduced Ms. Frisco Teen, Ms. Lufkin, and Ms. Lufkin Teen without incident. After a few jokes, the pageant winners waved good-bye and filed out. “Good girls,” our anonymous friend commented.
“I think they know that,” Rep. Rene Oliveira joked.
The voice laughed. “Meow,” he replied.
