ustxtxb_obs_1991_01_11_50_00009-00000_000.pdf

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January 11, 1991, 12:00 AM, CST

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<div id="pico"><p>4.31itk   4.azfc’wt  ,<IWANIVA.4;AgkiM.L.02.3.s.,z:VA Z.` ALAN POGUE The Windham School District Library at the Ramsey 11 Unit  graded on job performance and disciplinary  record, and received "points" each quarter for  attending school, AA meetings, etc. If his  ratings were too low, he got a letter from the  parole board saying, "See you next year."  This kid didn't laugh when he got out, and  he didn't want to come back. He'd spent  several hundred nights thinking about his  situation. He'd spent a hundred Saturday  nights listening to the radio, wondering what  his wife or girlfriend was doing. He'd eaten a  hundred Sunday dinners and remembered  how mama used to do it. He'd awakened to a  shrill whistle 500 mornings, wishing he hadn't  come to prison. When he got out, he reported  to his parole officer and said, "Yes, sir."  It bears mentioning that a big part of TDC's  deterrent value in the old days was its brutality and its dehumanizing nature. Young offenders didn't want to come back because  they were afraid. Whether or not the old days  were "better" is a moot point; they are gone,  and good riddance to them. But there is one  indisputable fact: recidivism rates were about  30 percent before the major reforms of the last  decade, while they hover at 60 percent now.  Time is the currency of the criminal justice  system  the bite behind the law's bark.  Under court-ordered reforms and more progressive administration, time is the only thing  left with which to convince offenders that  they need to change. They need those nights   staring at the ceiling. They need to but of  circulation long enough to get their minds off  the streets.  Violent offenders get their time in adequate doses  they know it's no joke. At best  they will only get out every six or seven years.  Nonviolent offenders, on the other hand, can  be three-time losers before they're old enough  to buy a beer.  To illustrate what is happening, I'll use a  "typical" car thief. Car theft is the perfect  crime for modern times  good money, little  chance of getting caught \(and little time if you  A competent car thief can steal many cars  before he is caught; cops don't have many  clues or the time to chase them down. So let's  say our young hero steals just five cars a  month and sells them for $500 each. That's  $2,500 a month  not bad for a junior-high  dropout with a fourth-grade reading level. Is  this a great country or what?  He has leisure time and spends it well. He  parties most every night, does a lot of dope,  splurges on his girlfriend, sleeps late, and  generally does what he pleases. But after two  months of the good life, the jaws of justice  spring shut on him. As a "first offender," he  is offered five years' probation, which he  turns down. Why should he serve out a long  probation, when he can serve the sentence  itself in six months and probably be paroled   before he even leaves the county jail?  Sure enough, the D.A. comes back with a  two-year probation, which he grudgingly  accepts. He is released and never bothers to  report to the probation office. Our young  entrepreneur is back in business that night.  Why should he stop? At 30 minutes per car,  he's making $1,000 an hour  more than the  President. And he doesn't have to squabble  with Congress.  The next time he's caught, they really put  the hammer on him, giving him five years in  prison, which he indeed serves in the county  jail, watching TV and playing cards with his  buddies. Paroled and busted once again, he  gets a 10-year sentence, which he can serve in  one year. He spends half of his 10-year sentence  six months  awaiting transfer to  Huntsville. He spends a month in the diagnostic and classification process. When he  arrives at his assigned unit, he is immediately  made a "trusty" and placed in a dorm outside  the prison fences. He can walk around during  the day, play softball, maybe drive a tractor.  At night he plays dominoes, watches TV, or  sits in the dayroom swapping "war stories"  with his homeboys.  The unit education counselor will call him  to the education department and give him a  placement test. After a few weeks the results  come back: He's functionally illiterate. He is  enrolled in special education classes, but by  THE TEXAS OBSERVER  9 
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