Does the bill create new public policy? If the conduct
is already a crime, then the bill will not add value to our jurisprudence by creating new social policy for Texas.
Will the bill increase public safety? Do you have
evidence that increasing incarceration for this conduct will reduce the number of times
that it occurs in Texas? Absent evidence that the threat of increased incarceration will cause the criminal conduct
to decrease, additional investment of taxpayer dollars should not be authorized. The US Department
of Justice has found that for most nonviolent offenders - incarceration slightly increases their criminal behavior!
Incarceration by itself does not increase public safety - other states have enjoyed a more significant drop in crime
without incarcerating so many of their residents.
Does the bill create a new felony?
• New state cost. Felony incarceration is paid for by the state
- is this issue serious enough to create new cases in which the state will pay for the local punishment decision?
• More felonies and more felons in Texas. Texas has over 1900 separate felonies
at this time. 1 in 20 adults in Texas is currently under the control of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on
probation, in prison or on parole. 1 in 11 adult Texans is a felon today.
• Inter-generational scar. "Felony" status confers life-long barriers
on a person because the Texas Constitution designates felons as second class citizens. Employment,
housing, jury service, education - restricted forever for felons. A prisoner's child is 6-8 times more likely
to go to prison.
How much will this bill cost Texas taxpayers?
Incarceration costs approximately $40 per day, or $15,000 per year. Texas taxpayers must pay for all food, security
and medical and dental care for inmates.
• If just 10 additional people enter Texas prison each year because
of the bill, the cost to state general revenue is over half-a-million dollars per biennium.
• Making a 2nd degree felony into a 1st degree felony authorizes an additional investment
of over $1 million in state general revenue per criminal.
• Don't forget about construction costs! Our county jails are
over-capacity by 1200 people. Our prison is over capacity and predicted to have almost 15,000 more inmates than prison
beds by 2010. Because new 1000-bed prison units cost approximately $100 million, taxpayers are already facing
a $1.5 billion problem by 2010 without any penalty increases! Are we ready to pay this cost or should
we really be deciding who should get out of prison?
Is there a less costly way to solve the problem? Is
the crime really occurring too often due to ineffective enforcement, or courts' refusal to use current criminal penalties?
Police say we should increase prison time for people who break into cars although they only capture a tiny percentage of these
criminals and courts allegedly refuse to use the current one-year term of incarceration. One bill would increase prison
time for criminals who sell alcohol to minors while ignoring the real problem - lax TABC enforcement on permit holders.
Root out the true solution.
Is it really worth all those extra taxes?
