Prisoners return to society

You know from reading the Lecture for Module 6 that Harris County , Texas has every reason to be concerned about many of the issues raised by Dr Petersilia and your textbook in Chapter 10 . You are the Governor`s advisor on matters of criminal justice . Write a 3-4 page report outlining a bold , new plan for reforming parole in Texas . Be a visionary . Drop your 12 font , double-spaced plan in the Assignment Drop Box . Incorporate the expert`s opinions (Petersilia`s and others mentioned in your text ) in your plan to convince the Governor to

champion reform . You can present your ideas in bullet points for this assignment , if you`d like . Be sure to incorporate ideas from both Petersilia and your textbook

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT TEXAS PAROLE

Here are a few interesting figures about parole in Texas , found in the March 2004 Research Report prepared by the Urban Institute 's Justice Policy Center . The report is titled , A Portrait of Prisoner Reentry in Texas ' The authors are Jamie Watson , Amy L . Solomon , Nancy G . LaVigne Jeremy Travis , Meagan Funches , an Barbara Parthasarathy . A complete report is scheduled for 2005 and will be a part of a large cross-state analysis based on research also conducted in Maryland , Illinois , and Ohio

Between 1980 and 2001 , the five-fold , from 28 ,543 to 151 ,003 . The per capita rate of imprisonment in Texas went from 199 to 693 prisoners per 100 ,000 residents in that same time period . The growth in population is largely attributable to longer lengths of stay in prison . Prisoners were receiving longer sentences AND were serving more of their sentences (time served

Of the Texas prisoners released in 2001

They had been incarcerated , on average , 4 .6 years after serving 57 of their sentences . In 1993 , released state prisoners had served 27 of their sentences

In 2001 , those prisoners incarcerated in the Texas state jails (known as confinees ) had served , on average , 11 months , 100 of their sentences Confinees are prisoners convicted of a state jail felony offense and sentenced for no more than 2years in a state jail . State jails are operated by TDCJ or a private company in contract with TDCJ . Confinees receive no good time and no early release . Texas revised its criminal code in 1993 to create state jail felonies for low-level drug and property offenders . Most state jail felons receive probation

Falling parole approval rates contributed to the rise in prisoners ' time served . The parole approval rates went from 57 in 1988 to 25 in 2002

99 of the parolees returned to Texas communities

59 returned to 5 of Texas 's 254 counties

26 returned to Harris County , 15 to Dallas County , 8 to Tarrant County , 6 to Bexar County , and 4 to Travis County

23 of supervised releasees returned to Houston , concentrated in 5 neighborhoods...