Politically Correct

New prisons, tougher sentences, with a little love thrown in. From the June 15, 2007, issue of the Texas Observer.

If there’s one issue on which Texas lawmakers tend toward bipartisan comity, it’s criminal justice. Execution versus life in prison is generally the starkest dividing line over what should be done with lawbreakers, and those against execution risk being labeled soft on crime.

This session lawmakers decided once again to build more prisons and jacked up sentences for myriad offenses. And Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst got his bill extending capital punishment to repeat child sex offenders, assuring a slew of campaign ads in his expected race for governor even if the new law turns out to be unconstitutional.

Another group of lawmakers, however, changed the way the Legislature talks about criminal justice. Fed up with the cost of the country’s largest population behind bars, they pushed through extensive reforms that use parole, probation, and substance abuse treatment programs to keep people out of prison.

Read more at texasobserver.org