Texas Conservatives reject Harper's crime plan

[Bartdude]

Texas conservatives reject Harper's crime plan
'Been there; done that; didn't work,' say Texas crime-fighters
By Terry Milewski, CBC News
Posted: Oct 17, 2011 6:11 PM ET

Conservatives in the United States' toughest crime-fighting jurisdiction — Texas — say the Harper government's crime strategy won't work.

"You will spend billions and billions and billions on locking people up," says Judge John Creuzot of the Dallas County Court. "And there will come a point in time where the public says, 'Enough!' And you'll wind up letting them out."

Adds Rep. Jerry Madden, a conservative Republican who heads the Texas House Committee on Corrections, "It's a very expensive thing to build new prisons and, if you build 'em, I guarantee you they will come. They'll be filled, OK? Because people will send them there.

"But, if you don't build 'em, they will come up with very creative things to do that keep the community safe and yet still do the incarceration necessary."

These comments are in line with a coalition of experts in Washington, DC, who attacked the Harper government's omnibus crime package, Bill C-10, in a statement Monday.

"Republican governors and state legislators in such states of Texas, South Carolina, and Ohio are repealing mandatory minimum sentences, increasing opportunities for effective community supervision, and funding drug treatment because they know it will improve public safety and reduce taxpayer costs," said Tracy Velázquez, executive director of the Washington-based Justice Policy Institute.

"If passed, C-10 will take Canadian justice policies 180-degrees in the wrong direction, and Canadian citizens will bear the costs."

Story continued at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/10/17/pol-vp-milewski-texas-crime.html

 

[violetblake]

Actually alinburnaby, the death penalty is generally just as if not more costly than life imprisonment. The backlog of court cases means criminals are on death row for years if not decades, and in that timeframe have appeal after appeal, then there's the cost of the actual death, which isn't exactly cheap. Even if you were to improve the backlog of court cases you'd still have numerous appeals which would inevitably last years. I'm not saying it is or is not a good idea all around, but financially speaking, it isn't necessarily a cheaper option.

 

[smackyo]

We don't jail people for possession for personal use, Texas does. We don't jail people for shoplifting, Texas does.

We will be when this Harper crime bill goes through. Here we have Texas officials telling us it's the wrong way to go because they've already done it and it failed and yet you still won't listen. Just what the hell does it take to get through the thick scull of a Conservative???? What the CBC paid off these officials in Texas to further some left wing political agenda??? Time to give your head a shake.

 

[Pantherdash]

We will be when this Harper crime bill goes through. Here we have Texas officials telling us it's the wrong way to go because they've already done it and it failed and yet you still won't listen. Just what the hell does it take to get through the thick scull of a Conservative???? What the CBC paid off these officials in Texas to further some left wing political agenda??? Time to give your head a shake.

Yup, I totally agree.

Throw more money at the problem and it will go away, is how narrow-minded conservatives think.

Do you think maybe Harper's investing in a future of privatized jails? Say it aint so? As with all of Harper's initiatives, there's always a self-serving agenda
on the horizon. He's in for a shitload of pain if he thinks he's on the right track with this recent crime bill.

But hey, a majority of Canadian voters elected him in the last election so what the fuck do I know?

Panther

 

[steiln]

Yup, I totally agree.

Throw more money at the problem and it will go away, is how narrow-minded conservatives think.

Do you think maybe Harper's investing in a future of privatized jails? Say it aint so? As with all of Harper's initiatives, there's always a self-serving agenda
on the horizon. He's in for a shitload of pain if he thinks he's on the right track with this recent crime bill.

But hey, a majority of Canadian voters elected him in the last election so what the fuck do I know?

Panther

a majority of Canadians DIDN'T vote for him. he got a majority of the seats