ACLU of Texas and Juvenile Justice Advocates Applaud Passage of Texas Youth Commission Reform Bill (4/19/2007)

I don’t know about you, but I think this is typical liberal stupidity, and for a number of reasons. What is the answer to government corruption, and sexual abuse of incarcerated juveniles?

Why, increasing government bureacracy, spending money that isn’t budgeted, and letting them go!

huh?

A person with critical thinking skills would think - getting rid of corruption could include getting rid of useless agencies that don’t do squat and cost the taxpayer unending amounts of money, but hey. The ACLU is about growing government, just like the rest of the idjit libs who live for today and spend like there’s no tomorrow, and don’t care where the money comes from to pay for it.

What I don’t understand is, with all of this spending, oversight and training, they’re saying that this legislation is going to make the agency SMALLER. Now how does that work exactly? If, for example, the average overseer has 24 kids to look after now, and the legislation number is 16, wouldn’t it figure that they’d need more employees?

And another thing; once they reach the age of 19, they’d either be released or be sent to adult prison. I know what the tendency is there, criminals are let go because of prison overcrowding. Just look at the sex offenders who are released and living near you.

I see this is more frightening than not.

Let’s take a look at what the ACLU says about this from its own website:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org

Bill Unanimously Passes in State Senate

AUSTIN, TX - The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the Texas Coalition Advocating Justice for Juveniles (TCAJJ) applauded the unanimous passage in the State Senate today of SB 103, the omnibus reform legislation on the Texas Youth Commission (TYC). Both groups were thrilled to see the comprehensive bill pass so quickly after tumultuous weeks of scandals and revelations at the commission.

Well of course! Now people of Texas can look forward to these juveniles being moved close to where they live, rather than the larger 4700-inmate system in remote rural locations, divide them up, and move them closer to those inmates’ hometowns. I’m sure these communities are excited about that pronouncement.

“In all of my years of legislative advocacy, I have never seen such a positive and progressive piece of reform legislation,” said Will Harrell, Executive Director for the ACLU of Texas. “The fact that it passed unanimously in Texas is stunning.”

It’s “progressive”, all right. Look at the devastatingly large numbers of tax dollars we’re talking about here from the Austin Statesman which quotes statistics from the Texas Youth Commission:

The Whitehouse budget approved this week doesn’t include this:

Costs of fixing Youth Commission

Source: Texas Youth Commission

The total price tag is estimated at about $100 million.

But who cares? As long as it grows government, it meets the bottom line criteria. Doesn’t have to be effective, because as most people know, the bigger government grows, the less effective it is.

The bill provides for greater oversight of the commission, reduces the population of inmates, enhances the quality of care, and sets the stage for the process of greater reform.

“The reform begins with the passage of SB 103, but it does not end there,” said Isela Gutierrez, Coordinator for TCAJJ. “Constant vigilance from parents, formerly incarcerated children, and the advocacy community is essential to the transformation of the Texas Youth Commission.”

“Reduces the population of inmates”. On the one hand, you’d think that was a cost saving move, but as you can see, it’s not at all. There were allegations of sexual abuse of inmates and other crimes committed by the overseers themselves, so their answer to fixing that is assigning more oversight, and more training for the gatekeepers???

What I’d like to know is - this bill prevents courts to send people convicted of misdemeanors to state lockups. So where would those people go? Misdemeanors include things like prostitution, public drunkenness, simple assault, disorderly conduct, traspassing, vandalism, and others. If they’re reducing the number of inmates by preventing people like this from entering the state’s incarceration program, I hardly think this is an improvement.

It’s moving them around to make the numbers look better, and at a sweeping cost that no one has planned for.

That’s “progressive”, all right.

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