By Mike Ward
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
As an anti-crime bill was easily approved by the House, a Senate leader
warned Tuesday that he intends to block any bills that will require
Texas to build prisons.
Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire, D-Houston,
announced that his staff has begun reviewing all bills that enhance
prison sentences to determine whether they will generate prisoners -- and how many.
"They're not going anywhere," said Whitmire, referring to the dozens
of Senate and House bills that would enhance punishments for a variety
of crimes, including auto burglary, theft from vending machines and dog fighting. As chairman of the committee that oversees prisons and criminal justice issues, Whitmire has the clout to keep
bills from passing out of his committee.
"If it's really an issue of public safety, then we'll find the money
to get the additional (prison) beds. But with many of the bills I've
seen, we're being asked to enhance penalties when prosecutors and judges aren't even sentencing people to the full penalties now.
"So far, I haven't seen any enhancement bills I believe we absolutely
have to have."
That includes House Bill 151, which would make car burglary a felony
punishable by up to two years in a state jail run by the prison system.
It is now a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in a county jail.
Rep. Vicki Truitt, a Keller Republican who wrote the bill, said the law
is needed to curb a growing wave of car burglaries. In 2003, she said,
auto burglars cost Texans more than $200 million -- more than the $9 million in additional prison costs its passage is expected to trigger.
Rep. Pat Haggerty, R-El Paso, said the cost to the state could be much
higher if the bill forces Texas to build prisons to house hundreds
of car burglars who are now serving their time in county jails.
Whitmire said that while he understands the public outrage over the increase
in auto burglaries in Texas, he questioned why judges are not sentencing
offenders to more time.
Prison reform advocates had much the same message earlier in the day
at a Capitol rally: New prisons will not stop crime, and their construction
would hurt the state's bottom line.
"Our police and judges need to do a better job of enforcing the present
laws," said the Rev. Robert Jefferson, with Houston Ministers Against
Crime. "This is scapegoat legislation -- and taxpayers and families will be the real ones to pay."
