January 24, 2012

ACLU ANALYZES PUBLIC SAFETY REFORMS 

I just finished reading a 60-page report by the American Civil Liberties Union, dated August 2011, and titled, "Smart Reform is Possible."  The premise is that states can reduce incarceration rates and costs while protecting communities.  

The report carefully analyzes the bipartisan criminal justice reforms that have taken place in Texas, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Ohio.  It then goes on to analyze reform efforts in process in four states:  namely, California, Louisiana, Maryland, and Indiana.  As I finished reading the detailed analysis, four observations stood out to me. 

1. Oregon has already done most of the described "successful" reforms.

 

2. None of these successful reforms involved shortening sentences for violent offenders.

 

3. The enacted reforms save money by managing drug and non-violent offenders in the community or letting them out of prison on parole.

 

4.  There appears to be no rigorous cost-benefit evaluation of these reforms.

Fortunately, these cost-benefit evaluations are becoming more common following the lead of the Washington Institute for Public Policy. The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission economist, Michael Wilson, has updated and further developed this analysis capability for Oregon.  

>>>Read More

January 10, 2012

STATE REP. CHRIS GARRETT FAVORS LOCKING UP VIOLENT OFFENDERS

On January 5, 2012, State Representative Chris Garrett wrote a Guest Opinion in the Portland Tribune with the title, "Make Smarter Use of Tax Dollars."  He was referring to his work on the Governor's Commission on Public Safety and their recommendation to revise Oregon's sentencing guidelines. Initially, I was worried he was advocating for shorter sentences for violent offenders and repeat property offenders until I read the following words from paragraph three of his guest opinion: 

       "The drop in Oregon’s crime rate since 1995 is among the largest in the nation, and this is in part because we are doing a better job locking up violent and repeat offenders for longer periods of time.  That is something that should not and will not change." >>> Read More

December 30, 2011

District Attorneys Michael D. Schrunk, Robert W. Hermann, and John S. Foote respond to the report of the Governor's Commission on Public Safety.  These experienced district attorneys say in the first page of their response: 

"...our primary disagreement with this process is that the most basic conclusion of this Commission appears to have been established before Commission members were even selected.  The Governor’s charge to the Commission, pointedly, was that “the Commission on Public Safety shall develop recommendations for comprehensive sentencing reform.” Taken off the table from the outset by the Governor unfortunately was any debate about whether “comprehensive sentencing reform” was actually even necessary in Oregon. In a state where much of the sentencing structure for violent crime has been the result of direct voter participation, we believe this constitutes a mandate to a public body to simply brush aside the will of the people of this state." 

>>>Read More

December 27, 2011

MAX WILLIAMS RESIGNS

Max Williams, Director of the Department of Corrections, will be leaving his position at the end of this year to become the head of the Oregon Community Foundation.  Congratulations to Max, and we wish him much success as he oversees a billion dollars in assets and guides an organization that donates about $60 million a year.  During Director Williams' tenure at the Department of Corrections, new prisons have been constructed (Oregon now has 14 prisons and about 14,000 inmates) and successfully operated.  More than that, Max led an effort to rehabilitate offenders while in prison and create opportunities for them when they reenter society.  Preliminary data shows that pilot reentry programs significantly reduce recidivism.  Max should be proud of his accomplishments and the people he led that made it happen day in and day out. >>>Read More

The Governor's Commission on Public Safety is scheduled to issue its report on December 15, 2011, and the Governor's Executive Order expires on December 31, 2011.   After holding four all-day meetings around the state, (I attended all of them and made a presentation with the president of Crime Victims United at the last one) listening to planned presentations and public testimony, it is clear that the Commission is not in a position to do anything except stop meeting or continue reviewing the Oregon Public Safety System.  The Commission did not ..."collect, review, and evaluate arrest, conviction, sentencing and recidivism data as required by the Executive Order” nor did they "...collect, review, and evaluate data related to the costs of Oregon's current sentencing policy."  Although the Commission members spent considerable time listening to presentations, the task was simply too large for the five-month timeframe.  In addition, law enforcement members on the Commission such as a District Attorney and/or a Sheriff were noticeably lacking. Also missing was a practicing criminal defense attorney. I expect a new expanded Commission will replace the old one, and 2012 will be a busy year for them. >>>Read More

Prison Transition Essay

LeaAnne Eivers

     My name is LeaAnne, I am a mother, a student, a convicted felon and now I am your neighbor. Two years ago I made a mistake and was sentenced to prison for 19 months. When I made the very bad choice to embezzle money from my employer, the most I thought I would lose was my job. In no way did I understand the consequences of my actions and in no way did I realize the loss I suffered was not only mine, but my family’s, friend’s and the community’s as well.

     Navigating through life can be a daunting process as I found as the divorced mother of two daughters. The turmoil of everyday life can be a challenge in the best of circumstances. But the path is made even more difficult when you are transitioning from prison back into the community. Because the difficulties were caused by my own doing only made it more formidable. I never thought I would commit a serious crime let alone spend time in prison. The punishment didn’t end the day I was released. The problems I faced after I got out wee one’s I hadn’t anticipated. The stigma attached to a felony conviction is hard to overcome. At first I felt everyone could see I was a criminal. Simple things like renewing a driver’s license or re-opening a checking account became a series of lengthy and embarrassing explanations. Although I have a college degree and years of work experience behind me, the minute I check the felony box on a job application means I will probably be turned down. >>>Read More

The Governor's Commission on Public Safety met for the third time on November 21, 2011, in Portland.  They heard presentations from several speakers.  Three very experienced Oregon District Attorneys - John Foote, from Clackamas County; Bob Hermann, from Washington County; and Mike Schrunk, from Multnomah County - submitted written testimony.  Mr. Foote presented an oral summary of the written materials.  Reprinted below are their written comments on Oregon's correction policies and the remarkable success of Oregon's public safety system. 

Addressing Funding Issues Presented by the Oregon Prison System

Oregon’s Corrections Policy Success.The corrections system in this state can only be considered an unqualified success.  A combination of strategies such as sentencing policies targeted at violent crime, a robust evidence-based community corrections process mandated by law, inmate programming and allocated community resources have helped Oregon lead the nation in the reduction of violent criminal conduct and has also produced a significant reduction in property crime. When a program has been as successful as ours has been, changes should not be contemplated unless it is uncontrovertibly clear that these changes will produce better results. >>>Read More

Nov. 13th, 2011 | StatesmanJournal.com

A state commission should not rush to judgment on whether to reduce Oregon's minimum sentences for violent crimes, said the chief sponsor of the ballot initiative that voters approved in 1994 to impose them.

Kevin Mannix, a Salem lawyer and then-state representative, said Measure 11 is at least partly responsible for Oregon's dramatic drop in violent crime rates since the measure took effect in April 1995.

"We have a success story to tell in public safety," Mannix told the Statesman Journal editorial board. "It's not perfect, but it's a success."

Mannix sponsored Measure 11, which set minimum prison terms for 16 violent crimes — since expanded to 22 — and barred judges from reducing prison sentences for those crimes ranging from 70 months to 25 years. >>>READ MORE

GOVERNOR'S COMMISSION ON PUBLIC SAFETY LEARNS ABOUT TEXAS CORRECTIONS 

The Governor's Commission On Public Safety met on October 21, 2011, at Southern Oregon University, and heard a presentation from a seasoned Texas Representative named Jerry Madden.  Representative Madden lead the effort in Texas from 2005 forward to change criminal justice policies in order to avoid building additional prisons.  His assignment from the Speaker of the House was, "Don't build prisons, they cost too much."  Before I summarize Representative Madden's comments, it is important to know that Oregon crime statistics and Texas crime statistics are very different.   I suggest Oregon's numbers are much better than Texas’ numbers. 

PRISON AND CRIME NUMBERS COMPARED 

The 2010 population of Texas, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, is 25,145,561, and the 2010 Oregon population is 3,831,074.  Texas has a whopping 112 prisons, and Oregon has 14 prisons.  Texas has about 172,000 prisoners, and Oregon has about 14,000.  More importantly, the Texas incarceration rate in 2009, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, F.B.I. Uniform Crime Reports (after many of the Texas reforms), is 639 persons for every 100,000 people.  Oregon's 2009 incarceration rate is 371 persons for every 100,000 people.  Out of 50 states, Texas ranked 4^th highest for incarceration rate in 2009, and Oregon ranked 30^th highest - not even in the top half of states.  

Although Oregon has a low/moderate incarceration rate, our violent crime drop for 15 years is outstanding.  Violent crime decreased 51.2% in Oregon from 1995-2009, while the Texas decrease was only 26.1%.  Said another way, out of 50 states Oregon ranked 2^nd for the largest percentage reduction in violent crime while Texas ranked 28^th - not even in the top half of states. 

As a side note, testimony before the Commission by an economist specializing in crime analysis was that criminologists believe that incarceration accounts for 25% to 35% of the national crime decline.  My interpretation of this statement is that for violent offenders and repeat property offenders and repeat drug offenders incarceration will at least slow them down in the number of crimes they commit.  And of course, that means fewer crime victims, which is a very good outcome.  >>>READ MORE