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: Grits for Breakfast

New crimes, penalty increases "enhance" nothing but spending side of state, county budgets

Earlier this year Marc Levin of the Texas Public Policy Foundation wrote (pdf) that "Texas can?t arrest its way out of a recession, but many policymakers act as if we could." Seldom has that been more evident than on this, the first day of bill filing for the 82nd Texas Legislature, as suggestions for new crimes, increased penalties, and unfunded mandates related to law enforcement are coming out of the woodwork.State Rep. Debbie Riddle, for example, wants to make burglary of a vehicle a state jail felony on the first offense (HB 20), which would add hundreds of extra inmates per year to Texas state jails. Meanwhile, Rep. Jose Menendez wants to enhance graffiti penalties to require incarceration in already overcrowded county jails as part of the sentence (HB 38)...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on November 08, 2010 (boomark / email).