Approximately 450,000 Texans are on probation. Revoked felony probationers account for 37 percent of prison intakes and 41 percent of state jail intakes, resulting in approximately $600 million in incarceration costs. Although three times as many Texans are on probation as in prison, 10 state dollars are spent on the prison system for every dollar spent on probation.
In a two-tiered justice system, ordinary families suffer
The courthouse is a very bleak house, indeed. Injustice makes it so—especially when it’s justice for some, but not for all. One judge I know says she looks forward to the adoptions she officiates: “An adoption is just about the only time people come to the courthouse and everyone leaves happy,” she told me. “For...