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.
Incomprehensible Laws are No Laws at All
“I’m sorry, officer, I didn’t see the speed limit,” has never been a legitimate legal defense. We might say it when we get pulled over, hoping for leniency, but it’s never been a real excuse. Ignorantia juris non excusat: Ignorance of the law is no excuse. That’s a doctrine almost as old as laws themselves....