A SPECIAL Paper to SUPPLEMENT FOR THE CURRENT’S INCARCERATED Dear Offender, READERSHIP I’ve heard that you don’t trust the media. I don’t blame you. Crime sells newspapers like summer sells popsicles. Readers love to pore through the gritty details of your mistakes, and they love it even more when they read about how hard you’ve been punished. Reporters thrive off your arrests and trials; the cameras adore prosecutors and police chiefs. It’s no wonder you perceive the news as unbalanced and exploitative. In pursuing their sensa- tional headlines, the media forgets that you are a human being and much more than the sum of your crimes. Allow me to introduce our publication: We’re the San Antonio Current, what’s called in our industry an “alternative newspaper.” We’ve been called a “ragazine” and a “yellow newspaper” by our critics, but we see ourselves as a small staff of independent thinkers who write for other independent thinkers. We publish weekly and we’re available for free on racks all over San Antonio and on the internet at Sacurrent.com, which I know you don’t have access to at the moment. Like all media, we understand that writing about crime can be popular. However, we also realize it’s even more in our interest to treat you with respect and dignity. With one in 20 Texans behind bars or on probation or parole — 152,000 individuals in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in 2006 — you’re a population to be reckoned with. And if you don’t mind me saying, you’re also a valuable market share. What you hold in your hands, however and whenever it may reach you, is what began as a project generically titled “The Jailhouse Newsletter.” I think “Paper to Pen” is more poetic. It’s our attempt to touch base with you, the inmate, and let you know what’s waiting for you on the outside. Sometimes mailroom coordinators get a bit prude when it comes to the strip clubs who advertise in the back of our publication, so we’ve designed this special sec- tion to be mailed separately from the rest of the book. If you’ve only received these four pages, you should know that we’re also pretty good at keeping folks up to date on film, music, and art. So, what’s waiting for you on the outside? To tell you the truth, the num- bers are out to get you. According to researchers hired by our lawmakers, once you’re released you have a 30-percent chance of being re-incarcerated within the next three years. If you’re a juvenile offender, you’ve got about a 50-50 chance of getting sent back. Those numbers are down slightly from a few years ago, but they still aren’t great, especially when more than half the time offenders are sent back for technical parole violations. When you’re released you’ll also be facing life in a state where the gov- ernor doesn’t want you to know that once you’re off paper you’re eligible to vote, as contributor Scott Henson explains in his legislative wrap-up. The good news is that Texas is at the forefront of a new movement called “restor- Dear Inmate’s ative justice,” which you can read about in my article about a recent confer- ence in Kerrville. There are dozens of organizations willing to help you out, Family Member, including the Texas Inmates Families Association, whose San Antonio chair wrote a step-by-step guide to creating a parole packet. We’ve also included If you’ve got a loved one behind contacts for some of these organizations you can write to for assistance from bars whom you think would benefit inside prison, or call when you’ve found your way back into the free world. from this special section, you can do In short, the Current is waiting for you on the outside, and we’re available one of two things: at no cost in over 800 locations around San Antonio. We’re looking forward to having you back. 1) Follow the mailing directions on the inside back cover of this pub- Sincerely, lication and send it to him or her directly. Dave Maass 2) Contact me at djmaass@ Staff Writer sacurrent.com or leave me a mes- San Antonio Current sage at 210-228-0044 ext. 234. Be 1500 N. St. Mary’s St. sure to give me the inmate’s name San Antonio, TX 78215 and TDCJ number. We’ve set a little money aside for postage. P.S. Feel free to write to us if there’s something you think we ought to know about how you’re being treated by the system. Just make sure you seal the enve- Thank you, and good luck. lope and write “media correspondence” on the outside; under TDCJ policy our correspondence is privileged and confidential. We can’t guarantee a response, Sincerely, but we do read everything we receive in our mailbox. Dave Maass Cut pages 13-16 on the dotted lines. k kerr C For mailing instructions, turn to page 67. hu C san antonio current • august 1-7, 2007 13 Paper to Phones coming to Texas prisons: Rape-elimination bill creates ombuds- “this bill could endanger public safety by What did the Without question, the biggest legislative man: Another new law will allow the triggering early release of convicted felons victory for most inmates was the deci- Department of Criminal Justice to-appoint who act out in prison.” 80th Texas sion to install phones in Texas prisons, at an ombudsperson to coordinate TDCJ’s You can vote when you’re off paper, but a minimum ratio of one phone for every efforts to eliminate sexual assault in cor- the government won’t tell you: In Texas, Legislature do 30 inmates. Security systems already used rectional facilities. Honestly, there’s not a ex-felons can vote as soon as they are “off in federal and other state prisons will lot of meat on this bone thrown to anti- paper,” or when their parole or prison sen- on prisoner monitor conversations, restrict whom rape advocates. The ombudsperson has tences finally end. But laws on felon voting each inmate can call, and use biometric no staff, no funding, no formal power, differ in every state, and a voting drive last issues? identifiers to enable officials to block calls and may only “monitor” and “coordinate” year found that many ex-offenders don’t by scott henson by offenders with disciplinary problems. activities of others who aren’t under the know when or if they’re allowed to exercise his spring the 80th Texas Legisla- Not only should this feature help inmate ombudsperson’s chain of command, issu- the franchise. The legislature passed HB 770 ture decided to build three new discipline (because access to phones can ing an annual report on TDCJ compliance. by Houston Representative Harold Dutton, prisons that will cost Texas taxpay- be used as a good-behavior incentive), Perhaps it shouldn’t have been called the which would have required TDCJ to notify Ters more than $100 million per it will improve inmates’ communication “rape elimination act,” but rather “rape offenders when they become eligible to year to operate. But what did the lawmakers with the outside world about poor condi- awareness act,” because the best-case vote and send them a voter-registration do to improve conditions inside existing tions, health problems, corruption, mis- result will be that policymakers have more card. Unfortunately, Governor Perry vetoed Texas prisons? Tight finances and shifting conduct, and other prison problems. New information about the problem; the first the bill. attitudes converged this year and changed phones should be installed and running report will come out in January 2009. So prisoners won’t be notified they can priorities in Austin, making possible several by September 2008. That’s a good thing, since in 2004 Texas vote, but if you’re reading this then you long-sought reforms that surprised many In-prison treatment should boost led the country in reported prison rapes already know! Today one in 20 Texas adults observers. parole rates: The Legislature approved (550 total allegations), according to a U.S. are in prison, on probation or on parole — Senator John Whitmire (D-Houston) nearly $200 million in new treatment Department of Justice report. But let’s not that would be a large voting bloc if each of and Representative Jerry Madden (R- funding, including several resources for kid ourselves that an ombudsman will them consistently votes when their supervi- Richardson) led the Legislature through a in-prison treatment programs, especially eliminate rape at TDCJ. sion ends. So register and vote, or do so as dizzying set of corrections-related reforms, for repeat DWI offenders and drug- Good time restoration vetoed: soon as you’re off paper. These new laws including an overhaul of the state’s broken addicted felons for whom treatment is The Legislature passed a bill by Dallas (and vetoes) show that who represents us in probation system and diverting non- a condition of parole. Currently many Representative Terri Hodge, HB 44, that government really does matter. ● violent offenders from prison. Although offenders are ready for parole save com- would have allowed TDCJ to restore good Whitmire chairs the powerful Senate pletion of a mandatory treatment program time taken away from offenders for con- Scott Henson blogs on Texas crimi- Criminal Justice Committee, and Madden but languish many months (sometimes duct violations.