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Engulfed by Environmental Crimes

January 28, 2013 By Vikrant P. Reddy

The Texas Public Policy Foundation recently released a report on overcriminalization which I co-authored with my Right On Crime colleague, Marc Levin. The report, titled Engulfed by Environmental Crimes: Overcriminalizaton on the Gulf Coast, has received some attention across the internet after being the subject of features on FoxNews.com and The Washington Examiner.

In the report, we argue:

“’Ground zero’ for state-level overcriminalization may well be the United States Gulf Coast.  Five U.S. states border the Gulf of Mexico—Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida—and between them, they have passed nearly 1,000 laws criminalizing activity along the coast. Criminal sanctions are of course appropriately applied to an individual who intentionally contaminates another person’s property. Too often, however, the activity that is governed by these myriad laws is non-blameworthy, ordinary business activity.”

We offer five recommendations to address the problem. First and foremost, we advise that states review their environmental regulations to determine whether criminal sanctions—in particular, prison—are appropriate. As former Texas state representative Jerry Madden says, ‘prisons are people we’re scared of, not people we’re mad at.’

Second, we advise states to strengthen the mens rea elements in their environmental criminal statutes. In environmental criminal prosecutions, offenders frequently lack the state of mind that would be necessary to convict for a traditional crime.

Third, we urge states to codify the rule of lenity and ensure that it is applied in environmental criminal cases. The rule of lenity is the canon of construction advising that vague criminal statutes be construed against the government and in favor of the defendant. It places a burden upon legislators to draft statutes as precisely as possible.

Fourth, we advise eliminating provisions that delegate to agencies the power to create new criminal offenses through rulemaking.

Finally, we encourage the adoption of safe harbor provisions. These provisions protect offenders from penalties if no harm has been done and the offender promptly acts to come into compliance.

The report is not limited to an abstract public policy discussion. In an appendix, the report documents several notorious incidents of overcriminalization throughout the Gulf states.

Filed Under: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Overcriminalization, Priority Issues, ROC Blog, State Initiatives, Texas

Louisiana Closes Prisons, Saves Taxpayer Dollars

September 21, 2012 By Jeanette Moll

Louisiana state officials have decided to close another prison. The prison closure is the third in a series of closures aimed at decreasing budgetary strains within the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. In the first year alone, closure of those three prisons is estimated to save Louisiana taxpayers almost $9 million.

Importantly, these closures are easily effectuated without any resulting harm to public safety.

As of December of 2011 (from which we have the most recent available data), there were over 8,000 vacant prison beds across Louisiana – a fact that supports the closing of not only these three facilities, but additional facilities as well, to further ease the burden on Louisiana’s taxpayers.

Filed Under: Louisiana, Priority Issues, Prisons, ROC Blog, State Initiatives

New Orleans Seeks to Expand Pretrial Evaluations

September 4, 2012 By Jeanette Moll

After just a few months of operation, prosecutors and court officials agree: pretrial evaluations of defendants should be expanded in New Orleans.

The tool, which uses interviews shortly after arrest to objectively evaluate risk factors (or lack thereof), has been credited with aiding courts in New Orleans with information critical to making smart pretrial detention decisions. Based on an individual defendant’s risks and likelihood to reappear, the pretrial evaluation creates a recommendation on bail or detention decisions.

Even if the recommendation is not ultimately wholly adopted (judges still, as always, make the final call), court officials still find the information highly useful. The evaluation both flags those who pose serious safety risks and should be detained, as well as those who can be safely released prior to their court date, freeing up valuable jail beds.

New Orleans prosecutors and court managers would like the program expanded to include more defendants—its current capacity stretches to just about 60 percent of persons accused of felonies. The assessments curry broad support, from the Sheriff to prosecutors and judges.

Filed Under: Louisiana, Priority Issues, Prisons, ROC Blog, State Initiatives

Sentencing Serious Juvenile Offenders

June 14, 2012 By Jeanette Moll

An interesting new report released on Michigan juvenile offenders reveals that most states do not use juvenile life-without-parole (“JLWOP”) sentencing. The few that do use it, however, use it often. Specifically, two-thirds of all “JLWOP” sentences have been issued by just five states (Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, Louisiana, California), while in the past five years most states (39) only issued zero or one JLWOP sentence each year. The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide two cases related to the constitutionality of this hotly debated issue.

Filed Under: California, Florida, Juvenile Justice, Louisiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Priority Issues, ROC Blog, State Initiatives

Protecting Public Safety and Reducing Costs in Louisiana

May 16, 2012 By Vikrant P. Reddy

Right On Crime is distributing a short policy brief in Louisiana to encourage legislators and Governor Jindal to pass significant criminal justice reform during the state’s current legislative session. The brief discusses some of the policy problems confronting Louisiana and recommends the Right On Crime principles as the key to reform. You can read the policy brief here.

Filed Under: Louisiana, Priority Issues, Prisons, ROC Blog, State Initiatives

Louisiana Has Problems,Texas Has Answers

June 10, 2011 By Henry Joel Simmons

Garland Robinette from WWL radio in New Orleans recently read about a man who, arrested for the fourth time on marijuana possession, was given a life sentence in prison.  With the cost per prisoner in Louisiana as high as it is, this life sentence could potentially cost millions.  Louisiana also has one of the highest incarceration rates in the developed world, with one in fifty-five residents locked up.

Kevin Kane from the Pelican Institute is a policy analyst advocating for alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders.  On Robinette’s radio program this week, Kane explained that part of the stubbornness of conservative legislators stems from a fear of appearing soft on crime, but “that’s a hurdle you have to get over….Safe streets are essential to living in a civilized society, but so many of these prisoners are nonviolent and don’t pose a threat to society. There are other ways to deal with them.” Kane argued for an increased focus on rehabilitation, which costs less and actually helps offenders come back into the world as productive members of society.

For further guidance, Kane encouraged lawmakers to look to Texas, a proudly “tough on crime” state, which has experienced great success in criminal justice reform.  Texas State Representative Jerry Madden appeared on the show to discuss the process surrounding the broad corrections reforms that the state passed in 2007.  “We have two types of prisoners, those who you’re scared of and those that you’re mad at…We looked at the people we were mad at and asked ‘can we change what they’re doing to such a degree that we would no longer be mad at them?’”  Texas rigorously assessed which programs worked best, and cut the inefficient ones to divert funds to more effective programs.  According to Rep. Madden, crime and violent crime rates continue to drop, the recidivism rate has settled at a low number, and the state has saved millions.  The only prison beds added in Texas since 2007 have been substance abuse beds.  This is exactly what the state of Louisiana needs, says Robinette: to cut spending and make the public safer, while helping to reform offenders.

Filed Under: Louisiana, Prisons, ROC Blog, Texas

Right On Crime Comes to Louisiana

February 3, 2011 By Vikrant P. Reddy

Right On Crime launched in Lousiana today. Marc Levin, Pat Nolan, and Kevin Kane conducted a conference call with media in the Bayou State, discussing the importance of Fighting Crime, Prioritizing Victims, and Protecting Taxpayers.

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Filed Under: Audio, Louisiana, ROC Blog

Will Governor Jindal Seek to Privatize Two Prisons?

December 12, 2010 By Vikrant P. Reddy

Last week, Governor Bobby Jindal said that he would consider selling the Allen Correctional Center and the Winn Correctional Center in order to help close the $1.6 billion budget shortfall that is facing Louisiana.  He reiterated the idea in a speech at a Lake Charles bookstore today.  The two prisons, if they are sold, may bring the state about $64 million.  Jindal proposed the prison sales as part of a larger plan to reduce the shortfall by exploring the sale of numerous state assets.

Republican State Treasurer John Kennedy, a budget hawk who speaks frequently about reducing the size of government, is skeptical of the possible sales: “A junkie can go sell his television and sell the radio and pay for a fix…[b]ut sooner or later…he’s got to face his addiction. I would prefer to have us face our addiction.”

Filed Under: Louisiana, ROC Blog, State Initiatives