GOP policy group bucks clichés by aiding reform
Right on Crime backs closing state prisons, reducing punishment
Conservatives are not usually considered champions of criminal justice reform.
But since 2010, a right-leaning policy organization in Austin has quietly risen to prominence as advocates for wide-ranging changes including closing state prisons, reducing punishment for parole violations and clearing the way for community drug treatment, an approach still occasionally derided as “hug-a-thug” liberal ideas.
It’s called Right on Crime, and in a state known for its “tough on crime” agenda, the innovative ideas being proposed are shaping criminal justice reforms typically embraced by Democrats.
“They have really made the discussion much broader than it would have been because they bring in that fiscal responsibility,” said Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, who was a long-time Democratic legislator. He said he worked with the group through the years because of their pragmatism. “Obviously, they have a deep concern for public safety, but they knew the system got so one-sided, we couldn’t afford to keep financing it.”
Right on Crime is a national project of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank in Austin that partners with the American Conservative Union Foundation, a political group for conservative legislators, and the Prison Fellowship, a Christian outreach to incarcerated inmates.
Texas Public Policy Foundation was established by James Leininger, a San Antonio doctor, businessman and longtime supporter of Gov. Rick Perry. Leininger is well-known as an advocate for school vouchers and the campaign to ban same-sex marriage in Texas.
‘Man bites dog’ story
The organization’s board includes conservative stalwarts like Wendy Lee Gramm, who is former U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm’s wife, and George Strake Jr.; former Republican state representatives Talmadge Heflin and Arlene Wohlgemuth are directors at the foundation.
Marc Levin, vice president of criminal justice policy at Right on Crime, said conservatives don’t typically make headlines for initiatives like drug courts or keeping parole violators out of prison, but they have the credibility to implement good ideas when they see them.
“It’s kind of the ‘man bites dog’ story, but it’s probably not as surprising as it would have been 10 or 15 years ago,” he said. “(Governors Rick Perry and Greg Abbott) have had success reducing the prison population and reducing crime. That’s the magic of it: You have to do this in a way that enhances public safety.”
The organization relies heavily on data and analytics to see what works and what doesn’t, then pursues policies they can back up with statistics.
“If you look at it from 2005 to 2016, the incarceration rate fell by more than 20 percent and crime fell more than 30 percent,” Levin said. “In the past, the assumption was that the best way to reduce crime was to build more prisons, but the research shows that, particularly with non-violent offenders, people with addiction and mental illness, things like drug courts get better results.”
Dropping convict population
The group continues to work for more diversion programs, more treatment options and more problem-solving courts. As of December 1, the reforms championed by the organization led to legislators closing eight prisons across Texas. Officials with Texas Department of Criminal Justice said the state now has 104 prisons across the state.
In the past few years, Texas’ convict population has dropped by about 9,000 prisoners as sentencing reforms and ramped-up treatment programs have cut recidivism and helped keep crime rates low.
“Prisons are really good at incapacitating people like rapists and murderers for decades so they’re not a danger to society,” Levin said. “But the more common offender, the non-violent offenders, if they’re only in for six months, they actually get worse because that’s not enough time to even complete a treatment program.”
Levin said everyone, not just conservatives, likes the idea of having more people who are productive law-abiding citizens instead of being burdens on society.
“Saving money is certainly the appetizer,” he said. “But the main course is increasing public safety, getting people in the workforce and keeping families together.”
Briscoe Cain, a state representative who was named the Most Conservative Legislator by political scientist Mark Jones at Rice University, said the advocacy group is leading the way in criminal justice reform across the nation.
“This is a bipartisan issue which our state has found much common ground on over the last several sessions,” he said. “Right on Crime is a very effective organization and is respected by members of both parties and chambers.”
Helping ‘hug-a-thug’ plans
Levin said the roots of the organization started more 10 years ago when Texas politicians decided to stop building more prisons. That decision meant lawmakers either had to release inmates or stem the tide of who was coming in.
That led to adjusting sentences to account for exemplary behavior. It also meant initiatives like getting rid of jail time for people who don’t pay fines and raising the threshold for felony theft from $500 to $2,500 to take inflation into account, both of which lower jail populations.
Levin said the organization is now working with legislators to raise the age of criminal culpability to 18, which would put more accused juvenile criminal suspects in the juvenile court system. The juvenile criminal justice is more intensive with more services, which is more expensive in the short term, but saves money over time.
He said the group is also studying graduated sanctions for people on probation and parole who commit minor violations. Instead of sending people back to prison for years for missing court dates, a weekend in jail may be a better alternative, he said.
Levin said he would also like to see even more people arrested for drug possession go to treatment instead of jail. Drug courts, now largely accepted across the country, were originally ridiculed by some as “hug-a-thug” programs.
‘Bipartisan’ criminal justice
Diversion programs were among many of the solutions that Kim Ogg, a progressive Democrat, promised before winning election last year as Harris County District Attorney. She said there are two big reasons that people in both parties care about the operation of the criminal justice system: tax dollars and the human cost.
And she applauds Right on Crime for tackling issues that are not typically Republican causes.
“This is living proof that criminal justice reform is a bipartisan issue,” she said. “While the different interests may have different perspectives on why it’s important, they agree on the bottom line that it needs to be reformed.”
Ogg said both sides can agree on issues like over-incarceration for low-level offenses and lack of attention to serious crimes, like untested rape kits.
Tarsha Jackson, criminal justice director for the left-leaning Texas Organizing Project, said she is aware of Right on Crime but has yet to be involved with the group’s initiatives. She noted that conservative groups worked with liberals during the civil rights movement of the 1960s and said she hopes to work with them soon.
“It’s great to have conservatives involved,” she said. “We need a diverse group; we need more groups like that. We need more collaboration.”