The Texas judicial system has a long history of being tough on crime. Thousands of individuals have found out the hard way that getting convicted of various crimes in Texas means receiving subsequent punishments that are often more severe than in many other states. There are several legal and cultural reasons why Texas has earned this reputation. The following are four reasons Texas is known to be so tough on crime.
1. Appellate Judges Are Elected
In Texas, appellate judges are not appointed but elected. This means they can be voted out of office if they don’t uphold the will of the people. By 1994 Texans had identified crime as one of the most important problems facing the state. During this time period Texas put billions of dollars into their prison system. This wouldn’t have happened if there hadn’t been strong political support from the public. Even those elected officials who don’t directly influence daily decisions regarding criminal justice normally have a tough stance on crime. Former Governor Rick Perry, while taking a softer stance on a few low level crimes, had a reputation for being tough on what would be considered higher level crimes.
2. Inadequate Public Defender System
It’s an unfortunate fact that the public defender system in Texas is overwhelmed, which means defendants don’t always get the best representation possible. The system is set up to encourage guilty pleas accompanied by swift punishment. When those accused of crimes feel pressured to plead guilty, the penalties are often harsher than if they had quality representation to guide them through an innocent plea. Considering that many of the people charged with felonies are indigent, there are thousands of individuals who may have received unnecessarily harsh penalties.
3. Tough Penalties Include Mandatory Sentences
Texas is one of a handful of states that has enacted enhanced mandatory penalties for felonies, as well as for those who are repeat misdemeanor offenders. Enhancements are provisions in the law that raise the minimum sentence based on certain aspects of the offender or the offense. For example, the potential punishment for a crime may be more severe if a weapon was involved, even if it wasn’t used in the actual crime. With increased mandatory sentences, judges are forced to impose harsher penalties for those who have been found guilty of even minor offenses.
4. Focusing on Punishment Instead of Rehabilitation
The South has a strong history of being tough on criminal activity. While other areas of the country have adopted more lenient sentences and have increasingly been trying to focus on rehabilitation, Texas has generally held on to traditional ideas about justice. While some progress has been made regarding rehabilitation at the state level, the lack of rehabilitation services in local jails may actually be a more substantial problem. The lack of substance abuse programs and inmate education in local detention facilities mean low level offenders may not get the help they need, and will continue to commit increasingly serious crimes.
Texans tend to take a lot of pride in their home state, and its refusal to allow rampant crime is a manifestation of that pride. However, some feel that the Texas criminal justice system too often doles out punishments that do not fit the crime, and its own citizens are the ones to suffer for it.
