NCJ Number
124475
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 18 Issue: 3 Dated: (1990) Pages: 195-215
Date Published
1990
Length
21 pages
Annotation
One response of the Texas legislature to that State's prison-crowding problem, Senate Bill (SB) 1167, became law in 1985.
Abstract
Under provisions of SB 1167, the director of the Texas Department of Corrections was authorized to restore "good time" to parole violators in situations in which revocations did not involve new convictions which resulted in their re-release in as few as three months. The present research focused on the recommendations of a single Hearing Section as well as the final revocation decisions of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, a year before and a year after passage of the law, in order to determine the impact of a change in one part of the correctional process on another component part. Prior to the legislative change, hearing recommendations were based loosely on a combination of factors related to both original offenses and current violations. After passage of the law, the importance of these factors increased; revocation recommendations became more predictable events. Conversely, the predictability of the Board's decisions decreased. Prior to the legislative change, the Board of Pardons and Paroles made its decisions based largely on the recommendations of the Hearing Section; however, after enactment of the law, Hearing Section recommendations were followed less often and the weight accorded the original offense increased. Possible reasons for these patterns, as well as the policy implications of legislatively mandated change, are discussed in the article. 3 tables, 2 figures, 10 notes, 91 references, and 3 cases cited. (Author abstract)