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INTEREST IN TEXAS OFFERS FREE INSIGHT

"I don't wear no Stetson, but I'm willin' to bet, son, that I'm as big
a Texan as you are." -- from the song Amarillo Highway, by Terry Allen

First, merely to establish some credentials, I'd like to mention that
just one month after being born in Corpus Christi, I moved to Dalhart,
clear up at the other end of the state.

Also, I once had a narrow escape in a flash flood on the Rio Grande,
and some time later got pitched off a jumping mule in the woods
outside Como. I've enjoyed and loved Texas from top to bottom and side
to side for more than half a century. And maybe you have, too. But
let's not let our geographic pride keep us from cashing in on the
current windfall of interest in our state.

Probably, you have noticed how corporations and organizations often
cough up some big bucks to hire outside consultants to come in and
make studies, evaluations and comparisons. This is because outsiders
often can detect design flaws in a fabric that the folks operating the
looms are too close to see. Then those corporations and organizations
can act upon the consultants' observations to become better at what
they do.

Helpful Bits Of Information

Now, most likely because the governor of our state is running for
president, a whole lot of attention is being focused upon Texas and
how we do things here. Some of us take offense at any criticism that
results. Some of us say people who don't approve of the way we do
things in Texas should just keep the heck away and mind their own business.

But others of us believe that we could benefit from all this free
consultant work, that we might find among outsiders' observations some
bits of information to help us become even better.

For one example, let's consider a comment from Vincent Schiraldi, director
of the Justice Policy Institute based in Washington, D.C., and co-author of
a recent study titled Texas Tough: An Analysis of Incarceration and Crime
Trends in the Lone Star State.

Schiraldi said: "The sheer numbers of people in prison and jail in
Texas are signs of a system fixated on punishment, and devoid of
compassion."

That's pretty tough talk, and I'll wager there are a great many proud
Texas prosecutors who would be offended. But on the other hand, such a
comment from such a justice policy expert consultant does warrant some
thought. And the statement is backed up by some pretty unsettling statistics:

The report said that when the numbers were checked last month, Texas
had the largest prison population in the nation, with 163,190.
California, which has 13 million more citizens than Texas, was second
with 163,067 in prison.

One of every 20 adult Texans is under criminal justice control. If we
were still a Republic, we would have the highest incarceration rate in
the world.

In Houston, we speak with pride about our racial diversity. But the
study points out that blacks in Texas are locked up at seven times the
rate of whites. Our state's incarceration rate for blacks is 40
percent more than the national incarceration rate for blacks.

Or how about this one: We have 89,400 people incarcerated for
nonviolent crimes in Texas, considerably more than half our total
prison population.

Same as anyone else in the world, you can find more of what the study
has to say about our state's criminal justice system on the Internet
website www.cjcj.org/texas.

Make Room For Improvement

And for another example of outside consultants helping Texas to focus
upon areas where we might see room for improvements, you can check
www.journeyforjustice.org.

People will be coming here on Sept. 20 from Florida, Kentucky,
Arizona, Virginia, Tennessee and probably some other states, for a
variety of events to include a procession from Houston to Austin,
wrapping up on Sept. 29, with a vigil in front of the Governor's Mansion.

The Journey is the fourth such event organized under the leadership of
Kay Lee of Florida, but of course many Texans also are involved. Al
Robison, head of Drug Policy Forum of Texas, is one of the local organizers.

He said the purpose of the journey is to call attention to the large
number of nonviolent drug offenders in prisons, and also to promote
making marijuana available to sick people who need it.

Thom Marshall's e-mail address is thom.marshall@chron.com.