The 2012 Kansas Legislative session starts today. For me, it feels a bit like being a student starting a new school year, only with none of the nervous excitement. Just the nerves.
Last night I read this article with the headline "Kansas issues coming to a boil" with a subheadline (I doubt that's the technical term) of "Brownback is pushing lawmakers to attack a king-size bowl full of heated issues this year". Says Senator John Vratil: "We've got more major policy issues on the table this session than any session I can remember." To make things even more interesting, the entire Legislature is up for re-election this year.
I am excited about one thing. I am hoping this session brings about some positive changes to how we use our state dollars in the criminal justice system. This article from last week's KC Star begins: "Ninety-nine times over the last six years, Kansas legislators have changed the law to make sure that crime doesn’t pay." That's right: 99 sentencing law changes since 2005. (I have been going to the Statehouse since 2005 - maybe I should just throw in the towel?!) The article continues:
A recent tally showed that Kansas men’s prisons were more than 250 inmates over capacity. In a decade, they’re projected to be short about 2,000 beds. Prisons for women also will exceed capacity in about seven years, according to the Kansas Sentencing Commission.
State officials are considering solutions that will keep the public safe while releasing some prisoners sooner than planned or keeping them out of prison in the first place, said Kansas Corrections Secretary Ray Roberts. So far, the idea of mass releases that some states have turned to is not on the table.
The article also mentions that 27% of Kansas prisoners have severe and persistent mental illness, but money for transitional housing and other programs has been cut.
To address these overcrowding/loss of resources/budgeting issues, the article mentions these proposals:
[Secretary] Roberts and Rep. Pat Colloton, a Leawood Republican on the sentencing commission who chairs a House-Senate committee on corrections and juvenile justice, listed some other options:
• Allow more inmates into a drug treatment diversion program, and let them in more often. The program now admits only minor offenders who can use it only once to avoid prison.
• Let all inmates into a behavior program that can shave 60 days off their sentences.
• Colloton is introducing a bill that would promote the Johnson County district attorney’s mental illness diversion program, which allows minor offenders to have charges against them dropped.
It is things like this that will keep my spirits up and give me a reason to keep showing up to the Statehouse.
So to preface the ask, here's a quote from House Majority Leader Arlen Siegfreid, from the above-mentioned legislative preview article:
All in all, I'm excited about the session. I'm anxious to get started. We can profoundly change the future of Kansas if we have the courage and the character to do so. I think we need to get out there and be leaders.
Let's get out there, folks. Make your voices heard! Just as a reminder, you can find legislators' contact information on the Legislature's website. If you need to find the names of your representative or senator, you can look here.
Let's change the future of Kansas, particularly with regard to criminal justice issues. I don't want things to look like this come May:
P.S. I found this "book" at an antique store in Paxico.
P.S. #2. As of right now, Bends Toward Justice has had 2,102 views since its creation in August 2011. Not only am I honored that people are reading, but that's 2012 backwards! Maybe that's a good sign for the year to come . . .
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