More Crime & Politics
Go To Jail and Stay There
Every time I think the issue involving jail overcrowding in Marion County can’t get any worse, it does. But unlike the wrangling over funding (which I’ll get to the Monroe Doctrine in just a bit) this time I have to point the finger at the court system. Prosecutors can file charges and Public defenders can raise objections, but fundamentally it’s the judges who make the decision as to how quickly things move, or don’t move.
I sat through the Criminal Justice Planning Council meeting Monday afternoon only to have my jaw drop to the floor when I found out that there were more than 130 people sitting in jail as a result of just one court. It’s Court 20, with Judge William Young residing. I would have been less offended had it also not been brought to my attention that Judge Young is on vacation; working at a youth camp I am told. I’m also told the prosecutors and defense attorneys have been instructed to mediate their cases and work out deals while the Judge is away. So I guess he won’t have much to do when he gets back because the damage has been done; criminals have gone free and the integrity of the system has been harmed.
The thought that there are 130 people sitting behind bars waiting processing, while the Judge is on vacation is offensive! And who knows who else is going free? By the way June 2006 was the second highest month of early releases from the jail on record, to the tune of 477 inmates. Something is fundamentally wrong here that more beds will not solve, but more organization must.
More of the Monroe Doctrine
I have no idea whose bright idea it was to establish Monroe Gray as the head of the Indianapolis City-County Council, but they have to be regretting that decision by now. Gray demonstrated his mastery of corrections and public policy Monday afternoon by declaring (during a meeting of the Criminal Justice Planning Council abut the record early releases from the County Jail) that “more jail beds is not the answer…but jobs and housing.”
Allow me to elaborate. As the Council worked its way through a discussion of the record jail overcrowding and early releases that I told you about in the above post, they eventually got to Prosecutor Carl Brizzi’s proposal to lease 220 jail beds at New Castle. Gray eventually joined in the conversation and asked (after Council Attorney Aaron Haith handed him a sheet of paper with notes on it) and asked Brizzi to define “early release” and if crime had dropped as beds have been added over the years? The point of the questions was not to reach a working solution for jail overcrowding, but to continue to play politics with public safety. Gray did make a valid point about tackling crime from a procedural standpoint. But I have a hard time taking him seriously when he played politics with the crime issue from the start.
Secondly, I could tell Mayor Bart Peterson was getting frustrated by Gray’s inane questions, specifically with crime at an all time high, and despite the Mayor’s genuine concerns about public safety, it’s also an issue that tends to not get people re-elected. He said in so many words, action was going to be taken and they were going to find the money to do it; despite the Council President’s best worst efforts.
What just thoroughly surprised me folks, was the fact that with crime at an all time high for this time of year, and the second highest number of early releases from prison for the President of the City-County Council to say jail beds is not the answer makes me wonder where his head is? I have an idea.
