response to Texas loophole in the judicial system

My classmate Erin wrote a very interesting blog about Texas immigrants getting away with crimes. Here is a link to her post. Here is my response:

I agree with you that the people committing these crimes should be held accountable for their actions. Also, the loophole that allows bondsmen to make money from these immigrants should be stopped. I was unaware that this was going on and am glad you wrote your blog on it. What I was thinking while reading your blog though, was why should we have to pay for these people to be imprisoned in our system that already costs us so much money? The cost of the trial, and incarceration should they be convicted would be costing Texans millions if not more a year. I think the best option is to not just deport them, but have a system in place for them to be prosecuted when they are returned to their country. Let their government pay for their wrongdoings. I know this may not be likely, considering the shape of many countries law enforcement, but I believe it is only fair. The option does seem better than just shipping them back and letting them disappear into their home countries, never paying for their crimes, as you pointed out happens now. I hope something changes soon and that the bondsmen quit profiting from these horrible crimes. I also hope we can come up with a compromise between just sending them back with no punishment and prosecuting and incarcerating them here at home.

More security needed for prisons and transporting prisoners

While reading the Statesman, I came across an article that got me thinking about the laws for those in prison. Arcade Comeaux escaped when being transferred to Houston. He pulled a gun on two guards and forced them to drive to Baytown where he put on a guards uniform and took off running. I am sure the guards were surprised to see him take off on foot considering he was in a wheelchair and has been for years. Christmas miracle it is not, though. Seems like Comeaux was a scam artist, and a pretty good one at that.

Comeaux was originally in prison for indecency with a child, a charge filed against him in 1984. He got out only to return to prison for aggravated sexual assault of a child in 1997. In 1999, he stabbed his wife while she was visiting him in prison and also stabbed a man who came to her aid. For these stabbing crimes, he was sentenced to 2 life sentences. He claims that he is paralyzed from suffering strokes. Doctors at the prison have written in reports that he does not have paralysis from these strokes and that the use of his wheelchair is probably not necessary. Comeaux even sued the prison citing cruel and unusual punishment being that his wheelchair was not good enough quality, and that he was unfairly segregated from other prisoners because he needed wheelchair access cells. Thankfully, the judge overturned his claims, stating that if Comeaux's legs worked well enough for him to be able to stab two people in 99, then he shouldn't be complaining. At least someone has some sense.

So, why was there not more security covering a man that is a rapist, and who is obviously violent and has been violent on prison grounds. Apparently the prison thought they needn't worry that this prisoner would escape because he was bound to his wheelchair. Well, as we can see now, they were wrong and the search for Comeaux is still underway. I think the prison, after medically testing Comeaux and determining he did not need the wheelchair, should have recognized him as a true threat and provided much more security during his transport. Senate Criminal Justice Comittee Chairman John Whitmire agrees, and has been calling for tighter security in prisons. There have been many escapes from prisons in Texas recently, a fact that should get public officials moving on new standards for security, especially when prisoners are being transported. But, because of the lack of security in this case, Texans have to worry about a dangerous man on the loose, a man who is much quicker on his feet than many people thought.