News
2007-05-22
Texas to release
226 juvenile prisoners after sex scandal
The agency that
runs Texas's juvenile prison system said it will release
226 inmates after a review found their sentences were
The agency that
runs Texas's juvenile prison system said it will release
226 inmates after a review found their sentences were
improperly extended.
Advocates for
Texas Youth Commission inmates and their families have
complained that sentences are often extended inconsistently
or in retaliation for filing grievances.
Jay Kimbrough,
who is heading an investigation into allegations of
physical and sexual abuse at the agency's facilities, formed
a panel to review the records of nearly all inmates
with extended sentences. The six-member panel, which
included community activists and prosecutors, reviewed
the cases of 1,027 inmates whose sentences had
been extended.
''For the youth
we're releasing, we did not find that the extensions were
warranted,'' agency spokesman Jim Hurley said Friday. ''The
others will be reviewed on a regular basis.''
Hurley said the
226 inmates will be released on parole as soon as
guardians can pick them up or they can be transferred to an
interim halfway house.
Kimbrough said in
March that the panel would review the documentation on
each inmate's sentencing extension and discuss whether the
decision was just and appropriate and then refer their
recommendation to a retired judge.
The review is one
of many ongoing reforms to the state's juvenile system
after the disclosure of allegations of sexual abuse of
inmates by staff and a possible cover-up by agency
officials. The commission incarcerates about 4,700
offenders ages 10 to 21. (AP)
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