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Texas to release 226
juvenile prisoners
May 19, 2007
The Associated Press
Erik
Rodriguez, left, and his mother Alice Smith laugh
while talking to reporters after his release from a Texas
Youth Commission juvenile prison in Corsicana, Texas in
this April 6, 2007 file photo. Smith had accused Texas
Youth Commission guards of standing by while her son
was physically abused by other inmates. The agency
that runs the Texas juvenile prison system said it will
release 226 other inmates after a review found their
sentences were improperly extended.
(AP Photo/LM Otero, file)
AUSTIN, Texas — The agency that
runs the state'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 were 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.
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