Bush Administration Hypocrisy -- Harsh on DWI While Covering Up Conviction
Convicted for Driving While Intoxicated
| Below is a news announcement from the excellent Justice Policy Institute. |
by Jason Ziedenberg and Vincent Schiraldi
Here are a some statistical facts from our work in Texas that may be of interest.1. From the time in which George W. Bush won office in November 1994---in a campaign where he accused his opponent, Democrat Ann. Richards, of being soft on crime---the number of people serving time in Texas prisons on DWI charges jumped from 1,091 to 4,229 in 1998. So, from the year prior to George Bush becoming governor to 1998--the lastest year for which prison counts are broken down by offenses---the number of people imprisoned on DWI charges quadrupled. The percentage of Texas inmates imprisoned for DWI charges grew from 1.2% to 3.3%. (Source: Criminal Justice Policy Council)
2. In 1999, 92,895 people were arrested in Texas for DWI. Of those, 86,579 were white, and 5,969 were African American, and the rest were classified as Native American or Asian/Pacific. (Source: Texas Department of Criminal Justice).
3. In 1999, 106,516 people were arrested for drug offenses. Of those, 72,828 were white, and 33,397 were African American. As of 1998, there were 28,083 people imprisoned for drug offense in Texas, up from 18,602 in 1994. (TDCJ, and CJPC).
4. Though more whites are arrested than African Americans for both DWI and drug offenses, and while only 12% of Texans are African American, as of August, 1999, African Americans accounted for 44.2% of all Texas prisoners. (TDCJ). In August, we estimated that African Americans comprised 41% of Texas jail inmates.
5. In August, 2000, the Justice Policy Institute reported that Texas has the largest prison population in the country (161,000), that 1 in 20 Texas (5% Texas' adult population) was in prison, jail, parole, or probation, and that nearly 1 in 3 young African American men in Texas were under some form of criminal justice control.
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If you'd like the source material on these statistics, please give the Justice Policy Institute a call at (202) 737-7270, ext. 232
In 1998, George W. Bush said he had not been arrested since 1964, but he was arrested and convicted of drunk driving in 1976. Then in 2000 he tried to cover up the facts when running for President. What's your opinion? Tell your views to The Progress Report:
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