Reading Tea Leaves

One notable result from the election yesterday was that Harris County voters rejected Proposition 3, a $245 million bond issue to build a new jail on Buffalo Bayou.

This was the only losing issue on the county slate, losing on a day when voters approved 16 state propositions, including Prop 4, a billion dollar blank check for Gov Perry & Co. to build three new prisons, which they will likely turn over to private operators to run.

But back to Harris County, could it be that the nine-some percent of registered voters that bothered to vote this election (the super-voters) lack confidence in our criminal justice system? Might this vanguard be sending a message to our elected officials that our traditional lock ‘em up and throw away the key attitude won’t sell anymore?

Maybe the message will trickle up to our elected officials that we can do better than throwing millions down the criminal justice/ prison industry rathole; that we have better uses for our limited resources than to cram the jails full of two bit dope offenders.