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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1988)
State, firm sign contracts for prisons AUSTIN (AP) — Contracts for 500-bed private prisons in Kyle and Bridgeport were ? "edcj signed Wednesday by the state riiereiiii anc ^ ^ company partnership fiili that will build and operate the iduittsk intaadi. facilities. “This represents part of the largest private venture into awfdi, prison construction, operation and management ever initiated lyany state,” Gov. Bill Clements told a news conference at the d an i ‘' 1 ■ 1 it, iiit(j ‘be'sHi orlepl i the w i in finl signing. The Kyle site, in Hays County it's fin Jn .Central Texas, has been the VomTu, subject of controversy between esidents who believe the prison will help the economy and those whoU who fear it will harm their way of life, Bridgeport is in Wise County, northwest of Fort Worth, irandl, The facilities are designed to lenotiflj Jase t * le transition into society or inmates leaving prison. They ire to be built and operated by a partnership between Becon Selin, i. Construction Co. of Houston nd Wackenhut Services Inc. of dorida. A separate agreement with Corrections Corp. of America of i zos yj, Tennessee for two more 500- )ed pre-release prisons is forth oming, officials said. “We will hopefully complete legotiations (with CCA) in the ?ery near future. We’re down to he final details,” said Charles Terrell of Dallas, chairman of he State Board of Corrections. The other private prisons are B°^ e ' n Venus, south of the Dal- ■I as-Fort Worth metroplex in ' “ohnson County; and Cleveland, ibrth of Houston in Liberty .^fCounty. The State Bond Review Board »n Tuesday approved the issu- ,nce of up to $50 million in an alai t Q build the four prisons. A non-profit corporation has )een set up as a financing vehi- Je for the lease-revenue bonds, aid Jim Lynaugh, director of he Texas Department of Cor- Jections. ailseilr ann. ligati Pad] I'idedml Thursday, April 21, 1988/The Battalion/Page 9 Convieted killer insists he wants to die despite chance for appeal HUNTSVILLE (AP) — A con victed killer who insists he wants to be put to death next month said Wednesday he has sent legal briefs to courts involved in his case, asking that no third party intervene to put off his execution. “Any party wishing to intercede for the purpose of continued liti gation would in fact be an intruder or meddler seeking to style himself as a next friend,” James Smith wrote in motions sent to his trial court in Houston, the Texas Court of Crimi nal Appeals in Austin and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Smith, 37, has a May 1 1 execution date for the March 1983 shooting death of Larry Rohus, an insurance company manager, during a robbery in Houston. “I waive all rights to federal court appeals afforded by the Constitution of the United States of America,” Smith wrote. “I do know, realize and understand that my decision to waive federal appeal will result in my death by lethal injection.” Smith, in a death row interview Wednesday, said he was unaware of any moves being made to spare him although he has been urged to change his mind by attorneys and some fellow inmates, and has been receiving letters from death penalty opponents. “My concern is to anticipate any delays,” he said. “What I see is a false concern. They are not so much con cerned for the individual but for the overall point that they adhere to. Their concern is misplaced.” Smith contends that if death pen alty fo^s were so interested in his plight, they should have come to his aid during his trial. “What they do is utilize those (in mates) on death row for their own means,” he said. “I want to make sure my point of view is well understood,” he said. “I don’t want anyone to say, ‘Well, he didn’t understand.’ The inmate said he worked in New Orleans as a tarot card reader and was a Houston taxi driver at the time of his arrest. He said at least two lawyers tried to visit him to convince him to seek a stay. “I’ve blown them off,” he said.' “All my life, I’ve been a loner. I’m very good at doing that. Life is a temporary situation. The spirit moves on.” Smith, who believes in voodoo, also said letters from religious groups trying to sway him will do no good. “In my opinion, anyone Who ad heres to Christian doctrine ought to be shot,” he said. He denied that his execution will make a statement on behalf of others on death row. “I don’t care anymore,” he said. “My only concern now is for my per sonal and individual destiny.” Smith almost certainly could get a stay if he sought legal assistance. All execution'; in Texas have been halted, pending outcome of a Su preme Court review of a capital “murder case that challenges the state’s death penalty. Of the 27 inmates put to death in Texas since executions resumed in 1982, six have been volunteers. Other inmates say they have mixed feelings about Smith’s insis tence he be killed. “From a selfish standpoint, for those of us who fight the system 24 hours a day, it’s a slap in the face,” death row resident Lester Bower said. “I respect his right, but I do not agree. It’s like jumping off of a ship into shark-infested waters when a rescue boat is on the horizon.” Inmate James Beathard said, “People need to remember that stop ping the death penalty is most im portant. His selfishness shouldn’t outweigh his obligation to others.” But Jim Vanderbilt, another con vict, said if Smith wants to die, “he ought to — without interference.” Regulators announce S&L cleanup program DALLAS (AP) — Federal regulators plan to announce late this month the first consolidations in their so-called Southwest Plan for Texas sav ings and loans, representing about half of the thift industry’s problem institutions nationwide, an official said Wednesday. The plan to clean up the region’s S&Ls has been repeatedly delayed by legal and administra tive problems; The Federal Home Loan Bank in Dallas, which announced the program in Feb ruary, requested proposals from interested par ties by March 31. “We have received about 150 proposals from parties interested in participating in the South west Plan,” said David Colgren, FHLB spokes man in Dallas. “This is an overwhelming re sponse of parties interested in the plan.” Of 279 Texas thrifts, 104 were insolvent as of Sept. 30, 1987, M. Danny Wall, FHLB chairman, said. Those endangered institutions will be con solidated, closed or sold, Colgren said. Wall had said that roughly half the problems of the nation’s thrift industry are in Texas, hard hit by an energy and real estate slump. Investors would provide up to $1 billion in capital for the plan. Much of the expense will be paid by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp., which is expected to provide $7 billion at first and up to $2 billion annually. “We believe, overall, we need a fair and equita ble analysis for each proposal,” Colgren said. “That analysis must balance the interests of fSLIC and p rivate investors. We anticipate the first consolidations to be available in late April.” Colgren would not say how many S&Ls would be involved in the first announcement but added that “a geometric progression of consolidations” would.be made thereafter. Industry officials had said earlier that the state’s thrift crisis increases with every delay, along with the cost of remedies. On Monday, FHLB officials reported that the FSLIC’s fund shortfall almost doubled in 1987 to an estimated $ 11.6 billion. “We anticipate the Southwest Plan to cost FSLIC somewhere between $6 and 7 billion,” Colgren said. “Through FSLIC recapitalization signed by the president in August of last year, we will raise $10.8 billion over the next three years through the recapitalization plan.” Insplvent Texas thrifts will have lost at least $895 million in operating expenses in the first four months of this year, according to one analy sis. “The Southwest Plan is a proposal dealing with the consolidation of the industry we feel must take place in Texas,” Colgren said. “We believe through consolidation of the in dustry through the Southwest Plan, interest from private investors, reducing the cost of funds that Texas institutions must pay to attract deposits — the ‘Texas premium’ — and using FSLIC sources, we can solve the problems in Texas,” he said. “RICTLY LIMITED EDITION "ill OR A COLLECTORS Ted EDITION SET. seal' fSl 1 ’ Whichever coin you decide to pur chase, all proceeds from the sale will go toward the creation of a permanent en dowment in support of the Muster Com mittee. 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