Criminal Law

Dallas jail gets surprise inspection

Posted on January 15, 2008
The Texas Commission on Jail Standards decided to conduct a surprise visit to the Dallas County Jail rather than wait for their regularly scheduled inspection in March, reports the Dallas News ("Jail gets surprise inspection," Jan. 14). Despite tons of county resources poured into the jail in recent months, the core problems remain the same: Chronic understaffing and intolerably poor inmate healthcare...

New Ex-Im Bank guidelines won't prevent US loans to drug cartels

Posted on January 15, 2008
Reacting to an investigative report from WFAA-TV in Dallas that the Ex-Im Bank has been giving multi-million dollar loans to drug cartel members who never paid them back, the agency has issued a new set of non-binding due diligence guidelines aimed at addressing the problem, but to me they seem to leave open many loopholes that could let this happen again...

Mexican Army launches Gulf cartel crackdown

Posted on January 14, 2008
Open fighting between multinational drug cartels and Mexican troops and police has reached a fever pitch in recent days, nearly entirely focused on the Gulf Cartel, which has been battling the Sinaloa Federation for control of key smuggling routes along the Texas-Mexico border for the past several years...

Texas Criminal Justice-Related Races to Watch

Posted on January 14, 2008
What Texas criminal justice-related races are you paying attention to this election season? Here are the ones at the top of my own list of races to watch. Has anyone heard of new votes scheduled on county jail bonds? What additions would you make? Let me know in the comments...

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Texas ACLU hires former newspaper editor as new chief

Posted on January 14, 2008
My former employers at the ACLU of Texas - an organization led mostly by lawyers in the past - appear to have decided to go in a different direction with the hiring of Terri Burke as their new Executive Director. She's a former editor at the Abilene Reporter News and a past deputy managing editor at the Austin American Statesman...

Floating prisons?

Posted on January 14, 2008
Though I hesitate mentioning it lest I give any Texas Youth Commission officials more bad ideas, I enjoyed this somewhat theoretical but informative article from Bryan Finoki at his blog, Subtopia: A field guide to military urbanism, on the history of "floating prisons...

Might 'open sourced' criminal intelligence protect journalists and strike a blow against multinational drug cartels?

Posted on January 14, 2008
In the 21st century's information age, perhaps the role and function of "intelligence" in law enforcement needs to change to adapt to ruthless tactics by multinational drug cartels?The Los Angeles Times today has a story today titled, simply, "The drug business has become so deadly those covering it are risking their lives...

Aren't Martha Stewart and other Felons "People"?

Posted on January 14, 2008
Doc Berman made this great catch over at Sentencing Law & Policy: In an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court, the Bush administration takes the position that convicted felons are not "people" as defined in the Constitution for purposes of determining whether they retain a 2nd Amendment right to bear arms, Berman responds:Notably, the Bill of Rights uses the phrase "the people" in four other Amendments (the First, Fourth, Ninth and Tenth)...

We Are Not Alone: California may resort to early release for nonviolent offenders to stem prison overcrowding

Posted on January 13, 2008
As Texas considers whether to release parole-ready offenders early to respond to chronic prison guard understaffing, it's interesting to note that California is already two steps ahead of us with their plans to release prisoners ("Early release plan is praised, decried," Los Angeles Times, Jan...

Marion Jones already punished, why send her to prison?

Posted on January 13, 2008
News that disgraced world-class sprinter and 32-year old mother Marion Jones will be serving her six month prison stint in Bryan, TX, gives me a Texas news hook to mention that I'm as disgusted with the feds' pursuit of this star athlete as with the perjury prosecution of Barry Bonds and coercing the informant against Roger Clemens with threats of federal prison time...

When probation is a "free ride," it means local leaders have failed

Posted on January 13, 2008
On Thursday at the Texas Public Policy Foundation's briefing, I heard Bexar County DA Susan Reed describe offenders who receive probation sentences instead of jail as getting a "free ride," which always strikes me as an odd thing to say, though you hear it a lot (an audio of her remarks has been posted online)...

Governor: No crisis from prison understaffing - move along, nothing to see here

Posted on January 13, 2008
Texas' shortage of prison guards, which in some cases has resulted in three correctional officers supervising 500 inmates in a dorm setting and recently forced the closure of a wing at the Dalhart unit, isn't a "crisis," says Governor Perry, contradicting Sen...

Two crimes solved by informants show snitching pros and cons

Posted on January 13, 2008
Here are two police informant stories I heard this week, one old, one new, that resulted in arrest of perpetrators, including a dirty cop:First, at a Texas Public Policy Foundation event on Thursday, state Sen. John Whitmire told a story I've heard him relate before about the time in the '90s when he and his now-ex wife were robbed at gunpoint in their garage...

Corruption case shows jails becoming too full of pretrial detainees to punish offenders

Posted on January 12, 2008
At this point, the self-inflicted overcrowding crisis at Texas county jails has long ago passed over the threshold into absurdity, certainly in the bigger counties.Making that point, I was struck by coverage in the Austin Statesman of a corruption story ("Vision Village defendant will work off jail term after all," Jan...

First steps from 3rd TYC conservator seem positive

Posted on January 12, 2008
Though he was pretty quiet over the holidays, initial noises emanating from the Texas Youth Commission's new conservator, Richard Nedelkoff, so far sound pretty encouraging, at least judging by this morning's Austin Statesman ("New Youth Commission Conservator Vows to be Hands On," Jan...

Take Slampo's Current Events Quiz

Posted on January 11, 2008
How well have you been keeping up with the fiasco over Harris County DA's revealing emails and Roger Clemens' steroid denials? Take the quiz at Slampo's Place to test your knowledge. I'll bet Grits readers know the answer to the Bonus question:BONUS: At the heart of the Chuck Rosenthal email scandal liesA...

How do you place a value on lost time for the wrongfully convicted?

Posted on January 11, 2008
Yesterday afternoon I had the chance to chat briefly with Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins and I brought up the case of Charles Chatman, the latest innocent man freed as a result of DNA testing in old Dallas County cases. "He won't be the last," Watkins assured me, shaking his head as though in disbelief...

Fringe Criticisms of Snitching Tread Dangerous Ground

Posted on January 11, 2008
But if you're talking 'bout destructionDon't you know that you can count me out.- "Revolution," The BeatlesLong-time readers know I've never been a fan of the "Stop Snitching" mantra (although I think its popularity portends tremendous political and sociological implications)...

"Bronco" Billy Humphrey Removed from TYC

Posted on January 10, 2008
I heard this rumor this afternoon then got home to find it confirmed by the Dallas Morning News: The Texas Youth Commission's "Bronco" Billy Humphrey has finally been terminated.Let me be the first to issue a hardy "Yee-Haw!" This is a fellow whose open defiance of agency rules and a Travis County district court perhaps did more to discredit new TYC management than any other person...

Free Money, Come Get It! Why not tax out of state prison inmates?

Posted on January 10, 2008
Though I've written in the past that I'd prefer constructing a wall on the Red River instead of the Rio Grande, here's an idea (via Corrections Sentencing) that Texas ought to import from the Sooner State: A "surcharge on every out-of-state inmate residing in OK prisons, public or private...

Where's the Potty? If you know the answer, you may be qualified to be Harris County District Attorney

Posted on January 10, 2008
From Musings, witness the degraded level of public debate it's come down to in the Harris County DA's race:Kelly Siegler, Assistant Harris County D.A. and candidate for Romancethal's job, wants you to know that:"To put it bluntly, Judge Lykos, Mr. Leitner and Clarence Bradford don't know where the restrooms are in the office," she said...

Rubber, Meet Road: Guard shortages cause closure of wing at TDCJ unit in Dalhart

Posted on January 10, 2008
Rubber, meet road.Texas' prison overcrowding crisis has just entered a new and dangerous phase: The bill has finally come due for years of bipartisan political opportunism and willful denial. We've reached the pivotal "crossroads" predicted by the Texas Sunset Commission, and although the prison system, the Governor and the Legislature were amply warned of the problem, state government still seems caught unawares...

Reduce graffiti by pursuing the crime, not the criminal

Posted on January 09, 2008
Since I first read Bruce Schneier's books, particularly Beyond Fear, I've come to believe that the world of computer security offers tremendously valuable lessons for maintaining public safety and security in the real world, particularly with its focus on preventing and/or minimizing harm instead of only reacting to harmful agents after the fact...

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