Defending People

the art and science of criminal defense trial lawyering

What’s that Roaring Sound?

Scott Greenfield of New York is all atizzy over my Lucky Stars post. Scott challenges his fellow lawyers in the third-largest state to comment on why the New York criminal liberty-rendering system sucks less than Texas’s. No response yet from the tassel-loafer brigade.

Over at A Public Defender, though, Gideon makes the case for the Duchy of Grand Fenwick being a better place to be arrested than Texas. He points out that (like Texas but unlike, as I understand it, the People’s Democratic Republic of New York) Grand Fenwick extends the right to a jury trial to anyone charged with a jailable offense. Even without knowing about Grand Fenwick’s probation eligibility law, I’ll concede that cute-as-a-bug Grand Fenwick might have a better system for protecting the accused than Texas or New York. With fewer people and more lawyers than Harris County, with two-hundred-plus years of experience with the Bill of Rights, and with property, sales, and income tax money, it damn well should.

Tags:


This entry was posted by Mark Bennett on Sunday, June 17th, 2007 at 6:42 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About The Author

Mark Bennett
Mark Bennett got his letter of marque from the Supreme Court of Texas in May 1995. He is famous for having no sense of humor when it comes to totalitarianism.

Comments

5 Responses to “What’s that Roaring Sound?”

  1. Gideon says:
    17 June 2007 at 11:14 pm

    What do you mean probation eligibility law? Whether probation is available for every offense other than murder? If so, then no, it is not. There are some offenses for which there are mandatory-minimums.

    Texas doesn’t have income tax? That’s really nice! Our state tax is only 5%, but still.

    Reply
  2. Mark Bennett says:
    17 June 2007 at 11:53 pm

    In Texas, probation is available for murder too.

    Reply
  3. Gideon says:
    18 June 2007 at 12:30 am

    For plain ole pre-meditated, cold blooded murder? That’s quite something.

    Reply
  4. Scott Greenfield says:
    18 June 2007 at 1:35 am

    Oh sure, probation is available. But then you gotta live in Texas. So what’s worse, life in prison or probation in Texas?

    Reply
  5. Mark Bennett says:
    18 June 2007 at 2:42 am

    Quite right, Scott. Living in Texas is not for the weak or the soft. The rains we’ve been having would turn those tassel loafers into dog chew-toys.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

By submitting a comment here you give me permission to use your words in any way I like, including editing them for clarity, brevity, or content, as well as rearranging the words or the letters within them to change their very meaning. Those who engage in anonymous ad hominem attacks are the car-keyers of the internet, and will not be tolerated. If you engage in such attacks, I may edit the post to show your name or to make it appear that you are attacking yourself. Or both. I don't have to let you comment here. Don't do so for blatant marketing purposes; do so only to add to the discussion. Once you click "submit comment" you have given up all interest in your words to me, and have no further interest in your words. You agree never to sue, grieve, or complain to anyone about the use that I make of the letters you have typed. If you even threaten to do so, you agree that you will be held up to eternal public ridicule.

« Us v. Them     Four More Good Things About Texas Criminal Defense Practice »