(Pay no attention to the goofy-looking static frame. Google picks this automatically to make the uploader look as ridiculous as possible.)

Texas lawyers: One of these (pdf): is hand-delivered to a witness in a criminal case. Does she have to turn up in Judge Harris's court (other courts use similar documents) at 8:45 on Monday morning, or can she legally ignore it? Why or why not? Extra credit for persuasive incorrect answers. Double credit for correct answers in verse.

Smith Magazine is collecting people's six-word memoirs. Everyone has a story. That's the tag on the masthead of SMITH, our online magazine. Yet until we asked the world to send us six-word memoirs, even we had no idea how true it was. We took a page from Ernest Hemingway. According to legend, he was challenged to write a novel in only six words and came up with

The Pachyderm Club of Downtown Houston is hosting the four Republican DA candidates tomorrow, February 7, 2008, at noon upstairs at the Spaghetti Warehouse in downtown Houston (901 Commerce Street). Entry fee is $8 at the door.

On the heels of Kelly Siegler's realization that it was time for Chuck Rosenthal to resign (which itself followed only a month after Jim Leitner's call for Chuck to resign), DA candidate Pat Lykos has discovered that it's time for a change at the DA's office. Now, if you're running on Kelly's "let the entrenched leadership of the Office correct its own problems" platform, and your goal

AHCL thinks that she and I are coming at the question of compassion from different starting points. AHCL writes: You know, I think the reason that I disagree with Marky Mark and some of the other posters on a lot of the issues is because we begin on different starting points when we make our arguments.While I start off talking about how the community needs good, talented

I asked here, "Is the fix in? Did Kelly get word that Chuck's resignation is in the cards?" It appears that, indeed, the fix is in. Reports indicate that Chuck Rosenthal's chief investigator (and right-hand man) John Ray Harrison was packing up Chuck's office on Friday. Business as usual, then, at the Harris County DA's Office: Chuck, after getting his ass kicked on the stand in federal

Kelly Siegler, playing catch-up to Jim Leitner, has called for her boss's, Chuck Rosenthal's resignation. Better a month late than never, I always say. But Jim and Kelly are not the subjects of this post. The subjects of this post, referenced in the title, are DA candidates Doug Perry and Pat Lykos, who "said they were neutral on whether Rosenthal should remain in office." How can a

There's an interesting argument discussion at Life at the Harris County CJC about the role of compassion in prosecution. Commenter PJ says: We don't need righteous DA's doing "battle" with "criminals." We need people serving the public fairly, with at least some degree of understanding and compassion from whence "criminals" come. Commenter anonymous c responds: You think that we need ADAs who have "understanding and compassion" for

Here is a thought-provoking little piece on Tom Kirkendall's Houston's Clear Thinkers blog about whether Chuck Rosenthal is in fact facing jail time for contempt in Judge Hoyt's court. The contempt proceeding is for indirect criminal contempt. It's "indirect" because Chuck didn't commit contempt right in front of Judge Hoyt, and it's "criminal" because the contempt is completed -- Judge Hoyt can't hold Chuck in jail until