Here's section 145.001 of the Texas Election Code:§ 145.001. METHOD FOR WITHDRAWAL AS CANDIDATE. (a) To withdraw from an election, a candidate whose name is to appear on the ballot must request that the candidate's name be omitted from the ballot.(b) To be effective, a withdrawal request must: (1) be in writing and be signed and acknowledged by the candidate; and (2) be timely filed with the

The Harris County Republican Party's website shows only Jim Leitner running for the position of Harris County District Attorney, but I'm informed that Chuck Rosenthal's withdrawal from the race had the statutory effect of keeping the Republican primary ballot open for an additional 48 hours -- till Friday evening. Also, I've heard that Harris County Assistant District Attorney Marc Brown has filed as well. [Edit: another Harris

I just learned that Chuck Rosenthal has withdrawn from the race to be Harris County District Attorney. Bummer.

David Feige brings us this "astonishing" story about the Columbus, Ohio PD using bait to catch men who are willing to expose themselves in a public park. A topless woman woman hangs out in the park until a guy comes up to talk to her. She chats him up, gives him some IOIs, and asks to see his penis. When he complies, the police arrest him. Here

The local Republican mucky-mucks met with Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal last week, asking him not to run for reelection. Chuck refused their request, announcing publicly that he is going to run and he is going to win. The party is interviewing potential candidates to run against Chuck. The filing deadline is 5 p.m. today, so shortly after close of business we should know who will be

Even though I recognize the importance of taking time off, I haven't been very good at taking vacations lately. Before last month, it had been years since I was out of cellphone reach for more than three or four days. Paris changed that. Since our return, I've been taking it easy; this vacation stuff is addictive. Not much court business is transacted during December anyway, and I've

KHOU-TV put up PDFs of some of Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal's emails here and here. It turns out that Chuck uses (or was using) the email address "l'etat@dao.hctx.net". How very Louis XIV.

Here's a little treasure, HR 1955, The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007, which passed the House of Representatives in October "under a suspension of the rules to cut debate short and pass the bill." (PDF.) Others see it as sinister; I don't . . . yet. It would merely create a "National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism" (yawn)

The state is bad -- wasteful, inefficient, and incompetent -- at almost everything it tries to do. There are two exceptions that I can think of: First, making war, which is the application of violence against the citizens of another state. Second, prosecuting crimes, which is the application of violence against its own citizens. If it doesn't have to do with the use or threatened use of

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