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Recent Blog Posts
How is an Election Like a Marriage?
Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal, who got in trouble with the Republican Party for writing love notes (in the '00s) to his secretary, with whom he had an affair (in the 80s), is out of the primary, then ADA Kelly Siegler is in, then Chuck's back in again?
Not exactly; he's just not sure what he wants to do.
Chuck May Not Be Out; Kelly May Not Be In
Here's section 145.001 of the Texas Election Code:
ยง 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 appropriate authority as provided by this code.(c) A withdrawal request filed by mail is considered to be filed at the time of its receipt by the appropriate authority.(d) The time of a withdrawal is the time that an effective withdrawal request is filed. (e) This section does not apply to a candidate for president or vice-president of the United States.
Here's Chuck Rosenthal's letter asking the party chairman to withdraw his nomination.
By the Way...
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 County Assistant DA tells me that this is incorrect; that Marc has not filed and will not.]
Marc is married to Susan Brown, who's the judge of Harris County's 185th Criminal District Court. If Marc runs and is elected, Susan will effectively be out of a job - she will be "conflicted out" on every criminal case unless there is an independent prosecutor appointed. [Edit: the same ADA says, "You moron. There is an AG's opinion that says she would have to resign if he were elected."
So Long, Chuck
I just learned that Chuck Rosenthal has withdrawn from the race to be Harris County District Attorney.
The Park Sex Sting
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 in Houston the vice cops are practiced at using bait to catch men who are willing to expose themselves in public parks. A male cop will behave the way that (according to his training and experience) gay men cruising for sex do. He chats a man up, gives him some IOIs, feigns masturbation, and, when the man rises to the bait and exposes himself, arrests the man for indecent exposure, which, in Texas, requires only that a person expose himself in a public place with the intent to sexually arouse or gratify himself or another. (See an account of the trial of one such case within this post.)
Who Will Be Our Next D.A.?
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 running, with the party's support, against Chuck in the Republican primary.
Several lawyers have been discussed as possible contenders: four judges (Vanessa Velasquez, Mike Fields, Brock Thomas, and Mike Anderson), a defender (Jim Leitner), and a retired judge (Pat Lykos). A judge would, as I understand it, have to resign her bench to run for D.A., so I don't think it's likely that Velasquez, Fields, Thomas, or Anderson will run. Leitner and Lykos both ran against Chuck in the Republican primary in 2000; Lykos forced a runoff, which she lost. (Charles Kuffner thinks Lykos is the most likely challenger; I concur.)
Back Again
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 got four jury trials in three counties stacked up in January, so I might as well enjoy the down time now.
Aside from a bit of travel, I got my project car 98% ready to drive, and I read a few books.
Zeb, a regular reader of Defending People, had recommended Richard Harris's Freedom Spent, so I read and enjoyed that. It turns out that the following idea isn't a new one:
... all governments in all places at all times try to increase their power, at the expense of the individual. In short, government is always the enemy of the individual.
Le Procureur Soleil de la Republique?
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.
Your Tax Dollars at Waste
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) and a "Center of Excellence for the Study of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism in the United States" (snore).
Here's the highlight, as far as I'm concerned.
The term "homegrown terrorism" means the use, planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States or any possession of the United States to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.
Government's Talents
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 force, government stinks at it. (Whether government should be in the business of doing things that it does badly is a separate question. I would say that if it's worth doing, it's worth doing badly.)
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