Criminal Law

Stimulus and the police state

Posted on February 07, 2009
Trey Garrison examines "the U.S. Conference of Mayors wish list of all the things mayors across the country want the federal government to fund in the name of 'stimulus'? and informs us about:some of the dodgier requests from North Texas cities. It starts on page 293, and my short list here is just a taste of the absurdity...

Tim Cole declared innocent, exonerees press for reforms at Lege

Posted on February 07, 2009
Wow ... Just, wow! Blogging has been light for a couple of days during which time I've been privileged to participate in some truly extraordinary events.On Thursday, a dozen Texas DNA exonerees (who collectively had spent more than 200 years in prison on false charges) along with Innocence Project of Texas students, boardmembers and volunteers, came to Austin for an advocacy day to promote a range of innocence reforms...

Compoundng Errors to Convict the Innocent

Posted on February 06, 2009
False confessions happen more often than people think, says security expert Bruce Schneier, but there's an added dimension to the problem: They also contribute to false eyewitness identifications.

Busy day at capitol and courts on innocence

Posted on February 05, 2009
Today's a busy day on the innocence front in Austin, both at the capitol and the courthouse.More than a dozen Texas DNA exonerees, along with students and boardmembers from the Innocence Project of Texas, will be at the capitol to promote legislative reforms aimed at preventing false convictions and providing redress for innocent people currently incarcerated...

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Bill would allow discovery of police offense reports

Posted on February 05, 2009
Sen. John Carona has filed legislation to require District Attorneys to release police-generate offense reports to defense counsel in criminal cases, though details could be redacted for "good cause" and the bill would prohibit sharing the information outside the defendant's legal team...

US justice system commonly relies on shoddy forensic 'science'

Posted on February 05, 2009
The New York Times offers a preview of a long-awaited report from the National Academy of Sciences critiquing shoddy, unscientific forensic techniques that are routinely used throughout the American judicial system ("Science found wanting in nation's crime labs," Feb...

Texas House, Senate will honor memory of DNA exoneree

Posted on February 04, 2009
The sad and terrible case of Timothy Cole - Texas' first posthumous DNA exoneration - continues to garner attention as we approach the court of inquiry hearing on Thursday and Friday which will finally, formally, exonerate him. Tim Cole was a military veteran and student at Texas Tech when he was convicted of rape based on a victim's mistaken identification...

Welcome juvie probation directors

Posted on February 03, 2009
Today marks the beginning of an annual summit of Texas juvenile probation department directors, who will all be in Austin for the next three days, so let me extend a hearty, "Welcome." This morning they'll hear presentations by Juvenile Probation Commission chief Vicki Spriggs and TYC's executive commissioner Cherie Townsend...

Exonerations educate courts, Lege on innocence

Posted on February 03, 2009
Lots going on in Austin and at the Lege on the innocence front this week: More than a dozen Texas DNA exonerees and the family of the late Timothy Cole, a Texas Tech student falsely convicted of rape who died of asthma in prison, will all be in Austin to help clear Tim Cole's name and promote solutions at the Legislature to prevent false convictions...

AG: Probationers can travel to other states with judges' approval

Posted on February 03, 2009
Reports the Tyler Morning Telegraph:The attorney general's opinion, issued Jan. 14, states that the judges have the authority to grant permission to the defendants to travel or relocate out of state and "established common law provides that judges are not liable to civil actions for their judicial acts, and thus, it is likely that courts of other states would recognize the full scope of judicial immunity granted to Texas judges...

Governor: Spending to reduce contraband smuggling an emergency

Posted on February 03, 2009
Security upgrades and screening equipment aimed at reducing contraband smuggling in Texas prisons made it onto the list of items designated by the Governor as "emergencies," allowing them to be taken up within the first 30 days of the session. The Department of Criminal Justice has estimated the short-term cost of adding cameras, metal detectors, and other security improvements at $66 million...

Fiscal crisis could nix enhancements at Texas Lege

Posted on February 03, 2009
The Austin Statesman reports that Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire has taken a downright heroic stance, announcing he'll stymie criminal penalty increases in his committee to keep the state budget in check:With the Texas Senate apparently poised to hold up for now on any bills with a new fiscal note, Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire said today that tougher punishments are also on hold...

Why don't gang members sell sex toys?

Posted on February 03, 2009
Robert Guest, creator of the Texas Criminal Law Generator, identifies what may be the most effective criminal statute of all time - a ban on gang members selling sex toys. He writes:Politically, this is the perfect Texas law. 71.02(a) combines the public's fear of gangs, with our state's Victorian sexual mores...

Messages promoting sentence 'enhancements' may boost crime

Posted on February 02, 2009
It's that time of year, when legislators gear up the old Texas Criminal Law Generator and propose creating dozens of new crimes or jacking up criminal penalties.The formula for creating a new crime or increasing punishments ("enhancements," to use the Orwellian capitol euphemism), is dead simple: Argue that this or that social problem has reached epidemic proportions, then suggest a more punitive response than under present law...

Schneier: SCOTUS missed chance to motivate police to purge harmful database errors

Posted on February 01, 2009
Eliminating the exclusionary rule has been a lifelong goal of Chief Justice John Roberts, the New York Times reported this week, and with last month's Herring decision, he came achingly close to finally achieving that goal. (See a more detailed discussion of the Times piece at Simple Justice...

House rules alter juvenile justice playing field

Posted on February 01, 2009
I'm just now getting a chance to look at the new, formal rules (pdf) approved by the Texas House of Representatives last week, which altered significantly the roles of a couple of justice-related standing committees - particularly on juvenile justice topics...

Senate Criminal Justice Committee losing medical expertise

Posted on February 01, 2009
Having mentioned the transformation of criminal justice-related committees under the new Texas House rules, it's worth mentioning that late Friday afternoon, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst issued the Senate's committee assignments. Here's the list of members on the Senate Criminal Justice Committee:John Whitmire, ChairKel Seliger, Vice-ChairJohn CaronaRodney EllisGlenn HegarJuan "Chuy" HinojosaDan PatrickThis group will handle all the issues that on the House side are divided into three different panels (Corrections, Public Safety, and Criminal Jurisprudence)...

The Texas Criminal Law Generator

Posted on January 31, 2009
Are you a Texas legislator having trouble deciding what behaviors to criminalize next? If so, Dallas attorney Robert Guest has helpfully proposed the Texas Criminal Law Generator, which he describes thusly:Every two years our most electable citizens gather in Austin to enact new criminal laws...

Police "testilying," post-Herring

Posted on January 31, 2009
Citing recent cases of police "testilying" in Boston and New York, Amir Efrati at the Wall Street Journal examined this week whether the exclusionary rule encourages police to lie on the stand, and what to do about it ("Legal system struggles with how to react when police officers lie," Jan...

If Barack Obama wants bipartisanship, he should remove Byrne grants from the stimulus package

Posted on January 30, 2009
A screening last night of the new documentary, Tulia, Texas, which will air nationwide February 10 on PBS, drew a really good crowd on a chilly night, and those who stayed for the question and answer session afterward with me and Texas Monthly's Nate Blakeslee had lots of questions and, I thought, a really good discussion...

Harris may shift juvie 'boot camp' to treatment model

Posted on January 30, 2009
Juvenile justice researchers have known for a while now that juvenile "boot camps" don't reduce recidivism and create needless risks for youth, which is why I'm pleased to read this news ("Harris youth boot camp to replace drills with therapy," Jan. 28):Harris County may scrap rigorous physical training and rigid military-style drills at its Delta Boot Camp in favor of a program that uses therapy to attack the emotional and behavioral problems that led the young people into crime, officials said Wednesday...

What sanctions for prosecutors who cheat to win?

Posted on January 30, 2009
How many more cases do we need to see where prosecutors withhold exculpatory evidence from the defense before the state bar, the courts or the Legislature act to sanction them?Former death row inmate Michael Toney has been moved to the Tarrant County jail after his conviction was overturned last month because of Brady violations where Tarrant prosecutors failed to turn over exculpatory evidence to the defense before Toney's trial 23 years ago, reports the Fort Worth Star Telegram ("Inmate moved from death row to Tarrant County Jail," Jan...

SCOTUS to decide if post-conviction DNA testing is constitutional right

Posted on January 29, 2009
In a little more than a month, we learn from the Innocence Blog, the US Supreme Court will hear arguments to determine whether prisoners have a constitutional right to post-conviction DNA testing when it could prove their innocence:In a brief filed [Monday] at the U...

States struggling to pay incarceration costs

Posted on January 29, 2009
Two must-read articles on the politics of over-incarceration during a budget crunch:From Stateline.org: Strapped states eye prison savingsFrom the ABA Journal: Incarceration policy strikes outThe Stateline.org piece, in particular, includes great examples of methods being tried in other states to reduce incarceration costs...

Grits, Blakeslee on Tulia

Posted on January 29, 2009
It's been almost ten years since the infamous Tulia drug stings, but the fascination with and fallout from that unhappy case has yet to abate. This evening at 7 p.m. in Austin at the Mexican American Cultural Center (600 River St.), author Nate Blakeslee and I have been invited as panelists for a discussion following the screening of the documentary film Tulia, Texas, which will air nationwide on PBS on February 10...

Bexar probation revocations up from not using progressive sanctions

Posted on January 28, 2009
As an indication of how badly things are going at the Bexar County probation department, check out the list of problems Greg Harman at the San Antonio Current had to overlook to identify the agency's biggest problem ("Breasts, toes, and probation," Jan...

TCJC Criminal Justice Solutions Guide

Posted on January 28, 2009
Via email, from our friends at the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition: TCJC's 2009 Criminal & Juvenile Justice Solutions Guide has finally arrived! Check out our policy recommendations that will save taxpayers money while increasing public safety: Part 1: Protect Youth and Communities by Improving Juvenile Justice Improve Efficiency and Positive Outcomes Within Independent Juvenile Justice Agencies Strengthen Juvenile Probation and Increase Accountability Part 2: Rebuild Confidence in the Criminal Justice System Improve Funding for Effective Indigent Defense Delivery Models Ensure Innocent Individuals Are Not Sent to Prison Part 3: Save Money and Increase Public Safety by Strengthening Criminal Justice Practices Stop the Flow into Prisons by Supporting Probation Fight Drug Addiction and Address Mental Illness Head On Increase the Efficiency of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Part 4: Encourage Economic and Workforce Development by Reducing Re-Entry Barriers Equip Individuals with Personal Responsibility Tools, Inside and Outside of Prison Walls Broaden Access to Housing and Food Create an Enhanced Employability and Employment Protection Policy

Ombudsman: Move 19-20 year olds back to TYC

Posted on January 28, 2009
Reacting to news that the number of youth certified to stand trial as adults in Texas increased 30.9% after the passage of SB 103 in 2007, TYC's independent ombudsman recommended "that the Texas Legislature restore TYC?s jurisdiction over youths serving determinate sentences until they reach their 21st birthdays...

Perry's pitches border security grants in State of the State

Posted on January 27, 2009
Last year Governor Perry pushed for new prisons in his State of the State speech, but this year, happily, and perhaps tellingly, he's abandoned that unfulfilled wish.The only significant criminal justice priority in today's State of the State speech, reports the Fort Worth Star Telegram, was when Gov...

Will new House committee oversee juvenile justice?

Posted on January 27, 2009
Commitee assignments haven't been made yet in the Texas House, but the Austin Statesman's Mike Ward reported yesterday that under a new, proposed committee structure contemplated in proposed House rules:the House Corrections committee would lose its authority over the Youth Commission...

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