Criminal Law

Phone Call Alleging Abuse at YFZ was Fake: Can the kids all go home, now?

Posted on April 18, 2008
From the Denver Post:Prank calls from a 33-year-old Colorado Springs woman may be linked to the raid at a West Texas polygamist compound, Colorado Springs police say. Rozita Swinton was arrested at her home Wednesday evening on charges of false reporting in a local case, but Texas Rangers were present for the arrest, Colorado Springs police said Thursday night...

Hello, this is your local fusion center: Be very afraid

Posted on April 18, 2008
Bill Baumbach at the Collin County Observer got a call from one of Texas' fusion centers (see past Grits coverage here and here) to warn him of a severe thunderstorm ... that had already passed over his house. See his discussion of the North Central Texas Fusion Center, a good analysis of its financing, and links to an array of other resources on the topic.

Too many unanswered questions plague Eldorado polygamist cases

Posted on April 17, 2008
The short-term fate of more than 400 kids taken from the YFZ polygamist compound in West Texas will be decided today in a San Angelo courtroom, but to judge by this story from ABC News, no one is considering any specific abuse allegations or the best interests of any individual kid...

After all the hoopla about "child brides" ...

Posted on April 17, 2008
Here's the official tally of underage women married to older men revealed by the Texas Department of Public Safety in court today, compiled from FLDS records seized at the YFZ ranch (according to the Salt Lake City Tribune): "attorneys representing the state focused in on 10 women between the ages of 16 and 19 listed as married to older men...

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TYC-UTMB healthcare contract expired; Pay hike coming for incoming TYC JCOs

Posted on April 16, 2008
I should have mentioned earlier that TYC conservator Richard Nedelkoff told legislators today he will "make parity effective soon" for TYC entry-level JCO pay, increasing it to match TDCJ's recent pay raise for new recruits. That won't affect veteran staff, but will increase how quickly new applicants accelerate through the first few salary levels during the first 16 months, if the salary hike follows TDCJ's example...

More law blawggers need to weigh in on West Texas polygamy case

Posted on April 16, 2008
Robert Ambrogi at Legal Blog Watch graciously acknowledges Grits' coverage of Texas' raid on the Eldorado polygamist compound, but rightly questions why,as the biggest legal story in recent weeks moves forward, one involving hundreds of lawyers and affecting the lives of many hundreds of women and children, the legal blogosphere seems blind to it all...

Telepsychiatry at TYC: Can you imagine [a psychiatrist] having a paranoid person and telling them, 'Talk to the TV screen!'

Posted on April 16, 2008
Arriving home a couple of hours in, I've been listening to the TYC oversight hearing at the Texas Lege for the last hour or so, and a telling discussion arose about the lack of specialized treatment frequently ordered by courts for serious offenders.While capital offenders mostly get the treatment they need, the committee was told, other serious offenders do not...

Faulty lineup procedures led to conviction of innocent Dallas man for rape 23 years ago

Posted on April 16, 2008
There was much talk at the innocence conference in Plano about Thomas McGowan, who should walk out of prison today a free man after an improper photo lineup led to his wrongful conviction for rape more than two decades ago. See initial coverage at the Dallas News, and here are substantial excerpts from a press release issued by the Innocence Project:Thomas McGowan, who has spent 23 years in prison for a Dallas County rape and burglary that DNA testing now proves he did not commit, is expected to be released from prison tomorrow, according to the Innocence Project, which represents him...

SCOTUS lets executions resume

Posted on April 16, 2008
SCOTUS Blog lets us know that the US Supreme Court approved current lethal injections methods, allowing more executions to go forward, although "there was no opinion that spoke for five or more Justices." Because of the de facto moratorium waiting for the resolution of Baze, there are no executions currently scheduled in Texas, but I'd expect judges to begin lining them up soon...

Hearing to discuss phasing out TYC

Posted on April 16, 2008
This morning we should get a lot more detail on Sen. John Whitmire's plan to abolish or phase out the Texas Youth Commission.The Joint Select Committee on Texas Youth Commission Operations and Management will meet today at 10 a.m., and the online live feed for the event will be here once it begins...

When DNA exonerations end, innocence problems will continue

Posted on April 16, 2008
Well, light posting turned to no posting as I spent an exhausting couple of days at the 3rd Annual Texas Innocence Conference, from which I returned last night. (The drive, more than the event, is what did me in.) I'll have writeups from my notes over the next couple of days, but let me start the review with a few comments and big-picture thoughts...

Not so fast: Locals not all onboard with shifting TYC role to counties

Posted on April 13, 2008
While earlier coverage cited broad support, apparently not everybody has signed off on Sen. John Whitmire recent proposal to "abolish" the Texas Youth Commission, reports the Waco Tribune Herald ("Local officials dismiss talk of abolishing TYC," April 13):Although no hard numbers have been shared, Whitmire told the Chronicle the state could spend about half as much money as the current system by keeping all but the most violent youth in their local communities...

Travis County moving toward "banning the box" to boost ex-felons' employment

Posted on April 13, 2008
I'm quite proud of County Judge Sam Biscoe and Travis County officials for their visionary proposal to remove criminal history questions on most county job applications, a move designed to make it easier for ex-felons to find employment.The idea has been termed "banning the box," meaning simply removing the query from the initial questionnaire, saving a criminal background check until later in the hiring process so they're not as readily excluded from the hiring pool...

Lawyer: Public defender in Harris County way overdue

Posted on April 13, 2008
The Houston Chronicle this morning published an excellent letter from a local attorney in support of creating a public defender office in Harris County:As a lawyer, I read the story about Commissioners Court funding a study whether a public defender's office in Harris County is needed and feasible with great interest...

Lots of substantive Eldorado coverage

Posted on April 13, 2008
Since I've been writing so much this week about the raid on the polygamist compound in West Texas, I'm pleased to see a great deal more substantive coverage popping up than the initial reports parroting law enforcement sources.For starters, ABC News had a good series of pictures from inside the compound, complementing nicely the excellent photography by Trent Nelson...

Off to "innocence" conference in Plano

Posted on April 13, 2008
Thanks to a last minute invite by the Innocence Project of Texas, I'm pleased to be able to attend Texas' 3rd annual "innocence" conference, titled Actual Innocence: Establishing Innocence or Guilt. I'll be getting up bright and early tomorrow to drive to Plano for the event, which will be running on Monday and Tuesday...

History and biology cloud debate over Eldorado marriages

Posted on April 12, 2008
History and biology conspire to muddy the raging conflict between moral absolutes in the controversy over the Eldorado polygamist compound, posing complex, hotly contested questions with few simple or pat answers.If you believe (absolutely) that women should be independent, free to choose from a range of paths in life, educated side by side with men, and encouraged to seek own fulfillment as individuals, then it's likely most Americans today agree with you, and disagree with how FLDS members are raising their kids...

Road to Eldorado paved with bumpy moral, constitutional questions

Posted on April 12, 2008
Is the raid on a polygamist compound in Eldorado about religious freedom or criminal child abuse? From the information revealed so far, I think the most honest answer must be "Both, and more."Over at StreetProphets, some Christian pastors are starting to take a closer look at what's going on in the Eldorado raid...

TYC in the News

Posted on April 12, 2008
Here are a few newsclips regarding the Texas Youth Commission that cropped up this week while I was paying more attention to the Eldorado fiasco:McAllen Monitor: New settlment tackles reforms for Evins youth detention centerAmarillo Globe News: State Sen...

Drug cartel charity giving secures goodwill among Mexican public

Posted on April 11, 2008
Reports like this one from Mexico me think the drug traffickers understand better how to win support from local communities than the corrupt Mexican government. From the San Diego Tribune ("Bishop: Drug gangs building churches," April 6):Violent drug gangs in Mexico, which kill thousands of people a year, fund the building of churches in impoverished villages to try to win over locals, a senior Catholic bishop said...

Eldorado Roundup

Posted on April 11, 2008
I've got a feeling Grits will have much more to say about last week's DPS raid on the Eldorado polygamist compound, but for convenience sake I wanted to round up Grits' coverage so far (in order of publication) and point readers to several other key web resources on the topic...

Officials, lawyers, scrambling to manage the biggest family law case in Texas history

Posted on April 11, 2008
"Tom Vick is looking for about 100 lawyers willing to volunteer for what likely is the biggest family law case in Texas history," reports Texas Lawyer's John Council in an excellent article on the behind-the-scenes wrangling to gear up for the removal hearings for 400+ kids from the YFZ ("Yearning for Zion") compound in Eldorado...

NYPD becomes largest US department to require random steroid testing

Posted on April 11, 2008
Having posed the question last year whether it's more important to test police officers for steroids or high school athletes (Texas chose the high schoolers), I was interested to learn that the New York City police department will be adding steroids to its drug testing regimen...

Will Eldorado case expose overwhelmed Texas CPS system?

Posted on April 10, 2008
To put it bluntly, it's unlikely the children from Eldorado who have been taken from their homes will end up better off if they are dumped into Texas' overtaxed Child Protective Services (CPS) system.Regardless of your thoughts on polygamy or the arranged marriage of teens, information dribbling out past the supercharged headlines in West Texas indicates that the 400+ kids seized by the state this week were well cared for...

Is History repeating itself with raid on West Texas polygamist compound? Eldorado incident recalls 1953 "Short Creek" raid

Posted on April 09, 2008
Most Texans are relatively unfamiliar with polygamy compared to folks in Utah and Arizona, so most of us have never heard of the "Short Creek" raid targeting the FLDS sect in 1953. But the tenor and tactics of the raid in West Texas have a familiar ring when compared to what happened there on the Utah-Arizona border a half-century ago...

Establishment candidates win DA runoffs

Posted on April 09, 2008
Runoffs in District Attorney races in Harris and Travis County favored establishment candidates, with Pat Lykos winning the GOP nomination in Harris (where she'll face former police chief C.O. Bradford in the fall), and Rosemary Lehmberg beat Mindy Montford by nearly a 2-1 margin to win the Travis DA seat (there's no Republican opponent in the fall)...

Search warrants for polygamist compound may be invalid

Posted on April 09, 2008
Increasingly I'm coming to think that the case against the Eldorado polygamist compound may be a setup job. Certainly the warrants used to sweep into the compound and remove more than 400 children by force seem inadequate, and the church will ask a court today to quash them...

Pink Dome is Dead! Long Live Pink Dome!

Posted on April 08, 2008
Say "Adios Mofo" to one of Texas' funniest and best-loved political blogs. The Pink Dome will be missed. I'm pleased to see, however, that Charlie will still be blogging for KXAN, a local Austin TV station.

Best way to terminate surveillance society is through cost-benefit analysis

Posted on April 08, 2008
In a recent episode of the Fox-TV sci-fi hit, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a spin-off from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminator movies about time travel and a future where intelligent machines took over the planet, the eponymous character (who'd returned to the past to eliminate the threat) discovers that, in the fictional plot, the key network that wound up allowing an artificial intelligence system to impose its will on humanity began with the implementation of red light cameras, giving the machines a near-ubiquitous surveillance and control of American cities...

Victim rights blog targets sexual assault

Posted on April 08, 2008
Not sure how I missed this, but I was pleased to learn (after they graciously added Grits to their blogroll) that the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, a victim rights group for rape survivors, has its own blog. Go here to give it a read. (As always, Sex Crimes IMO remains the must-read national blog on this topic...

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