Criminal Law

Good morning everyone! It's Ana

Posted on August 31, 2010
Good morning everyone! It's Ana again.The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, Chaired by Rep. Pete Gallego, is holding a hearing today at 10:00 AM, in room E2.010.The committee is meeting to consider Charge #1: Examine the deferred adjudication system in Texas and recommend legislative changes...

Fully Fund the Texas Commission on Jail Standards

Posted on August 31, 2010
Tomorrow (Sep. 1, 2010), the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) will present its Legislative Appropriations Request for fiscal years 2012 and 2013 to the Budget, Planning and Policy Division of the Governor's Office and to the Legislative Budget Board...

The Tim Cole Advisory Panel Report: Too Much Ado, Not Enough Done

Posted on August 30, 2010
Hey everybody, Jeff Blackburn here. Scott asked me to do some guest blogging during his well-deserved vacation. This my first post. Be as hard on me as you want. On Wednesday of last week, my good friend Ana Yáñez-Correa reported on the meeting of the Task Force on Indigent Defense that had just happened...

Legislative Budget Hearings

Posted on August 27, 2010
Hello everyone! It?s Ana Yáñez-Correa again. Just wanted to share with all of you a new link we created on TCJC's Public Policy Center web page titled Legislative Budget Hearings that included some of the following below. The Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC) presented its Legislative Appropriations Request (LAR) for fiscal years 2012 and 2013 to the Budget, Planning and Policy Division of the Governor's Office and to the Legislative Budget Board on Thursday, August 19, 2010...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

More TYC Turmoil?

Posted on August 26, 2010
A couple of readers emailed from across the pond to say things appear to be blowing up yet again at the Texas Youth Commission (I can't leave you people alone for a minute!), particularly regarding alleged mistreatment of youth at units in Beaumont and Corsicana...

Great Day for Justice in Texas

Posted on August 25, 2010
Hello everyone! It?s Ana Yáñez-Correa again.Today is a great day for justice in Harris County and across Texas. Leah Pinney and I attended the Task Force on Indigent Defense Board Meeting today, where we were reminded of the value of grace and perseverance in seeking justice...

TCJC Re-entry Project

Posted on August 24, 2010
Hi everyone, this is Ana Yáñez-Correa at the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC). It?s our first guest blog post!I?m not sure how many Grits readers know about a project we began about a year ago to help those exiting prisons and jails learn about available resources they can tap into in the community...

A Song for You: Roundup

Posted on August 23, 2010
Here are several items I've been meaning to mention before I leave town, compiled in a song-title themed roundup:Sympathy for the DevilJust because he's a drunken, lecherous asshole, says one of his former clerks, doesn't mean defrocked federal Judge Samuel Kent should be mistreated in prison...

I'm Outta Here: Guest bloggers hold down fort while Grits takes a holiday

Posted on August 23, 2010
On the road again,Going places that I've never been,Seeing things that I may never see again,I can't wait to get on the road again.- Willie Nelson I'm headed out of town for a long-awaited vacation this afternoon, and will be away from the blog until mid-September...

On the link (or lack thereof) between solving murders and reducing their number

Posted on August 23, 2010
An article in the Houston Chronicle today laments the declining clearance rate for homicides, which in many jurisdictions are below 50%. Reports Yang Wang (no really, that's the reporter's name):Some Houston-area communities are among 120 cities and counties across the state where 63 percent of murders or fewer are solved ? falling short of the national average ? according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting database...

Justice can't be quantified through conviction rates

Posted on August 23, 2010
In Dallas, District Attorney candidates are debating the proper method for calculating "conviction rates," but personally I agree with Harris County DA Pat Lykos who told the Dallas News:  "she doesn't even calculate the rates. 'We seek justice,' Lykos said...

The Texas Forensic Science Seminar

Posted on August 22, 2010
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals' Criminal Justice Integrity Unit is jointly sponsoring a conference/CLE event October 7-8 titled the "Texas Forensic Science Seminar" in the auditorium at the capitol in Austin. See their promotional flyer here (pdf)...

'Mineola Swingers Club': Emotion guides decisions when probative evidence excluded from jurors

Posted on August 21, 2010
At Texas Monthly, Michael Hall is continuing his excellent coverage of the so-called Mineola Swingers Club cases with a description of the most recent trial and conviction of another of the adults alleged to have sexually molested kids. The Fourteenth Court of Appeals in Houston recently threw out the two earlier convictions , reports Hall:On June 17 the Fourteenth Court of Appeals, in Houston, overturned the convictions of Kelly and Jamie Pittman...

Invited murals as graffiti prophylactic

Posted on August 21, 2010
In Fort Worth, police are referring graffiti victims to an "urban art academy" whose students, who include some ex-taggers, paint murals as a prophylactic against unwanted tagging, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram ("Fort Worth group finds creative way to fight graffiti," Aug...

Promoting blog coverage of Harris judicial races

Posted on August 21, 2010
I don't usually openly shill for advertisers in blog posts but David Jennings of Big Jolly Politics purchased an ad in Grits' sidebar for the next few months promoting a series of Q&As he and Charles Kuffner are doing with Republican and Democratic judicial candidates respectively who will be on Harris County ballots...

'Rewarding Results: Measuring and Incentivizing Performance in Corrections'

Posted on August 20, 2010
Marc Levin from the Texas Public Policy Foundation has a new report out titled "Rewarding Results: Measuring and Incentivizing Performance in Corrections" (pdf, August 2010). Here's an excerpt from the executive summary:In corrections, there is a strong public interest in producing the greatest reduction in crime?particularly the most serious crimes?for every dollar spent...

Mid-Week Linkfest

Posted on August 19, 2010
These items caught my eye this week but since I don't have time to blog about each of them, I'll just share the links for anyone interested:AP: DNA test may cast doubt on executed Texan's guilt Fortune Magazine: What's costlier than a government run prison? A private one...

DA indicted over handouts from asset forfeiture fund

Posted on August 19, 2010
Texas Watchdog reports that a grand jury in Jim Wells County convened by the Attorney General has indicted the former District Attorney on first degree felony charges related to alleged misuse of asset forfeiture money. Writes Mark Lisheron, "while the indictment says he misused more than $200,000, an audit done by his successor found that [Joe Frank] Garza had paid $1...

Viaje de Graffiti?

Posted on August 19, 2010
Beginning next week, I'm headed to Europe for a long-awaited vacation, spending time in London, Berlin, and Barcelona and leaving y'all in the able hands of several guest bloggers until mid-September. Intriguingly (though the missus might kill me), after I mentioned where we were headed recently in the comments, a reader suggested I make it a working trip...

If they wanted to, parole board could cut TDCJ spending easier than legislators

Posted on August 19, 2010
Far and away the biggest cost to Texas taxpayers from illegal immigrants - nearly double the amount spent on health and human services - is $171 million per year spent to house people in Texas state prisons who are eligible for deportation, the House State Affairs Committee was told yesterday...

Because all the other big problems have been solved ...

Posted on August 19, 2010
Obama's Justice Department today indicted Texas baseball legend "Rocket" Roger Clemens for perjury related to alleged steroid use, reports USA Today. See the indictment (pdf). The allegations rest primarily on the word of a snitch who turned on Clemens to avoid prosecution himself...

Jail main driver of higher taxes, budget stress in Dallas County

Posted on August 18, 2010
If it weren't for its massive, jam-packed jail, Dallas County wouldn't have raised taxes in recent years and wouldn't be making deep budget cuts now.According to Commissioner John Wiley Price, Dallas County "has only raised the tax rate in recent years to pay for jail improvements required by state and federal authorities...

Charting new paths to reduce DWI

Posted on August 18, 2010
The Dallas News yesterday completed its series (discussed earlier here) on drunk driving deaths with a discussion of possible legislative actions to address the problem, declaring thatlawmakers are scrambling over what other steps to take:?The old path: Pass stricter laws to keep drunken drivers off the streets...

Louie Gohmert and judicial temperament

Posted on August 17, 2010
I try to steer this blog away from straight-up culture war debates and onto more constructive terrain, so I resisted commenting when state Rep. Debbie Riddle went on national TV to say that "terror babies" were being birthed in the United States by extremist Muslims in preparation for future attacks...

Writ Denied: Judge Keller frustrated from futility of frivolous filings

Posted on August 17, 2010
The Supreme Court of Texas denied Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller's writ asking that they vacate the public warning lodged against her by the State Judicial Conduct Commission. See the Austin Statesman and Jeff Gamso for more. Then on the last possible day (yesterday) Keller requested that the SCOT appoint three judge to hear her appeal of the Commission's warning...

Overincarceration at local jail responsible for Wichita County tax hike

Posted on August 17, 2010
Higher county property taxes in Wichita Falls are entirely attributable to rising jail costs, the Times Record News reports today; their county commissioners court this week approved an 8% tax hike:County Judge Woody Gossom said the extra revenue will all go to the county jail, with about half the increase dedicated to additional jail staffing and the rest toward the expense of housing inmates out of county due to overcrowding...

TDCJ budget would lay off 7,300 employees before closing a single prison unit

Posted on August 17, 2010
Why am I not surprised? The Texas Department of Criminal Justice yesterday came out with its Legislative Appropriations Request (LAR) purporting to comply with budget cuts demanded by legislative leaders. Rumors were flying last week that TDCJ would suggest closing two units as part of a broader array of cuts, but that notion clearly didn't make it into the final draft, which mostly slashes staffing, community supervision, and mental health treatment...

Reportage hyping DWI sidesteps biggest enforcement issues

Posted on August 16, 2010
The Dallas News is running a series of stories about criminal prosecutions in DWI death cases, the first article of which opened with this provocative but misleading statement:You drink. You drive. You go to jail. That's what the billboards say.But in Dallas County, a leader in alcohol-fueled traffic deaths, you may spend little or no time behind bars ? even if you kill someone...

Prison dog training programs deserve results-based evaluation

Posted on August 16, 2010
Having recently mentioned the new dog-training program at TYC's girls' unit in Brownwood, I should point out this article in the Houston Chronicle about a similar program for women offenders at TDCJ in Gatesville that trains dogs for disabled veterans...

Backlash against new prisoner reentry housing

Posted on August 15, 2010
Mike Ward at the Austin Statesman reports on the allegedly muddled implementation and backlash against a new program to provide housing for long-time inmates who are eligible for parole but had no place to go ("Housing program for ex-cons not working as intended, some lawmakers say," Aug...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.