tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.comments2024-03-15T05:45:01.402-05:00Grits for BreakfastGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger100777125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-92095171599396045982024-03-08T22:50:39.247-06:002024-03-08T22:50:39.247-06:00Is this Shane?Is this Shane?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-46531067361102112762024-03-08T09:19:11.575-06:002024-03-08T09:19:11.575-06:00Election judges tell us who won the DA election, a...Election judges tell us who won the DA election, and then you expect that DA to go after the Election judges that handle every single one of his votes.Phelpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06270536870200063563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-19262608394694109912024-03-08T06:09:54.927-06:002024-03-08T06:09:54.927-06:00I am a pretty far right conservative Republican an...I am a pretty far right conservative Republican and a former rural elected DA, but Paxton and the “State” have no business hijacking local grand juries to prosecute election fraud. We have local DAs for a reason. This is just another attempt to centralize power in Austin. Just look at Governor Abbott’s push to eliminate judicial elections in favor of an appointment system. Even TX Sup Ct Chief Justice Hecht was on board. Whether Replublican or Democrat- Right or Left, we all need to keep a watchful eye on Austin. Unfortunately, the extremes in each party are ruining it for the rest of us. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-55013766488192121132024-03-07T19:44:04.275-06:002024-03-07T19:44:04.275-06:00At one time, I would be rejoicing that "Hang ...At one time, I would be rejoicing that "Hang 'Em High Sharon" had gotten booted from the CCA. Instead, she's being replaced by a wingnut-squared (no, Dems aren't winning any statewide races in November) who, on the issue of real crime, will likely be even worse than her.Gadflyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13075757287807731373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-55581134436850567812024-03-07T18:32:20.271-06:002024-03-07T18:32:20.271-06:00DA's do not count votes. Nor does the Texas Co...DA's do not count votes. Nor does the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. This ignorant and irrelevant comment has zero to do w/ anything written in this blog post. Shocking!Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-66505550732874016262024-03-07T15:27:21.809-06:002024-03-07T15:27:21.809-06:00Of course the people counting the votes should onl...Of course the people counting the votes should only be open to investigation by the people they say won the votes. Makes sense to me. No way that could ever be manipulated.Phelpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06270536870200063563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-36985241387543218262024-02-15T10:37:28.017-06:002024-02-15T10:37:28.017-06:00If this was a Republican DA it would be "DA s...If this was a Republican DA it would be "DA saves state taxpayers millions by utilizing county sentencing for State Jail Felonies, avoiding large costs to the State for State Jail Facilities."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-34770081765537767082024-02-14T12:36:37.231-06:002024-02-14T12:36:37.231-06:00@2/13: The point of the surname joke is that you H...@2/13: The point of the surname joke is that you HAD to look it up. Nobody knows who tf the guy is.<br /><br />@2/12, 1:45: Excellent points about the data being used. Folks like our other, holier than thou commenter who left town are offended at many things, but seemingly NOT at smears based on outright lies or dubious premises.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-38956763446481989722024-02-13T12:09:26.659-06:002024-02-13T12:09:26.659-06:00SYLESTINE.
What a childish bunch of drivel you spe...SYLESTINE.<br />What a childish bunch of drivel you spewed out. I'm no longer in Travis County, having fled the insanity it's become, because of people like you, Snott (see what I did there), after being a lifelong resident of 60 years.<br />Your immature attempt at humor, trying to find as many different ways to call him names, derived from mangling his surname, had the effect of making me look it up. <br />And, I would vote for him, if I was still in Travis County.<br />When someone has to resort to name calling, it's because they lack truly relevant points.<br />Whatever Jose Gazonga (see what I did there, purely to emulate YOUR immaturity) paid you to promote him - he is due a refund. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-36601896488792285212024-02-12T13:45:11.929-06:002024-02-12T13:45:11.929-06:00KVUE overlooked the "whole" universe in ...<br />KVUE overlooked the "whole" universe in two ways and this has a far more serious impact. First, they drop deferred adjudication from the sentence proportions. Deferred go to CSCD for supervision just like probation. They say Dallas has 0% to probation from 2021 through 2023 - well 21,252 people got deferred adjudication, so 7718 prison, 2651 state jail, 5072 jail, and 36 shock probation PLUS 21,252 deferred is 36,729 punished and 58% punished with community supervision. Travis is 1565 prison +455 sj +5541 jail +1923 probation +31 shock prob +2509 deferred is 12,024 punished and 4463 to community supervision or 37%. Travis County has less community sentences. <br /><br />Second, these sentences are a proportion of people, um, sentenced. They compare 2021-2023 - I have 9736 convictions + 2509 Deferred + 23 Acquittal + 7733 Dismissals in Travis County: that's 20,001 disposed and 12,245 (61%) receiving a punishment (conv + def). In Harris County - I have 49,767 convictions + 23,797 Deferred + 232 Acquittals + 60,136 dismissed: that's 133,932 disposed and 73,564 (55%) receiving a punishment (conv + def). Travis County punished more. <br /><br />What an absurd data source to do any sort of inter-county comparison - the OCA District Court Data Report is (1) case based and (2) stuck with the charge level at filing. That means (1) a person going to TDC for a different offense and given time served in the jail on the lesser to just get them out will be coded as 'jail' even though they are transferring to the pen but more importantly (2) a person charged at a felony level then reduced either by plea or through more information (like you can't have a F3 DWI 3rd if you haven't had been previously convicted of a DWI - perhaps the record was unclear at filing and fixed later). These hallucinations show up the report - 30 DWI 3rd's getting deferred adjudication, nope, that's not possible unless the 30 have been filed as DWI 3 and disposed as something else. DWI can't get deferred.<br /><br />OCA also defines how these things are labelled, which is fine, but the news story didn't explore that - Agg Assault/Attempted Murder can't get a State Jail sentence (it's mostly drug and property crimes, explicitly created to exclude violent); however, the OCA report categorizes some terroristic threat and some some abandoning child offenses in this category which are state jail felonies. If Travis has a different spread of offenses than the other counties, this would also create a larger proportion going to State Jail or Probation. Felony offenses, less state jail felonies that have specific carve out sentencing options, simply do not receive local jail sentences "for real" it can only happen with data hallucinations. <br /><br />At best, these are people unfamiliar with this data source, that has full instructions online as to how it is filled out, or the criminal justice process in general. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-92205042944045453612024-02-01T22:56:36.282-06:002024-02-01T22:56:36.282-06:00https://media.giphy.com/media/qEBlgZpZWHihO/giphy....https://media.giphy.com/media/qEBlgZpZWHihO/giphy.gifPhelpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06270536870200063563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-46491826775872022292024-02-01T17:29:37.222-06:002024-02-01T17:29:37.222-06:00Grits, how the hell do you remain in Texas? The be...Grits, how the hell do you remain in Texas? The best thing I ever did in my life was leave Fort Worth, Texas in 2005 (the week after Katrina). I miss the food, but absolutely nothing else. The GQP has become the party of the insane with Texas being ground zero.Charlie Onoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-10971275717390682252024-01-22T09:52:11.043-06:002024-01-22T09:52:11.043-06:00The feds pay billions on border patrol like Jeffre...The feds pay billions on border patrol like Jeffrey Epstein paid millions for child care.Phelpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06270536870200063563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-89920550978092306242024-01-21T18:25:38.814-06:002024-01-21T18:25:38.814-06:00What about Paxton against the CCA incumbents: Kell...What about Paxton against the CCA incumbents: Keller, Hervey, and Slaughter? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-6702233668741059852024-01-21T17:24:14.982-06:002024-01-21T17:24:14.982-06:00@Phelps, the federal government spends BILLIONS on...@Phelps, the federal government spends BILLIONS on border patrol, whom Texas officials are now obstructing. Not sure how much more they could possibly "throw in."<br /><br />@1:06, all of the above. Not independent, not motivated, and not empowered.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-67027798928383201922024-01-21T13:06:37.586-06:002024-01-21T13:06:37.586-06:00There is a nominally independent prison ombudsman....There is a nominally independent prison ombudsman. Why isn't that working as well as it does in other states? In WA, the ombuds officer investigated the health care system and a few weeks after her report hit the Governor's desk, the DOC secretary took early retirement. At the Governor's request. <br /><br />Are they not independent, not motivated, not empowered to inspect facilities, or what? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-55863442725864387472024-01-18T10:05:14.098-06:002024-01-18T10:05:14.098-06:00That the federal government throw in, and more imp...That the federal government throw in, and more importantly, we reinstitute the Remain in Mexico policy for asylum claims, which keeps people from trying to swim across in the first place.Phelpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06270536870200063563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-52407920267794196772024-01-17T17:55:15.520-06:002024-01-17T17:55:15.520-06:00Abbott is doing what you want. This was the result...Abbott is doing what you want. This was the result. What do you suggest? Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-7458127556432014192024-01-17T13:48:38.052-06:002024-01-17T13:48:38.052-06:00I want the federal government to do something to s...I want the federal government to do something to stop the flow of people being trafficked by men who don't care if they live or drown once they've paid their fee, rather than just shrugging their shoulders and fishing out the corpses -- until they could blame it on Abbott, that is.Phelpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06270536870200063563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-70054837346636379922024-01-17T13:39:05.396-06:002024-01-17T13:39:05.396-06:00@Phelps, who do you want to have mentioned it and ...@Phelps, who do you want to have mentioned it and what difference would have it made? Ppl have been talking about the drownings for many months: https://theintercept.com/2023/09/02/border-rio-grande-migrant-children-drowning/Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-47121241428441666392024-01-17T09:57:18.895-06:002024-01-17T09:57:18.895-06:00Agree with gadfly. Biden is weak and feckless. Jul...Agree with gadfly. Biden is weak and feckless. Julian Castro has urged him to nationalize the Texas National Guard, he has actions he COULD take, and could have taken earlier, but he's useless and awful.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-46093431634160175302024-01-16T18:47:54.697-06:002024-01-16T18:47:54.697-06:00What Phelps said. As Teddy Roosevelt said about Wi...What Phelps said. As Teddy Roosevelt said about William McKinley, Biden has the backbone of a chocolate eclair.Gadflyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13075757287807731373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-63221642557439913342024-01-16T14:25:21.549-06:002024-01-16T14:25:21.549-06:00The Rio Grande has been drowning an average of a p...The Rio Grande has been drowning an average of a person a day since before September, but none of them were worth mentioning until they could be blamed on Abbott. You are right that there is no high ground.Phelpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06270536870200063563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-7854305766119703402024-01-16T13:53:39.104-06:002024-01-16T13:53:39.104-06:00In prison, for sure. Life sentence for murder w/ m...In prison, for sure. Life sentence for murder w/ malice! Idk details, yet. He got there in 1942 and was still playing in 1963, at age 68. John Hines was a tough character, too. Killed one of his teammates on the Chicago American Giants, served time for that in IL, got out, then sometime in the '40s ended up at the Ramsey unit (don't know why, yet) pitching in the prison league. Hines went to college at Wiley College in Marshall.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-21168107196413180782024-01-16T13:36:07.241-06:002024-01-16T13:36:07.241-06:00Thanks for the article on Scottie Walker. I hope y...Thanks for the article on Scottie Walker. I hope you do write more about the Texas prison system's baseball teams. I couldn't tell from the story, was he actually in prison at that time, or was he basically a ringer for them? Thanks!Charles Kuffnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14017754405865832150noreply@blogger.com