Statesman: Texas Justice Broken

The Austin American Statesman editorial board today contemplates exactly what it means that Texas courts still think it's okay for prosecutors to exhibit racial bias during jury selection. (To be fair, apparently so does Antonin Scalia.)

However, their solution of dismantling the Court of Criminal Appeals, recently dubbed Texas' worst court, and merging it with the Texas Supreme Court wouldn't solve anything -- there's not one reason to think those nine right wingers would be any better than the nine on the CCA.

Instead, Texans should "fix" the court the old fashioned way, by ousting CCA Chief Justice Sharon Keller and her two cohorts who are up for re-election in 2006. In fact, they're easily the weakest statewide seats that Democrats could target. That, too, would send a "vivid and unmistakably clear reminder" to the court of its responsibilities, plus add some voices for change on the inside.