Great Stuff Around the Blogs

With the 80th Texas Legislature thankfully behind us, I've spent more time recently reading the blogs I enjoy, particularly the ones squeezed out of my routine at the height of the legislative session. Here are a BUNCH of great recent items from the blogosphere I thought I'd share with y'all this morning:

• Banjo Jones has compiled an excellent list of eccentric Texas town names.

• The Back Gate brings news of alleged civil rights violations at the Darrington Unit, points to an employee generated downloadable program that generates TDCJ forms for employees convenience, and an article describing barriers to increasing corrections staff.

• The StandDown Texas blog brings news of an event in Austin Saturday on how faith communities should respond to the death penalty.
  

• Wretched of the Earth tells about a new policy by the Dallas DA for those who commit petty offenses.

• Jamie Spencer at the Austin Criminal Defense Lawyer questions what qualifies labeling youth as gang members. At Overcriminalized we see good arguments against federalizing anti-gang laws.

• Dirty Third Streets enjoys the simplicity of the line.

• Texas Prison Bidness analyzes what happened with private prisons in the 80th Legislature.

• The SA Express News' Hearsay blog says Google would not have fought a Texas AG subpoena for anonymous commenters IP addresses if Greg Abbot had not withdrawn his request.

• McBlogger has a demonstration how a microwave oven can be turned into a potentially deadly weapon with signficant range! (Don't try at home - this is simultaneously quite clever and really stupid!)

• Sex Crimes blog considers arguments that the desire to avoid clogged courts and endless appeals justify opposing expansion of the death penalty to child molesters.

• Eddie Griffin and Dallas South are watching the story in Jena, LA, and I'm excited to see Alan and Lydia Bean are also watching closely on the new Tulia Friends of Justice blog.

• Federal Crimes Blog brings news about Dallas school board members accused of bribery.=

• Christian Conservative is worried that government secrets are becoming more secret.

• Eye on Williamson offers reason Number 6,538 why the T. Don Hutton immigration prison should be closed, while the Texas Civil Rights Review says there will be two vigils at Hutto in June.

• The Drug Law Blog reports the that Democratic Congress had re-authorized Byrne-grant funded Tulia-style drug task forces. Texas de-funded these task forces last year and shifted most Byrne grant money to border security.

• Powerhouse Dallas trial lawyers Fred Barron and Russell Budd have settled the lawsuit surrounding their firm's high-profile breakup, says FrontBurner.

• The former prosecutor at I Was the State considers lessons from the TV show Intervention and tells why he misses his badge (primarily, apparently, because it gets you out of traffic tickets!).

• Lawsagna tells why confusing legalese is a barrier to regulatory compliance, and suggests we practice purposeful listening.

• Corrections Sentencing discusses aggressive personalities and brain chemistry, a topic about which I've become increasingly interested over the last couple of years. I also enjoyed Michael's discussion of Hawks and Corrections Sentencing.

• The Truth About False Confessions tells us about a new study from the Justice Project on electronic recording of custodial investigations.

• Instead of a border fence, Subtopia contemplates a Great Wall of Music.
  

• CrimProf Blog tells why states don't like the federal REAL ID Act.

• The Barbershop Notebooks is thankful to Clarence Thomas for ending blind race loyalty among black folks, I suppose in the same way we should be grateful to George W. Bush for ending once and for all the myth of white supremacy.

• And of course, Happy Birthday Olivia!

Good stuff from all - I quite enjoyed my round of blog reading this morning.