Just a few odds and ends that didn't make it this week into their own, full posts:
- A court has ordered DNA testing in Kerry Max Cook's case, potentially presaging a long overdue habeas writ based on actual innocence for the Tyler man who spent 19 years on death row.
- A prosecutor in El Paso allegedly took bribes to dismiss family violence cases.
- More on the lawsuit alleging employment retaliation by former TDCJ flack Michelle Lyons.
- Dallas PD has ceased using spike strips to end high-speed chases because of dangers to officers and the public. Fort Worth may follow suit: “As pursuit policies become more restrictive resulting in their
reductions, stop sticks may be phased out throughout all of law
enforcement,” Fort Worth police spokesman Pedro Criado said in an email.
“It’s not worth injuring or killing an officer over. The debate has
reached the Fort Worth Police Department.”
- A judge upheld the Texas prison system's ban on certain politically oriented books brought by Prison Legal News. Reportedly, "TDCJ has approved about 80,000 of more than 92,000 books sent to its inmates"
- Suing for a false police tip: After a false allegation regarding mass graves on their property last year from a purported psychic, a Liberty County couple has "filed a lawsuit against the Liberty County Sheriff's Office, the woman
who first called in with a tip, and a number of media outlets that
allegedly reported that dozens of bodies, including those of children,
had been discovered"
- See a story on a Mexican-born artist/printmaker portraying Juárez drug war violence.
- The Christian Broadcasting Network, of all sources, has come out with a series titled "Nation of Criminals." Here are the titles so far:
Selling Prisons 'for Profit'
Gibson’s Blues: Endless Laws Criminalizing Business
Web of Laws Creating Hosts of 'Accidental Criminals'
'Overcriminalization' Making Us a Nation of Felons?
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5 comments:
Something completely off topic, but I didn't know how else to get in touch with you. You might be interested to know about an incident at the Middleton Unit. They had their first death caused from fighting, and now they're expecting a riot because it was an accident but the inmate was charged with murder...
email is shenson[at]austin.rr.com.
A television evangelist proselytizing about the justice system. I guess everyone needs to make a dollar or two. Or in the case of the Christian Broadcast Network, a few hundred million/year.
As for the false tips case, I suspect the vast majority of the media defendants will turn out to be immune under the safe harbor given to electronic re-publishers by the CDA and I equally suspect that the originator of the tip is going to turn out to be judgement proof by way of having nothing to take. And while I can't think of anything right off that would allow the city to duck responsibility I'm sure they'll come up with something, so these folks are quite likely simply out of luck, except perhaps against the local media company that actually fed the story to AP and the other wire services.
Its no good to build a prison and then have empty cells, just as hospitals, once built, want to keep their beds filled even if its only with teenaged druggies.
What magistrate issued a search warrant based upon a seance?
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