- If coverage in the Express-News is indicative, a community forum on civil rights and policing in San Antonio didn't at all focus on the contract negotiations which just began between the city and the union. But that document and the state civil-service code which authorizes it govern SAPD disciplinary processes (read: what happens to cops who break the rules) to an arguably greater degree than the chief or DA. Campaign Zero has offered some thoughtful suggestions on reform provisions advocates should ask for in police contracts, many of which could apply to meet-and-confer contracts Texas.
- The screwups surrounding the case of Jerry Hartfield, a mentally ill man imprisoned in Texas for 35 years after his conviction was overturned, are as mind boggling as they are banal.
- Another suicide by an out of state motorist in a Texas county jail is being questioned by his family. This one likely won't receive the same attention as Sandra Bland. OTOH, without the uproar surrounding her case, one doubts it'd have been covered at all.
- Grits didn't realize they were still doing roadside cavity searches for drugs in Harris County in 2015. You learn something new every day. A bill passed this session and which goes into effect Sept. 1st would require a warrant for law enforcement to conduct body cavity searches. I wonder how many agencies will formally have to change their practices?
- The pun in this headline about bite mark evidence was as inevitable as it is inexcusable. See related coverage from Jordan Smith, formerly of the Austin Chronicle, and an op ed from the National Law Journal.
- Here's a reminder that Democrats sucked on criminal-justice policy in the '90s. Grits hasn't forgotten.
- Voters will decide bail reform in New Mexico.
- Here's a strident but justified call for more aggressive use of presidential pardon power.
- Read Prof. Sam Gross on "The staggering number of wrongful convictions in America."
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Bad cops, bad puns, bad contracts, bad Democrats and other happy stories to cheer up your day
Here are several items which merit readers' attention even if I don't have time to blog on the topics:
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5 comments:
Grits, your from Tyler right? Did you see the recent article on judge Rogers?
http://www.tylerpaper.com/TP-News+Local/222828/marriage-order-puts-judge-in-spotlight
That came out while I was on vacation. There's only so much stupid a man can focus on, even I need a break sometimes.
in reference to the wrong convictions story:
I was a cop for three years, and I didn't know just how corrupt the justice system was until seeing it for myself. There is no presumption of innocence, if you are charged, you are presumed guilty. It becomes your responsibility to prove your innocence, not the State's to prove your guilt. It's completely opposite of how it should be. Prosecuting attorneys are not interested in actual guilt/innocence, they are only interested in closing cases and conviction rates. They are far more corrupt than defense attorneys.
God help you if you don't have a several thousand dollars on hand to pay your bond and attorney fees. Public defenders are over-worked and are more than happy to participate in the plea mill atrocity. Anyone who doesn't believe this system bullies innocent people into guilty pleas is naive. If you fight and prove your innocence, you are left in massive debt, and still have a social stigma attached to you.
A study done on students at the Florida Institute of Technology demonstrated that 56% of innocent people admitted guilt out of fear of the repercussions. None of this is conjecture, it's 100% fact with statistics to back it up.
"Hartfield's retrial began in early August, 35 years after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Hartfield's capital murder conviction."
What does this tell you about prison oversight when a person can be imprisoned for 35 years without a conviction? Somebody at the State level should have been responsible for his release especially since he is mentally deficient.
The only reason that he is being tried today is because he wasn't freed 35 years ago. Otherwise, it's a cold-case, unsolved.
Who is accountable for this colossal idiocy?
Bad cops, Scott. Your crowd fans the flames non stop and puts a target on their back.
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