I don't know how to describe this but, just the facts, sir. Judge Keller, Honorable Sharon Keller, Presiding Judge, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (the supreme criminal court) is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Justice Center which is the umbrella organization controlling the Reentry Policy Council noted in my last post. I just happened to stumble upon this fact today while reviewing the website out of an abundance of curiosity.
Unfortunately, the Judge is now facing a removal proceeding and trial (estimated to cost $250,000 dollars of your taxpayer money) thanks to the State Commission on Judicial Proceedings. Just one more reason to stop electing judges is this article about the fee, in which her lawyer, Chip Babcock, says they'd defend her for a buck, but are prohibited by law for giving a discount on legal fees to a judge as it would amount to an illegal political contribution! The buck in question is the amount the lawyer hired by the Commission is set to receive for prosecuting the case against Keller.
Allegations state that Judge Keller refused to follow written procedures in the Richardson execution causing the lawyer's request for stay based upon the USSC grant in Baze to be rejected. It is alleged she knew the lawyers wanted to file the request but could not get it to Court by the five pm close and refused to allow papers to be filed late. I might have added, stupidly and callously refused, but that would just be my spin on it. We'll just have to see what kind of sanction, if any, is appropriate for this kind of behavior by our supreme court justices.
All major Texas newspapers, including Texas Monthly have decried Keller's hastening of the execution of Richardson. To a man, all have called for Keller's removal.
I wonder how will this affect the future of the reentry movement?
The Justice Center's Board provides guidance on the Center's priorities and is comprised of senior level state officials who shape criminal justice policy.
Grits has this post on it.
Showing posts with label 5th Circuit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 5th Circuit. Show all posts
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Monday, December 25, 2006
Christmas Day Oddities
The Old South Hasn't Gone Anywhere, and Won't:
X _________ (just take a wild guess) and a number of political interest groups attacked Wallace's nomination (to the federal bench), led by a scathing report from the American Bar Association that gave him a "not qualified" rating. The report specifically questioned his record on civil rights, his treatment of minorities and his record on voting rights issues. The predominantly African-American Magnolia Bar Association also opposed Wallace's nomination on grounds the 5th Circuit bench needs more diversity based on the district's population.
Wallace was reticent about his political opposition, but when asked if he held racist views, Wallace said flatly: "No."
The ABA report noted: "Lawyers and judges stated that Mr. Wallace did not understand or care about issues central to the lives of the poor, minorities, the marginalized, the have-nots and those who do not share his view of the world."
More Synaptical Sparks Concerning Ohio, Death Penalty and interesting comments about pain, punishment and death from crimeandconsequences dot com here.
Maryland, Death Penalty notes, and the Political Value to State Republicans, tipped in from Washington Post via How Appealing (Howard Bashman):
X _________ (just take a wild guess) and a number of political interest groups attacked Wallace's nomination (to the federal bench), led by a scathing report from the American Bar Association that gave him a "not qualified" rating. The report specifically questioned his record on civil rights, his treatment of minorities and his record on voting rights issues. The predominantly African-American Magnolia Bar Association also opposed Wallace's nomination on grounds the 5th Circuit bench needs more diversity based on the district's population.
Wallace was reticent about his political opposition, but when asked if he held racist views, Wallace said flatly: "No."
The ABA report noted: "Lawyers and judges stated that Mr. Wallace did not understand or care about issues central to the lives of the poor, minorities, the marginalized, the have-nots and those who do not share his view of the world."
More Synaptical Sparks Concerning Ohio, Death Penalty and interesting comments about pain, punishment and death from crimeandconsequences dot com here.
Maryland, Death Penalty notes, and the Political Value to State Republicans, tipped in from Washington Post via How Appealing (Howard Bashman):
the confluence of national currents and a Maryland court ruling last week halting executions on a technicality could make the death penalty a defining issue of O'Malley's tenure.***executions are not likely to resume without action from his administration. Under the ruling by the Court of Appeals, new regulations must be drafted before the state may put more prisoners to death -- and early signs from O'Malley and his aides suggest that he sees no reason to rush that process. *** O'Malley said he was certain that "all of this will spark a renewed debate as to whether all of the money we spend prosecuting death penalty cases might be better spent fighting violent crime and saving lives."***Legislation that allowed executions to resume would be subject to a filibuster in the Senate, however, and is not certain to pass, said Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery), chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee. In coming weeks, lawmakers will be looking at O'Malley to signal where the process is headed, said Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg (D-Baltimore), vice chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
A pair of interesting posts from Howard Bashman, a Freebie, (in Law dotcom) about SCOTUS, from Legal Times (not cheap news), and what I might call a year-end wrap-up here (written by Howard).Happy Holidays!
Friday, December 15, 2006
TGIF
TGIF Heading into another Weekend here is a newsy update. So we'll poison the well in order to save the water. That's right, send more troops says Sen. McCain. Of course the generals need a bigger standing army to do this. I respectfully disagree. Do not throw good money after bad.
Here's the plan: draw a perimeter, tell the Saudis to mind their own business and simmer down. We'll save money, lives (ours), and credibility. No matter who controls Iraq it will still be Muslim, anti-American and non-democratic. We need to go back to "self-determination". We lost before we even started. They can sort it out better than we can. Keep terrorism inside/contained AND away from our troops.
The sad story of the Botched execution(s) is here.
Baseball Fans: new import from Japan is the Type O Warrior (hat tip NYT)
In Japan, people with Type O are commonly referred to as warriors because they are said to be self-confident, outgoing, goal-oriented and passionate. According to Masahiko Nomi, a Japanese journalist who helped popularize blood typology with a best-selling book in 1971, people with Type O make the best bankers, politicians and — if you are not yet convinced — professional baseball players.
Poll Says the New Congress is Trusted: Americans trust Democratic lawmakers more than President Bush to handle the nation's toughest problems, including the Iraq war, and a quarter of Republicans are glad that Democrats have won control of Congress, a Washington Post-ABC News poll finds.
A good blurb on Terrorism and Security (by Tom Regan of Christian Science Monitor)
Here you will find a good roundup of the blog and media coverage of the Musladin Supreme Court decision. Hat tip Kent at Crime and Consequences.
Too Good to Pass: Mike at Crime and Federalism (link below at "Mike says")has this called "How Scalia Views the "Little People" -- juicy, for "populist conservatives" -- Here is how Justice Antonin Scalia views 99% of people:
"If you become a federal judge in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan), you can't raise a family on what the salary [$165,200] is," Scalia said during a speech to the Northern Virginia Technology Council.
Mike says: Ninety-nine percent of people make much less money than that. According to Justice Scalia, they must not be raising their families properly. Only the little people make less than 150K. I would love for someone to explain why someone who holds such viewpoints about Americans is considered a populist hero by lower-income conservatives.
Open Letter to Justice Scalia by Keith S. Hampton is here.
More on Hamdan (hat tip Kent at Crime and Consequences)
District Court has dismissed for lack of jurisdiction the habeas petition of Guantanamo detainee Salim Hamdan, whose case went to the Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.
The opinion has three main points. First, the statute did repeal the court's habeas jurisdiction. The court brushed aside rather easily the shaky statutory interpretation argument that it did not.
Second, Congress has not validly suspended the writ of habeas corpus. The constitutional conditions for suspension, rebellion or invasion, are not present. "If and to the extent that the MCA operates to make the writ unavailable to a person who is constitutionally entitled to it, it must be unconstitutional."
Third, Hamdan is not constitutionally entitled to it. Here Judge Robertson has an analysis of the historical cases of habeas for aliens that is quite consistent with our brief in Hamdan and rejects the superficial citation of these cases by Justice Stevens in Rasul v. Bush, n. 11.
Hat tip also Crime and Consequences re the Duke rape case. David Scott of AP reports on a defense motion in the Duke Lacrosse team rape case alleging that a DNA test by the prosecution showed multiple males' DNA but none of the team members' and that the result was not disclosed to the defense. The story doesn't say what relief the motion is requesting. Given that they do have the information months before trial, there doesn't seem to be a Brady violation here.
RE Counsel, Medellin and Acker in CCA by Austin American Statesman, here (Nov. 20).
"This state's highest appeals court for criminal cases consistently ignores justice, even when the evidence of injustice is clear. True to its recent history, the court last week rejected two appeals from condemned inmates whose trials were travesties of justice."
"The most ardent death penalty advocate understands that a capital murder proceeding must guarantee a fair trial. One of the strongest arguments against capital punishment in Texas is that the judicial system is so broken that innocent defendants can be condemned and executed."
Cause and effect: The AP reported 12/12--that CCA set new rules to ensure better performance of lawyers for death row. Rules were adopted Monday, (12/11?).
Here's the plan: draw a perimeter, tell the Saudis to mind their own business and simmer down. We'll save money, lives (ours), and credibility. No matter who controls Iraq it will still be Muslim, anti-American and non-democratic. We need to go back to "self-determination". We lost before we even started. They can sort it out better than we can. Keep terrorism inside/contained AND away from our troops.
The sad story of the Botched execution(s) is here.
Baseball Fans: new import from Japan is the Type O Warrior (hat tip NYT)
In Japan, people with Type O are commonly referred to as warriors because they are said to be self-confident, outgoing, goal-oriented and passionate. According to Masahiko Nomi, a Japanese journalist who helped popularize blood typology with a best-selling book in 1971, people with Type O make the best bankers, politicians and — if you are not yet convinced — professional baseball players.
Poll Says the New Congress is Trusted: Americans trust Democratic lawmakers more than President Bush to handle the nation's toughest problems, including the Iraq war, and a quarter of Republicans are glad that Democrats have won control of Congress, a Washington Post-ABC News poll finds.
A good blurb on Terrorism and Security (by Tom Regan of Christian Science Monitor)
Here you will find a good roundup of the blog and media coverage of the Musladin Supreme Court decision. Hat tip Kent at Crime and Consequences.
Too Good to Pass: Mike at Crime and Federalism (link below at "Mike says")has this called "How Scalia Views the "Little People" -- juicy, for "populist conservatives" -- Here is how Justice Antonin Scalia views 99% of people:
"If you become a federal judge in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan), you can't raise a family on what the salary [$165,200] is," Scalia said during a speech to the Northern Virginia Technology Council.
Mike says: Ninety-nine percent of people make much less money than that. According to Justice Scalia, they must not be raising their families properly. Only the little people make less than 150K. I would love for someone to explain why someone who holds such viewpoints about Americans is considered a populist hero by lower-income conservatives.
Open Letter to Justice Scalia by Keith S. Hampton is here.
More on Hamdan (hat tip Kent at Crime and Consequences)
District Court has dismissed for lack of jurisdiction the habeas petition of Guantanamo detainee Salim Hamdan, whose case went to the Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.
The opinion has three main points. First, the statute did repeal the court's habeas jurisdiction. The court brushed aside rather easily the shaky statutory interpretation argument that it did not.
Second, Congress has not validly suspended the writ of habeas corpus. The constitutional conditions for suspension, rebellion or invasion, are not present. "If and to the extent that the MCA operates to make the writ unavailable to a person who is constitutionally entitled to it, it must be unconstitutional."
Third, Hamdan is not constitutionally entitled to it. Here Judge Robertson has an analysis of the historical cases of habeas for aliens that is quite consistent with our brief in Hamdan and rejects the superficial citation of these cases by Justice Stevens in Rasul v. Bush, n. 11.
Hat tip also Crime and Consequences re the Duke rape case. David Scott of AP reports on a defense motion in the Duke Lacrosse team rape case alleging that a DNA test by the prosecution showed multiple males' DNA but none of the team members' and that the result was not disclosed to the defense. The story doesn't say what relief the motion is requesting. Given that they do have the information months before trial, there doesn't seem to be a Brady violation here.
RE Counsel, Medellin and Acker in CCA by Austin American Statesman, here (Nov. 20).
"This state's highest appeals court for criminal cases consistently ignores justice, even when the evidence of injustice is clear. True to its recent history, the court last week rejected two appeals from condemned inmates whose trials were travesties of justice."
"The most ardent death penalty advocate understands that a capital murder proceeding must guarantee a fair trial. One of the strongest arguments against capital punishment in Texas is that the judicial system is so broken that innocent defendants can be condemned and executed."
Cause and effect: The AP reported 12/12--that CCA set new rules to ensure better performance of lawyers for death row. Rules were adopted Monday, (12/11?).
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