Money to burn

In its never-ending quest to make prisons as inhospitable as it can (just because it can), the State of Texas spent $7 million fighting a lawsuit over the installation of air conditioning at a prison unit near College Station, Texas. Inmates filed the suit in 2014 arguing that the conditions in the prison during the summer violated the 8th Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

The inmate suit pointed out that 23 inmates had died of heat stroke since 1998 including 10 who died during a heat wave in 2011.

Currently about 75% of prison housing units in Texas lack air conditioning.

The state wasn't having any of it. An expert hired by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice estimated that it would cost $20 million to install a/c at the prison. After a federal judge told Texas that the conditions were unconstitutional, the cost to install the a/c suddenly fell to a mere $11 million.

Under pressure to settle the case, lest the damages spiral out of control, TDCJ revised its estimate to install a/c down to $4 million. The estimate had come in so low that TDCJ has asked the legislature for more money to install a/c at a unit housing developmentally challenged inmates.

So, to recap, the geniuses running this state spent around $7 million dollars to defend a lawsuit when it only would have cost about $4 million to install the air conditioning system. Why was the state fighting the suit in the first place? Why would you spend almost three times as much to defend a lawsuit as it would cost to do what was asked of you?

This is fiscal responsibility for conservatives in Texas. We would rather spend a shitload of money so we don't set a precedent by doing the right thing. Then, when a loss is damn near guaranteed, we'll concede that we lied from the get go about the cost and we'll do the work.

So, Greg Abbott, what have you to say for yourself? What other uses were there for $11 million?

So, Dan Patrick, what have you to say for yourself? You're the one who's supposed to be the fiscal conservative, yet you set $11 million on fire to prove a point. You were a blowhard when you were the sports anchor at KHOU (and how I wish I could find footage of the time you painted yourself blue for an Oilers playoff game) and you're still a fucking blowhard today.

So, Ken Paxton, what have you to say for yourself? I understand it can be difficult to do your job when you're constantly fending off indictments and ethics charges, but surely a wingnut like yourself can't condone the waste of $11 million.

And, more importantly, why do we have prisons units in this state not equipped with air conditioning? What purpose does that serve? The men and women in these units are still human. They may have done things we find repugnant, but they still deserve to be treated better than animals. Making life as hard as possible for inmates does nothing for them when they are released back into society. But, hey, the inmates don't have a powerful lobby so we'll just make life hell for them until they file a lawsuit against us.

You think we'd know better by now.

Making it easier to kill

Ever eager to kill more inmates, the State of Texas has informed Attorney General Jeff Sessions that it still wishes to "opt-in" to a program that will tighten deadlines and make it harder for those on death row to contest their convictions.

Gov. Abbott wants Texas to qualify for Chapter 154 certification under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act passed in the aftermath of the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City. In order to qualify, the state must show that they have provided lawyers considered "good enough" during the state habeas period. If the state can meet that burden then federal habeas deadlines would be tightened.

Of course, as anyone who practices criminal law in Texas - or who keeps an eye on it - knows, local judges are very reluctant to authorize money for investigators, mental health professionals, mitigation specialists or any other experts when it comes to indigent defendants.

Combine that reluctance to spend money with the tradition of exculpatory evidence being withheld from the defense and you get a deadly combination.

According to Gov. Abbott, his concern is with the victims' families who have to endure years of waiting for the condemned to be murdered at the hand of the state. His lackeys have also said that opting in to Chapter 154 would cause federal judge to show more respect to state court decisions and would speed up the federal appeal process.

Oh yeah, and it would also shorten the time appellate attorneys have to sort out the mess left behind by the trial process. It would give them less time to find exculpatory evidence that wasn't handed over during the discovery process. It would give them less time to challenge the junk science that many of the state's "experts" have testified in favor of over the years.

If Texas were operating under Chapter 154 two innocent men, Anthony Graves and Alfred Dewayne Brown, would be six feet under the ground in cheap pine boxes and the public would never know just how badly the criminal (in)justice system failed.

That's really what this is all about. The shorter the window of challenging a conviction you have, the less likely it is that you're going to find what you're looking for. The shorter the window, the fewer exonerations you get. The shorter the window, the easier it is to spread the illusion that the criminal (in)justice system metes out justice equally. The shorter the window, the easier it is to spread the lie that innocent people don't get put to death.

Captains (not so) courageous

Let me just say it now, politicians, by and large, are not the most courageous folks out there. In fact they are pretty downright cowardly because they are too scared of pissing off small groups of voters.

It's only once a politician decides (or, as you will see later, has it decided for them) to leave public office that they regain the ability to speak what they believe. We've seen it with Republican congressmen who wouldn't criticize Donald Trump until after they announced their retirement from office.

In Harris County right wing political organizations in the northwestern part of the county seem to rule the roost when it comes to primary elections. These groups publish "slates" of candidates for their wingnut readers to vote for. Most of these groups put their endorsement for sale to the highest bidder. Others "sell" their endorsement to the candidate that toes their line.

These newsletter endorsements are important for any budding Republican officeholder in Harris County since very few folks in the electorate have the slightest idea who any of the judicial candidates are - and most don't care so long as they have an R after their name on the ballot.

Jay Karahan has been the judge of Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8 since 2003. As a result of this month's primary election, he will no longer be a judge come January 1. Over the past 16 years he has been involved in primary and general electoral politics in Harris County. He knows how the game is played. And not once in the past 16 years has he stood up and complained about the way the Republicans decide who will represent them in the general election.

At least not until now.

In his guest column in Big Jolly Times (a local wingnut blog), Judge Karahan goes off on the backroom politics that determine who gets endorsed and who doesn't. He states in his piece that he wrote it long before he lost his primary election, but it never saw the light of day until after the smoke had cleared.

There is much merit in what he has to say and there is much to criticize about kingmakers who demand that judicial candidates kowtow to their right wing views instead of following the law. But why are we only seeing this after Judge Karahan has been retired by the wealthy whites up in the northwestern suburbs of Houston?

The outrage he feels is real, but it comes across as sour grapes after a defeat.

And now we have the story going around that Gov. Greg Abbott was opposed to the bathroom bill that wingut Republicans were pushing during the last legislative session. Funny how the guv'nor never came out and said he was against the bill. You see, that would have taken courage. That would have required going against the wingnuts and Teabaggers who dominate the Republican party in Texas. So Gov. Abbott apparently decided to keep it on the down low. But then, how would he explain placing the bill on the agenda for the special legislative session that summer. Something just isn't adding up.

If you want to be an agent for change, you have to be willing to stand up and be castigated for what you say. You have to be willing to go down in flames at the polls if that's the price to be paid for being true to yourself. Colin Kaepernick made a decision to protest against police violence and brutality. That decision cost him his career.

His decision to take that knee was courageous. Exposing the dirty underbelly of local politics after losing an election isn't.

Open mouth. Insert foot.

Jimmy Blacklock was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to fill the vacant Supreme Court seat of Don Willett who was appointed by President Trump to sit on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Blacklock's immediate prior job was as general counsel to Gov. Abbott.

Since Judge Willett's term expired in 2018, Judge Blacklock must stand as a candidate this November. His website is adorned with partisanship and highlights his stance as a wingnut. And now Gov. Abbott is going around telling folks that he knows how Judge Blacklock will rule on abortion-related issues because of his anti-abortion positions.

We like to pretend that our judges sit on the bench and make decisions based upon the law and the facts presented to them without regard for politics. That, of course, is a fiction (in large measure). Gov. Abbott's remarks cast aside that shroud of impartiality and case severe doubt on Judge Blacklock's ability to sit as an impartial arbiter.

You might expect the governor to know better than to tout his appointee's positions on issues that may come before the court given that Mr. Abbott once sat on the State Supreme Court. But, fear not, the governor has a long track record of being a hack who carries the water for insurance companies, the petrochemical industry and large corporations.

And, lest you forget, Gov. Abbott fought tooth and nail to defend the state's voter ID law which imposed some of the most stringent requirements for voting with the intent to restrict the ability of the poor, minorities and the elderly to vote.