I'm going to start off by saying I don't know Marc Brown and I wouldn't recognize him if he walked right up to me and said hello. But I do know that this campaign sign is very disturbing and it makes me wonder if Mr. Brown should be sitting on a criminal bench.
I understand integrity. That's something we want from our judges. I don't want to have to stand up before a judge and wonder if I'm going to get a fair shake or if I'm behind the eight-ball because my opponent was a major campaign contributor.
Where I have problems begins with tough. What exactly does that mean? Is Mr. Brown going to hold the state to its burden and enforce the law - even if it means tossing a case because the police did something wrong? Or does it mean that he's going to be tough on criminal defendants? Being that Mr. Brown comes from the Harris County District Attorney's Office, I think it's a safe bet that he won't be deterred by that little thing called the Bill of Rights when it comes time to decide whether evidence should be suppressed.
And then there's this bit about conservative. Pardon my French, but what the hell does being conservative have to do with presiding over a court? A judge is supposed to be an impartial umpire in a factual dispute -- not that we have too many of those in Harris County, but that's beside the point.
Maybe those words are just code for "What this court needs is a prosecutor wearing a black robe."
After all, according to his website, Mr. Brown is a career prosecutor and "law enforcement's choice." What else needs to be said?
Is that who you want as judge?
