The state of MLK Day 2019

On this MLK Day, perhaps it's time we took a step back and re-examine some issues. First, to all the Republicans and other conservatives that love taking phrases from King's speeches and writings out of context to promote their own political philosophy -- stop it! When Mike Pence gets up and quotes MLK and then goes into a tirade as to why a wall on the southern border is needed, he is being more than intellectually dishonest.

For those of y'all too young to remember, conservatives (regardless of their party affiliation) were strongly opposed to Dr. King's message. They were opposed to the black students who sat down at lunch counters across the South. That was rabble rousing, they would say. They disapproved of marches and protests. They blamed it on those damn radicals. They fought school desegregation and found new ways to perpetuate it in the suburbs thanks to white flight. Mainstream liberals went off the rails when Dr. King came out against the Vietnam War.

To have someone as reprehensible as Mike Pence whitewashing the words of Dr. King makes me sick. To use the words as a justification for a program that would promote further discrimination against Latinos angers me.

But all the white conservatives will pipe up about non-violence - even though the police continue to shoot unarmed black men and women across this country. They will talk about our colorblind society - even though we have a criminal (in)justice system that discriminates against the poor and people of color.

And, at the same time, they will continue to support the NFL's blackballing of Colin Kaepernick for the outrageous "sin" of protesting against police violence against black folk. His protest was peaceful. Yet somehow he can't find a spot as a quarterback even while teams are signing players who can't hold a candle to his achievements or potential.

The entire discussion around Colin Kaepernick distills the issues Martin Luther King, Jr., brought to the nation's forefront. Kaepernick did exactly what conservatives want - he protested peacefully. But that wasn't enough. You see, it's not the type of protest that conservatives care about -- it's who's protesting. Colin Kaepernick's biggest "sin" was being black and taking a stand.

Thanks to the climate of hatred whipped up by political leaders in the 50's and 60's, Dr. King was struck down by an assassin's bullet at the age of 39. He was silenced because he spoke out.

And sadly, because we live in a country that worships capitalism and consumerism like religions, his memory has been largely commodified and used as a reason for yet another sale.

A word from the readership

Every once in a while I get a comment from a reader that really makes me sit back and scratch my head. This week I got a comment from a reader known as Rowland who took exception to my characterization of Mississippi in my post Mississippi's Still Burning.

Here is the text of Rowland's comment:

When you find something to satisfy your personal bias, it becomes your reality. I moved to Mississippi from North Carolina within my company more than 10 years ago and find your opinion to be the exception in Mississippi. To stereotype Mississippians based on your cited examples makes you no better than the racists you denounce. Should we now assume all Texans are bigots because of your opinions of Mississippians? 

I guess he took exception to my posting of the voter wearing the shirt adorned with the Confederate flag and a noose and the state's senator who said she wouldn't mind attending a lynching if a certain big money donor invited her.

I didn't even bring up the fact that the state uses the Confederate battle flag in its state flag. Now just what is that all about?

I would assume he thinks these are anomalies.

I think he assumes wrong. Just chew on this for a minute or two. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith was first in the election earlier this month with 42% of the vote. A white nationalist (otherwise known as a racist) received 17% of the vote. A run-off will be held next week to decide the race. Mike Espy, an African-American who served in Washington as a representative and Secretary of Agriculture, will seek to become the first Democratic Senator from Mississippi since the 1980's.

So nearly 60% of the votes cast went to a fringe racist candidate or to a senator who's just fine with lynching and voter suppression. That's not just a couple of people as our writer would like for you to think. That, instead, is three out of every five voters in the state.

And then we have these stats from US News and World Report (hardly a bastion of liberal journalism). Mississippi ranks dead last in the US for health care, which includes access to health care, infant mortality rates and health care enrollment. The state ranks 46th in education, 48th in economic development, 49th in opportunity for citizens to improve themselves, and 49th in infrastructure.

The state's incarceration rate is the 4th highest in the nation. There are three times as many blacks in prison in Mississippi as whites, even though blacks make up just a little more than one-third of the state's population.

I will say, I find his use of the word bigot to be quite funny. It's the kind of thing you would expect to hear out of the mouth of a child of white privilege who's upset that the system he grew up under is fading away.

Fine! I'm going to take my ball and go home!

Two juvenile judges in Harris County accounted for one out of every five commitments in the state.  Glenn Devlin and John Phillips, both of whom were voted out of office last week, sent 199 kids, 96% of whom were children of color, to state juvenile detention facilities in 2017.

As much as I'd like to think that the voters' decision to oust them from their seats was related in some way to the wholesale warehousing of poor African-American and Latino youth, I know they were just the "victims" of the blue wave that washed over Harris County.

But (soon-to-be-ex) Judge Devlin upped the ante when he released the majority of juveniles who appeared before him after they answered "No" to his question of whether they would kill anyone if he released them. Now I'm certain that most of the kids in question should have been released to their parents' custody in the first place given Judge Devlin's proclivities, but his actions in court were those of a petulant child who had a toy taken away from him.

And in the civil courthouse, another soon-to-be-former judge, Charley Prine, decided he would go the petty route after being voted out of office. It seems that the judge-elect, Angela Graves-Harrington, in the 246th District Court approached the judge to ask about the transition process. Instead of being graceful in defeat, Judge Prine told her to get out of his courtroom and threatened to charge her with trespassing if she returned. Perhaps someone needs to let Judge Prine know that the courtroom in question doesn't belong to him but belongs, instead, to the residents of Harris County.

These are two examples of the fine jurists Republican voters are lamenting because they lost an election. There are two of the judges who lost their job because voters took the easy way out (according to many soon-to-be-ex Republican officeholders) and cast straight ticket votes. These are two of the fine judges, according to Republicans, who lost their jobs as a consequence of partisan elections.

Needless to say, neither judge had any comment when questioned.

Make of that what you will.

The aftermath

The blue wave hit Harris County (and even our suburban neighbors to the southwest) yesterday. The Democrats swept every county-wide seat, including all of the county civil and criminal benches, the family court benches, the juvenile court benches and every district court bench up for election.

Today should be an interesting day at the courthouse.

Yesterday's results will likely mean an end to the county's lawsuit to fight bail reform. If you'll recall, 14 of the 15 Republican judges were fighting to preserve a system by which poor defendants were coerced into pleading guilty in order to get out of jail. Only Darrell Jordan and Mike Fields, the two African-American judges in the misdemeanor courts, chose the honorable route.

I am sure we will hear quite a bit from a couple of the ousted judges about how much of a revolving door the courts have become since US District Judge Lee Rosenthal issued her ruling. When you hear it, just remember the source.

The judges fighting the lawsuit have cost Harris County over $6 million so far. But, hey, they are all white Republicans and it wasn't their money they were spending.

And, yes, there were some good judges who will be stepping down at the end of the year. But so fucking what? Not one of them was elected because the folks of Harris County thought they were or would be excellent jurists. Not one of them was elected because they presented voters with a vision of how the courts should operate. They took their seats on the bench because they happened to have an R after their name in an election in which the Republican at the top of the ballot won in Harris County.

For every one of these good judges, there was plenty of jetsam and flotsam. As imperfect as our system of selecting judges is in Texas, it certainly beats any of the alternatives. Party affiliations cut down on corruption in the general election because candidates don't have to raise large sums of money (in fact, a judicial candidate doesn't need to spend a dime after winning the primary because he or she will get about the same percentage of the vote as the candidate at the top of the ballot for their party).

I don't think there is anyone who seriously thinks a better system would be to allow the governor to appoint judges who would stand for periodic retention elections.

Good luck to the new judges and may y'all be lamented as good judges done wrong should the pendulum swing back to the right.

To what depths will they plunge?

There were a number of things I was thinking of writing about today, but when I saw this flyer in my mailbox there was no way I couldn't write about it.

Stan Stanart is the Harris County Clerk. He is a very inconsequential man. He is nothing more than a hack with an R after his name who was fortunate enough to run in an off-year election in which white republican voters from the suburbs voted en masse because they had a problem with a black man living in the White House.

The front of this mailer reads "EMERGENCY NOTICE." It is designed to look like an official piece of mail - it even has a generic seal with a lone star to hint at the seal of his office.

My favorite line is that democratic turnout has exceeded that of prior years. Let's be honest, there is no way to know that because no one has counted the votes as of yet. While it's a very good bet that the democratic turnout within the city has been high, there is no way to verify that claim (unless ol' Stan's been peeking at the results).

Mr. Stanart tells the old white ladies that voter protections are in danger if he loses the election. He warns that there could be voter fraud, intimidation and lack of transparency if a democrat wins the race for County Clerk.

Now this is where republican candidates such as Mr. Stanart try to spin reality on its head. The only voter intimidation going on in Harris County right now are photo ID requirements that are reminiscent of the poll tax. For instance, his office insists on denying college students the right to vote with their student IDs but folks can use their concealed handgun license as a form of ID to get a ballot.

The ad is misleading. It is designed to stoke fear. And, most importantly, Mr. Stanart is lying.

That is all.

A short postscript...

After posting yesterday's entry I went out to the mailbox and found yet another stack of mailers from the Republican party for the judicial races. Each of them exhorted folks to vote for the Republican candidates calling them "exceptionally qualified" or "principled conservatives."

No other reason was given for why anyone should vote for them. The mailers encourage folks just to vote Republican straight down the line.

So I really don't want to hear any whining from anyone about good judges being swept out with the bad this time around. You don't get to have it both ways at the ballot box. You don't get to urge folks to vote straight ticket on the one hand and decry partisan elections on the other.

Enough of the hand-wringing

Oh it's that time of the year. The time for those who see a sweep of local elections to do their hand-wringing about the number of good judges who are about to be booted off the bench just because of their political affiliation.

There is a very strong possibility of a Democratic sweep in Harris County due to the power that Houston holds when the masses are riled up for an election. There were near sweeps in 2008 and 2012 when Obama's presence on the ballot cranked the turnout up in the city. The Republicans swept in the off-year elections when the masses found it hard to give a damn.

Now we have an off-year election in which the masses are hyped thanks to Donald Trump and his daily dose of stupidity and hot air. Off-year elections have tended to favor the party out of power and this year should be no exception.

As y'all know, in Texas we hold partisan elections for judges. It's a pretty lousy system if you stop and think about it, but it's better than the alternatives. Come on, people, do y'all really want the governor appointing judges for what would effectively be life terms since retention elections are the surest bet this side of Alabama and the points?

If we switched to non-partisan races as some have suggested (and this time around it's the Republicans hitching their horses to that wagon), corruption would rule the day as the only folks who would care enough to donate to the races would be attorneys practicing in those courts. At least now with party affiliations judicial candidates don't have to run much of a campaign as the results of each of the judicial races will fall pretty much in line with how Harris County goes on the top of the ballot (and this should be the same in every county throughout the state).

Here's my prediction for what's going to happen next week. Some very qualified and professional judges will lose their jobs. Some folks who have no business on the bench will lose their jobs. Some very qualified attorneys will be elected. Some folks who have no business on the bench will be elected. Guess what? That's what happens every election.

I was speaking with a colleague the other day and she was lamenting the fact that some good judges were going to lose and that it would take a couple of years for the new judges to learn the ropes. That may very well be the case, but if you choose a job in which you rely on the public to re-hire you every four years, that's what happens.

But here's the problem I have with her opinion. There were some very well qualified judges who lost their jobs when the Republicans came to power in Harris County. Not one judge on the bench in Harris County is sitting there because the public thought he or she was a great jurist. They are sitting on that bench because they chose the right election to have an R or a D after their name. Some of these folks went on to become very good judges - and some were terrible judges.

I have no sympathy for any judge running as Republican, whether they be an incumbent or not, because they are running under the banner of a party whose leader (and his devotees) promotes racism, bigotry and discrimination. Their leader has no regard for the truth and blatantly lies whenever it suits him. Their leader has referred to Nazis as good people.

And what have the Republican judicial candidates in Harris County said about their party's leader? Absolutely nothing. They either agree with him or they don't have the guts to stand up to what he promotes. Guess what? You don't get to hangout in the GOP tent for the benefits and then escape the consequences.

So I, for one, will not shed any tears come Wednesday morning.

Is this what it means to inhale?

The mailers from the Republican Party are coming hot and heavy as we approach Election Day. The latest broadside warns of chaos in the courthouse should the Democrats sweep the judicial races.

Once again I must address the warning that folks aren't showing up for their court dates. Blaming that on Democratic judges is more than a bit misleading. Let's see, a lawsuit was filed in Harris County challenging the constitutionality of the bond schedule in the misdemeanor courts. The plaintiff's won the lawsuit and the sitting Republican judges appealed.

As part of that lawsuit, the County was ordered to release any defendant in a non-violent misdemeanor case in which that defendant was not taken before a magistrate for a probable cause determination within 48 hours. That magistrate was also tasked with the job of determining the appropriate bond for the defendant based upon the nature of the offense and the defendant's ability to post bond.

If after seeing the magistrate, Pretrial Services determined that the defendant was a good candidate for pretrial release, they were released. Otherwise they sat behind bars until they posted bond.

The procedure in the felony courts has remained largely unchanged since there tend to be more issues regarding the safety of the community and the seriousness of the alleged offense.

And as to concerns about the punishments meted out, I would remind the folks who put out this bullshit that 15 of the 16 judges on the misdemeanor bench are Republicans. Furthermore, the vast majority of cases are resolved through plea bargains in which the only role of the judge is to decide whether or not to accept the deal. In the last 13 years I have had only one plea deal rejected by the judge.

The other issue on the broadside has to do with damages in civil court. Republicans are worried about Democrats sitting on the civil benches and hearing cases involving monetary damages. Their biggest fear is that Democratic judges will determine what is, and what isn't, a frivolous case.

Well, I guess one's level of concern would be strongly correlated to one's view as to what is and isn't a frivolous matter. Being that state legislatures long ago became entangled in the entrenched interests of industry and banks, it has long been the case that the only path one had to redress injury were the courts. When someone says that Democrats would award too much in damages in frivolous suits, what they are really saying is that those judges would hold corporations and powerful business interests accountable for their actions and the damages they cause.

The other thing that most folks don't know is that, quite often, parties settle cases for an amount that differs from the award in order to achieve finality, collect what they can and to avoid the time and cost of the appeals process.

Blowing smoke at the courthouse

Oh, campaign season is all around us. The other day I got a mailer from the Republican Party of Texas promoting Republican judges. I suppose for the ordinary person who hasn't the slightest clue how the criminal (in)justice system works, the mailer might have an effect.

But not really. You see, the results in most judicial races mirrors that of the races at the top of the ballot. There might be a difference of a couple percentage points but, in general, the results are pretty much in line in Harris County.

The mailer tells us that "Republican judges follow the law" and implore folks to "Keep Harris County safe by voting for Republican judges."

Those tag lines are horridly misleading because many judges on the ballot have absolutely nothing to do with criminal law and the average citizen hasn't a clue as to who sits on a civil bench and who sits on a criminal bench.

The mailer states that upwards of 95% of the judges endorsed by police organizations are Republican. I don't doubt that - considering that the Republicans have pretty much owned the county criminal benches for 20 years or more. And many of these judges have track records of being friendly to the state (since too many to count went right from the DA's office to the bench) - they will give the police the benefit of the doubt when it comes to suppression issues.

The mailer also tells us that some criminals have been released from jail (on bond) or have been given probation (through plea bargains made between defense attorneys and prosecutors) and then later committed other crimes.

But, wait a second. Aren't the Republicans supposed to be stingy with the purse strings? Locking up more folks when the jails are already at capacity means building new jails or paying other counties to house folks awaiting trial. How on earth is that being fiscally responsible?

Then, of course, there is this whole matter of the 8th Amendment and the lawsuit challenging the way bonds are set in Harris County. The county has continually lost at every step of the process yet 14 of the 15 Republican judges have continued the fight to defend an unconstitutional system at a cost of several million dollars.

I guess, what the hell, it's not their money so another round of briefs and depositions all around.

So, if you want judges who will continue to spend taxpayer money defending a bad system who use the old bond schedule as a way to coerce pleas from the poor, and if you want judges who are going to spend taxpayer money housing inmates who haven't been convicted of anything, then, yes, by all means, vote for the Republican candidates on the November ballot.

Death, prayers and hypocrisy

After every school shooting the Republicans, the wingnuts and gun freaks yell from the tops of the tallest buildings that now is not the time for politics. They tell us that we should wait until the grieving parents have buried their children before we begin any policy discussions. They will argue about the definition of an assault rifle. They will ask what specific new law do you propose. They will argue that we don't need new laws, we just need to enforce the laws that are already on the books.

Then the politicians offer their worthless thoughts and prayers before cashing the latest check they received from the NRA.

Then something else hits the news cycle and everyone moves on to the next crisis.

After every mass shooting the Republicans, the wingnuts and the gun freaks yell from the tops of the tallest buildings that now is not the time for politics. They tell us we should wait until the grieving families have buried their loved ones before we can begin any policy discussions. They will argue about the definition of an assault rifle. They will ask what specific new law do you propose. They will argue that we don't need new laws, we just need to enforce the laws that are already on the books.

Then the politicians offer their worthless thoughts and prayers before cashing the latest check they received from the NRA.

And nothing ever happens because we, as a nation, have said that we're okay with mass shootings and that the deaths of school children are no big deal because we really, really, really want to be able to play with our guns.

But after a white middle-class girl from Iowa is found dead and a person here without our government's possession confesses to the murder, now is the time for the Republicans, the wingnuts and racists of all stripes to use this girl's murder to score political points in efforts to restrict immigration from non-white non-Europeans.

Now is the time to wave the bloody flag of a white girl killed by a dark-skinned man to incite hatred and fear in support of a president's racist policies.

Let's forget that the vast majority of murders and other violent crimes are committed by people who were born in this country. Let's forget about the fact that the government long turned a blind eye on illegal immigration because industries needed a cheap work force that would do jobs that citizens didn't want.

I find it utterly repulsive that the same folks who put off talking about gun issues while the bodies are still warm have no problem using the death of Mollie Tibbetts for political purposes. By now, however, hypocrisy on the right shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

When all else fails, purge the voter rolls

One thing about the Trump era is that Republicans don't have to even pretend they aren't racial motives behind more restrictive voting laws and procedures.

The latest example is in southern Georgia. Randolph County is 61% black - double the statewide average. The Randolph County Board of Supervisors voted last week to close down 75% of the polling stations in Randolph County.

The Board will argue that they are making the move for financial reasons but that excuse doesn't hold any water because the real effect is to close as many polling stations in the black sections of the county as possible in order to aid Republican office seekers. If it costs more than the county wishes to pay to keep the stations open there is a perfectly fair solution -- raise the filing fee for running for office.

With the US Supreme Court's gutting of the Voting Rights Act, white Republicans have been knocking each other down to see who can pass the more restrictive voting laws and who can make it more difficult for the poor and minorities to vote. And the reason is clear -- as I've pointed out before, the old white power structure knows that due to demographic changes, its days of holding power are limited and they are doing everything they can to prolong the inevitable.

As white America showed that it is not afraid to vote for an outwardly racist candidate for president, these moves are to be expected. Those who vote Republican are supporting these efforts whether they wish to admit it or not. It would appear that no Republican candidate running for office has the guts to challenge the overt bigotry of Donald Trump and his administration. Their silence is affirmation of their support.

And, lest you think these shenanigans are used only in the Deep South, it's going on in Houston, too.  Residents of the Third Ward, a mostly black area of Houston just east of downtown, received letters from the County's voter registrar, Ann Harris Bennett, informing them that they had but 30 days to return a letter confirming their address to her office in order to avoid being removed from the voter rolls. The letters were sent out to folks who hadn't moved and who had been living at their current address for years.

“If you do not respond at all to this notice, your registration will be canceled if you have not confirmed your address either by completing the response form or confirming your address when voting before November 30 following the second general election for state and county officers that occurs after the date the confirmation notice is mailed.”

The letters were the result of challenges made by Republicans to voters in predominately minority parts of Houston. You see, Republican candidates will win the majority of votes in the suburbs since most of the residents moved away from Houston to get away from darker skinned folks. But elections in Harris County center on the turnout within the city limits of Houston. If there is a large turnout in the city, it will cancel out the Republican voters in the suburbs. And Republicans are anticipating that will be the case come November.

Harris County Chief Public Defender under fire

Alex Brunin is the Chief Public Defender for Harris County. His clientele consists of those who haven't the money to hire an attorney to defend themselves in criminal court.

He is now being accused by Steve Radack, a Harris County Commissioner, of leaking confidential records to attorneys fighting the county on the way bonds are set for defendants. Prior to Federal District Judge Lee Rosenthal's finding that both the misdemeanor and felony bond schedules were unconstitutional as they did not take into account a defendant's ability to pay, a magistrate would ask the prosecutor what the defendant was charged with, whether there were any enhancements and whether the defendant had a prior record. Based on the answers to the those questions, the magistrate traced his or her finger on a chart and set the defendant's bond.

The result was that almost three-quarters of the people held in the Harris County Jail on any given day hadn't been convicted and were awaiting resolution of their cases. That is a mind-blowing number. And totally fucked up.

As head of the Public Defender's Office, Alex Bunin finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place. The office is funded by a grant. And, as I know I've written before, once that grant money starts to run out the case loads for everyone in the office will rise as will the pressure to plead out defendants. Mr. Bunin knows he will get no favors from Commissioner's Court. He's a thorn in the side of those who want to return to the days of the plea mill.

His position depends upon the whims of politicians from outside the Houston city limits - in other words, politicians who represent wealthy white suburbanites who want nothing to do with guaranteeing the constitutional rights of those accused of crime. Mr. Bunin has little or no political capital as indigent defendants don't have a voice in Harris County politics.

Make no mistake about it, this isn't about whether or not Mr. Bunin passed on information, confidential or otherwise, to attorneys fighting about the Harris County bond schedule, this is about a man who is doing his best to give voice to those who don't have one. That, in a nutshell, is Alex Bunin's sin. He dared to provide a vigorous defense for those who had nothing.

Thus far Harris County has spent in the neighborhood of $6 million fighting to preserve a bail system that a conservative federal judge and the most conservative appellate court have found to be unconstitutional. And yet the county continues to fight to preserve a system that led to coerced mass pleas.

Two judges, Mike Fields and Darrell Jordan, have urged the county to drop the fight and to work on finding a solution. Thus far their words have fallen on deaf ears.

But now Mr. Radack has a scapegoat. Instead of defending the money spent on defending the indefensible, he can hold Alex Bunin up to the conservative mates and blame him for the lawsuit and the changes to the bail system. But there's even more to it.

If Mr. Radack and his cabal can get rid of Alex Bunin they can replace him with someone who isn't as committed to defending the indigent. He can install someone who is more interested in the appearance of "fairness" than in actual reform. He can install someone who will be more than happy to carry his water bucket, increase case loads and pressure his staff to plead more cases out.

After a testy meeting yesterday, Mr. Bunin wasn't fired, but the matter was referred to the county public defender board for further recommendation. As was to be expected, the county commissioners who represented mostly white suburbanites were most critical of Mr. Bunin's actions.

And that's what this is ultimately all about -- a return to the days when court-appointed attorneys were more than happy to team up with the judge and prosecutor to work cases out without much effort or cost.

Removing the mask

For years libertarians have described their philosophy in terms of allowing people to do as they wish so long as they don't infringe upon the rights of others to do the same. The less public face of their movement was to allow businesses to operate with as little government intervention as possible in order to maximize their profits.

So, while the one hand called for the freedom of individuals to have sex with whomever they wanted, to do recreational drugs in their homes and to be left alone by the nosy neighbors, the other hand called for an end to unionization, worker safety, environmental protection and the minimum wage. But, surprisingly enough, no one raised their voice about the price of a product reflecting its true cost.

Let me explain, gasoline is sold fairly cheaply compared to what it really costs society (but believe me, I'm none too happy to see that price edging upward whenever I have to fill up the tank). The price we pay at the pump doesn't take into account the cost of operating military bases in other countries in order to ensure the oil flows from the ground into tankers and into US ports. The price doesn't include the damage to the environment caused by extractive industry.

The libertarians aren't losing any sleep over this failure of the market. They don't care about the environmental damage because "the environment" isn't private property; therefore it's free to pollute to your heart's extent. Think of Adam Smith and the tragedy of the commons. And the libertarians are more than happy to use your tax dollars to fund the military occupation of other countries so long as it means the flow of oil continues uninterrupted.

Libertarians have always puffed their chests out proudly with their veneration and love for "the market." They have long preached the gospel of the unfettered market. Throw anything up against the wall - be it a good, a service, an idea - and the marketplace will sort it out and determine which goods, services and ideas are winners and which are losers. The idea was that the more stuff you put out there, the more options everyone had to choose from.

But now, as racism has become more acceptable with Donald Trump in the White House, the true face of libertarianism is making itself seen. Michelle Ray, who goes by the handle @GaltsGirl (an Ayn Rand reference for those of y'all not familiar with libertarian deities), thinks private businesses should be free to discriminate on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, religion or whatever other criteria they wish to use.

Michelle Ray‏Verified account @GaltsGirl

Don't look at me. I think a privately owned business should be able to discriminate for any reason at all. And then to deal with the market reaction to such discrimination.

I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say that I doubt Ms. Ray spent her formative years in the American South in the 1950's and 60's. I'm also going to guess that Ms. Ray is white - again, not too much of a leap. According to Ms. Ray's philosophy, segregated schools, housing, restaurants, bus lines, trains, water fountains and restrooms are fine. If folks aren't happy with such discrimination, they are free to take their business elsewhere. Does she not understand history? Does she not understand that racial discrimination existed because the majority of (white) people were in favor of it?

So, in conclusion, I'd like to thank Ms. Ray -- and all those folks who liked her post - for speaking up and showing the world what libertarianism is really all about.

Update: Mob rule

The mob in Santa Clara County spoke loud and clear on Tuesday when they voted to recall Judge Aaron Persky because they thought the sentence he handed out to Stanford swimmer Brock Turner was too light.

There was little discussion about the hundreds of other sentences Judge Persky handed down. There was no discussion about over-incarceration. There was precious little talk about the dangers of limiting judicial discretion in sentencing.

In short, the mob voted to throw out a judge because they disagreed with one sentence he handed down to a college student accused of sexual assault.

Now what happens when a case comes before the new judge, Assistant District Attorney Cindy Hendrickson, where the choice is a sentence tailored to fit the circumstances or prison time? And what happens when one of the mob's sons or daughters is brought before the court and has to face the music? How happy will mom and dad be when the judge gives in to the mob and sends their baby to prison instead of placing them on probation?

The mob got caught up in one person's vendetta. They may have wanted to send a message that sexual assault is a serious offense but what they've done is tell every judge on the bench to be damn careful before giving anyone a second chance.

One thing is clear, however, judicial discretion is a thing of the past in Santa Clara County.

Who wants an independent judiciary anyway?

Today is judgment day for Judge Aaron Persky who gained renown when he sentenced Stanford swimmer Brock Turner to six months in jail and probation for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman.

The recall effort is led by Stanford law professor Michele Dauber, who is a sociologist, not a lawyer (though she does have a law degree). Ms. Dauber is also a friend of the victim's family.

She was up in arms because she thought the sentence meted out to Mr. Turner wasn't severe enough. She thought it was a slap in the face of the victim in this matter and to other victims of sexual assault.

Maybe the sentence was too lenient. I'm sure that had the case landed on the desk of another judge the sentence may have been different. But Judge Persky made the decision that he thought was correct given the offense, the victim and the defendant.

U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a liberal Democrat from San Jose, and the bar associations of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties oppose the recall.

In favor are the National Organization for Women and other women’s groups, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and several members of Congress and the state Legislature.

Had Mr. Turner not been a star swimmer at Stanford, maybe he would have been sent to prison and not placed on probation. We'll never know. But it certainly isn't uncommon for a judge to take into consideration the history of the defendant and his future prospects when handing down a sentence.

Maybe he got that sentence because he came from a wealthy family. Maybe that's what he got because his family was able to retain a good lawyer. Maybe he received probation because of the work his lawyer did for him on the case.

But whatever the reason for the sentence, that's what Judge Persky thought was appropriate. And let's face it, different sentences for different folks convicted of the same crime isn't unusual. And it's not necessarily undesirable. Do we really want state versions of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines? I don't think so.

The guidelines were implemented because of disparate sentencing across federal districts. This was, of course, back in the day when judges were allowed to use their discretion in crafting a sentence. A bunch of people complained and now it's like those fucking matrices we learned (and just as quickly forgot) back in Algebra II.

Ms. Dauber's crusade is one reason we don't allow the victims of a crime to determine the punishment. We leave that job to prosecutors and judges who, presumably, will use their discretion to make an offer or order a sentence.

Dauber has singled out a handful of cases Persky handled that she said reflected bias in favor of people of privilege.

The anti-recall campaign disputed her version of the cases, noting that one of the defendants was a plumber and that another judge, not Persky, sentenced one of the other defendants.

“To the extent you can find a pattern, for young offenders with no prior record, he did often give them a sentence which gave them a chance … and tried to keep them in school or in a job,” said Santa Clara University law professor Ellen Kreitzberg, one of the anti-recall leaders. “He did it regardless of race or ethnicity.”

We have an incarceration problem in this country. We have far too many people behind bars who have no reason to be there. Whenever a particularly foul or gruesome crime is committed (especially against a child) we name a law after the victim that either stiffens the penalty for the crime, creates a new crime or forbids probation or parole. And, as politicians are more than willing to lick their finger and stick it up to see which way the wind is blowing, laws are passed without anyone thinking about the consequences. Years down the road someone else will have to deal with the mess.

Now, if Ms. Dauber's crusade were to eliminate some of the most disparate sentences and to ensure that poor defendants have as much of a chance to get probation as wealthy defendants, I'd say we should listen to what she has to say. But if her whole goal is to lock up offenders - regardless of the circumstances - and fill the jails then I don't care what she has to say.

The danger in California is that we are going to turn control of the criminal (in)justice system over to the mob. That's what happened up until the 1960's. It was called lynching.

Ms. Dauber's criticism disregards the fact that Mr. Turner will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life - long after he has completed his sentence. He will forever have issues with where he can live. He will be under supervision for years - and one screw up could land him in prison. At least with probation he will be receiving counseling and he will be monitored.

Should the recall effort prevail today, judges will no longer have the discretion to do what they think is best on the bench. They will be second guessed by everyone. People like Ms. Dauber will highlight one decision made from the bench and ignore the other hundreds or thousands of decisions that judge has made. And instead of crafting a sentence that is more likely to address the needs of those in front of the bench, judges will be more likely to go for one-size-fits-all solutions.

On schemes, whistles and influence-peddling

Poor Jeffrey Wertkin. He had it tough.

He left his job as an attorney with the Justice Department and took a gig with Akin Gump for a cool $450,000 a year. He didn't feel it was enough.

Even though he'd be making three times what he made at the DOJ dealing with whistle-blower suits, his pay would have been on the low end of what partners were making at the time.

And, you know, he's probably right. Akin Gump wasn't paying him $450,000 a year for his brilliant legal mind or his courtroom skills. They were paying him because having a former fed in the firm is good for business. Akin Gump figured that that alone would be enough to get current clients to fork over more money in monthly retainers and to get some new business on board.

But nevermind that. Let's get back to poor little Jeffrey.

He hatched a plan to put more money in his pocket.

His plan was to steal secret whistle-blower suits and sell them back to the companies named in the suits. There were qui tam suits in which a private citizen files suit, on behalf of the government, alleging that a contractor has defrauded the government. In a qui tam suit, the government litigates the suit and the citizen who brought the suit gets a cut of the recovery. These suits are filed under seal and sent to the DOJ for review. The company only finds out they're the target of the suit once it's made public.

Mr. Wertkins idea was to extort money from the targets of the suit in exchange for the sealed documents. I know you're asking yourself, what could possibly go wrong with this scheme.

What went wrong is the feds figured out what was going on. I suspect one of the targeted companies called up the DOJ to ask them what was going on and then one thing led to another.

In the end, Mr. Wertkins was taken into custody in a hotel room wearing sunglasses and a wig and waiting for his money.

When asked why he did it, Mr. Wertkins told the court that he felt under a tremendous amount of pressure to perform for his new employer at a salary that he just didn't think was adequate for his experience and know how. But, then again, no one put a gun to his head and told him to leave his government job for a position as a partner in an actual law firm.

Mr. Wertkins pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison. His wife asked the judge if he could avoid prison and just go around to law schools and tell students about his tale of woe. I guess the judge thanked her for her input and just said no.

While the saga of Mr. Wertkins may be amusing to some and might serve as a warning for other less scrupulous attorneys, one thing it highlights is the revolving door in government. White shoe law firms and lobbying firms right over the privilege of hiring attorneys and other government officials when they decide they've had enough of the long hours and low pay that defines government work. These firms then advertise to their existing clients and their potential clients that they have yet another connection to a government agency.

These connections are the lifeblood of these firms and they are the tools by which companies, advocacy groups and others try to influence legislation in ways that help their bottom lines. This is where democracy is undermined.

h/t @CJMcKinney

You're my home

Steven Long was a janitor at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, home of the Seattle Seahawks. As befits many jobs in our society, this one didn't pay Mr. Long enough to afford a place to live. So he lived out of his truck.

In Seattle a car cannot remain parked in the same spot for more than 72 hours (unless I suspect that spot is the driveway of a home). Mr. Long's truck was not in the best of repair and he was unable to move it so it was impounded.

Mr. Long sued the city claiming that because he was living out of his truck, the city could not legally impound his truck. He relied on Washington state's homestead law.

The city argued that the application of the homestead law was improper and that the city was well within its authority to impound the truck. The city denied that impounding the truck amounted to a forced sale of Mr. Long's homestead because there was no constitutional right to housing.

Mr. Long prevailed when the judge ruled that his truck was his home.

This decision comes on the heels of a decision in Clark County, Washington, in which a court held that police officers violated a homeless man's 4th Amendment right to privacy when they lifted up the tarp under which he was sleeping, found a bag of meth and arrested him.

The homeless are being criminalized as a result of gentrification and city's attempts to lure affluent whites from the suburbs to downtown business districts. The homeless are an inconvenience as well as a reminder that our economy hasn't come close to benefiting everyone in society.

First you get cities making it illegal for the homeless to camp under overpasses. Then you make it a crime to provide food to the homeless without a permit.

As a result of conservative lawmakers, funding to mental health providers, homeless shelters and homeless advocacy grounds have been cut to the bone. The minimum wage isn't even enough for a person to live on. We subsidize low-wage employers by proving food stamps, welfare and Medicaid to those who can't afford to live on the wages employers like Wal-Mart, McDonald's and the like pay.

These two court rulings out of Washington are evidence that at least two judges understand the new American economy and the criminalization of the poor.

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.

More on the language we use

Had a couple of interesting twitter exchanges this weekend with a couple of acquaintances that got me to thinking a bit.

The first had to do with something labeled identity politics.

At the birth of the republic the only folks who could vote were white men - and in many places you had to be a property owner to get to vote. Blacks won the right to vote after the Civil War - though in many places in the South that right was something honored much more in the breach than in the observance. And even after the passage of the Voting Rights Act states continued to find ways to deny blacks the right to vote.

Women won the right to vote across the country in 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment - though, in fairness, women had been voting in some states out west prior to that.

Across this country white men make up the largest share of legislators, governors and congressmen. In many regions that's due to the manipulation of the voting public through gerrymandering and at-large representatives. After the 2010 census, Republican lawmakers across the country set out to redraw district lines to benefit Republican candidates. They also began passing voter ID measures to make it harder for the elderly, the poor and minorities to vote.

And just why did they go to these lengths? Primarily because the old white power structure across this country is crumbling thanks to demographic changes. The only way to fight back against this was to redraw district lines to benefit white suburban and rural voters and to make it harder for those who would typically not vote Republican to vote. This also explains the anti-immigrant rhetoric and calls to restrict immigration from non-white parts of the world.

Yet somehow this is NOT an example of identity politics. That pejorative is only used when discussing folks who don't fall into the conservative white camp. These folks like to tell you that we, as a society, have moved beyond race. But we have yet to move past this social distinction that guided most of the history of this country.

The other had to do with the term "party line."

I make no secrets of my political and philosophical views. I am opposed to the increasing militarization of this country. The military is too big and takes up too much of the federal budget. There is no need for the number of troops and equipment we have stationed around the world. In large measure, the only reason is to ensure the safe passage of oil from one part of the world to another. This subsidy is one of the reasons that the price we pay for gas at the pump doesn't reflect the actual cost of the fuel.

US troops are also based around the world to prevent political movements that oppose the US and its policies from taking power. Post World War II history is littered with accounts of nations that the US has invaded - or organized armed opposition - to overthrow democratically elected leftist governments.

I commented that we were spending too much money on the military. The response accused me of being naive and following the party line.

It was the use of the phase "party line" that got my attention. I find it interesting that anyone who talks about the need for the US to be the world's policeman isn't accused of following the party line. Anyone who advocates the intervention of the US into the internal affairs of another country is never accused of following the party line. Anyone who says that you have to have a big stick in order to carry out diplomacy isn't accused of following the party line.

It's only those of us who challenge those assumptions that are accused of following the party line.

Maybe it's because they can't put together a coherent argument for why the US needs to intervene in the affairs of other countries. Maybe it's because they were brought up believing it was necessary and have never taken the time to research the issue. Maybe it's because they are too lazy to try to put an argument to paper. And maybe it's because they are the ones parroting the party line.

Whitewashing MLK Day

I got quite the chuckle when I saw a link to a Fox News story in my Twitter feed decrying the "media" for politicizing Martin Luther King day. According to the sages at Fox, today is a day to celebrate national unity, not divisiveness.

That, my friends, is the biggest attempt to whitewash MLK day since national chain stores began running MLK day specials.

King is now revered among some on the right side of the spectrum because he preached non-violence - and because he's now dead. During the 1960's those on the right side of the political spectrum called him a rabble rouser, a Communist and an assortment of names I'm not going to print.

Dr. King's work wasn't about "national unity," it was about black folk in this country getting on equal footing with their oppressors. Dr. King was hated by white folk all around the country and particularly by those in the political establishment in the South.

Those on the right love to quote from Dr. King's Washington Mall speech in which he spoke about young black children and young white children living in a world of equal opportunity. What they never cared for was the struggle for those young black children to get to the same starting line as their white counterparts.

The right also doesn't want to talk about Dr. King's Poor Person Campaign, his work against the Vietnam War and his work with labor organizers in the South. Never forget that King was assassinated the day after speaking to a group of striking sanitation workers in Memphis.

What apparently has Fox all in a tizzy is this cover of The New Yorker magazine that depicts Dr. King also with Colin Kaepernick and Michael Bennett kneeling. Fox would like you to believe that Dr. King was a non-threatening black preacher who spoke in generalities about someday black and white folk being judged on their merits and not the color of their skin.

Fox would like you to forget about the protests. They would like you to forget about firefighters turning water hoses on peaceful protesters. They would like you to forget about police officers turning their dogs loose on peaceful protesters. They would like you to forget about police officers beating peaceful protesters on the Edmund Pettis Bridge. They would like you to forget about the struggle for black folks to vote. They would like you to forget that these events occurred in the 1960's. That's within our lifetime.

Dr. King's life wasn't about national unity. His life was about the struggle for equality. And struggle means protest. It means making those in power feel uncomfortable. It means asking difficult questions. And that's what the whitewashers are trying to hide.