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Amazingly bad decision-making
One fringe benefit of economic downturns is that local public officials generally defer their financial decisions, which tend to be uniformly bad even during good economic times. Except apparently in Houston. Over the past few days, Houstonians have been...
A continuing civic shame
My first blog post on the chronically shameful condition of the Harris County Jail was four years ago. There have been quite a few others since then. Still, nothing has changed. Despite my libertarian leanings, it's way past time...
A solid endorsement
I've been enjoying the new local blog Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, which, along with Mark Bennett's blog, provides an interesting daily glimpse of life around the Harris County criminal courthouse. Given the twists and turns of...
Piling on Rosenthal
It's become fashionable around Houston to be critical of outgoing Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal. Frankly, much of the criticism is deserved. But given what Rosenthal has been going through in federal court over the past couple of days,...
More on the Incarceration Nation
The brutal nature of punishment in the United States has been a common topic on this blog (see previous posts here, here and here). Along those lines, this Human Rights Watch press release reports that the United States incarcerates more...
More on the outrage that is the Harris County Jail
Even as things change in Harris County government, the chronic problems of the Harris County Jail remain the same. A Houston Chronicle review of state and county records reveals that from January 2001 through December 2006, at least 101 inmates...
Rocket docket
Awhile back, this post noted a Harris County criminal district judge who contributes to the chronically over-crowded Harris County jail by requiring jail time for any defendant convicted of a drug offense, no matter how inconsequential. Now, another Harris County...
Not another dime
Charles Kuffner, one of Houston's best political bloggers, notes a small sign of progress (also here) in the seemingly relentless and misguided campaign of local governments to build expensive and unnecessary fiefdoms in the guise of large jails: State Sen....
Liberty and Justice for all?
The chronically overcrowded and abysmal condition of the Harris County Jail has been a frequent topic on this blog (most recently here), so this Bill Murphy/Houston Chronicle article from over the weekend caught my eye because it concerned the changing...
Part of the problem
From time to time, most recently here, I've noted the abysmal condition and chronically overcrowded nature of the Harris County Jail. It is shameful that we allow the Harris County Commissioners to continue to tolerate this mess. As Scott Henson...
The more things change, the more they stay the same
Several posts from last year (here, here and here) addressed one of the constants of my 27-year legal career in Houston -- the chronically abysmal condition of the Harris County Jail. With this article, the Chronicle's Steve McViker continues the...
The Yates verdict
It took awhile, but the Texas criminal justice finally got it right yesterday in the sad case of Andrea Yates, thanks to an honest and dispassionate jury. Of course, as noted here earlier, this is a prosecution that never should...
Robert Durst's rather odd holiday season
You just never know who you are going to bump into during the holiday season at Houston's famed Galleria shopping mall. Robert Durst -- the wealthy heir who was acquitted of murder after killing his neighbor, chopping up the body...
Analyzing the Harris County Jail problems
Earlier posts (here and here) have addressed the chronically abysmal condition of Houston's Harris County Jail. As noted in the posts, local politicians have an amazing propensity for blaming others rather than addressing the causes for an unpopular problem and...
Chronicle follows up on Harris County Jail story
The Chronicle's Steve McVicker and Bill Murphy follow up their earlier story on the chronically abysmal condition of the Harris County Jail facilities with this story that reports that Harris County officials have ignored repeated warnings regarding the unsanitary and...
The abysmal condition of the Harris County Jail
Over my 26 year legal career, a local issue that has been continually discussed among Houston attorneys is the horrid condition of the Harris County Jail. This is not an easy issue. The constituency most interested in the issue --...
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