The last thing District Attorney Pat Lykos needs in an election year is being defended by a defense attorney. But, I want to set the record straight about her.
Lykos's election in 2008 was the first hostile takeover of the Harris County District Attorney's Office since Frank Briscoe beat incumbent Dan Walton in the 1964 Democratic Primary. For 44 years, the outgoing DA had a big say in picking his successor. Things just rocked along in the DA's office both with personnel and policies.
As Lykos prepared to take office in late 2008, she gave quite walking papers to quite a few longtime assistant district attorneys. I agree with some of the personnel decisions and disagree with others. Some of those given the boot were supporters -- often vocal supporters -- of Kelly Siegler, the longtime, well respected assistant district attorney defeated by Lykos in the Republican runoff. One had "anonymous"blog which was and still is critical of Lykos and her top assistants. He even calls them "the gang who couldn't shoot straight." After publishing a blog comparing Lykos to the GEICO gheko, he probably wasn't too surprised when he got the boot.
Are there problems in the District Attorney's Office. You bet. A good number aren't Lykos's fault. Shortly after she took office, the county slapped a hiring and pay freeze on all county departments. So, as people quit, retire or get fired from the DA's office, they aren't replaced. People get promoted but they don't get raises to go with their new responsibilities. There are fewer people to do the same amount of work.
Is morale low. Probably. I'd be unhappy if I got a "promotion" with more work and responsibility but no more money.
Lykos has done quite a few things which are good. She's the DIVERT program which tries to keep drunk drivers from doing it again. She has caught a lot of heat for doing it but it appears to be working. People charged with first offense DWI can be screened and it they qualify, they go through a program which hopefully keeps them from re-offending. While some people call it an "illegal" form of deferred adjudication, it isn't illegal or a form of probation. It is pretrial diversion which prosecutors both state and federal have been using for years.
The police also don't like Lykos's policy of not accepting felony charges for possession of trace amounts of cocaine, so-called "dirty crack pipe" cases. There are good public policy reasons for this decision.
First, the code of criminal procedure requires that persons convicted of possession of small amounts of cocaine get probation.
Second, it costs a small fortune to arrest a person, process him into jail, house him and get him a court appointed lawyer if he's indigent (and most crack users are). And, both if he's jailed pretrial and sentenced to prison, that person takes up a bed which could be used by a violent or more dangerous person. Many people have forgotten the late 1980s and early 1990s, when prison overcrowding forced state officials to parole just about everyone who was eligible so they would have beds for new inmates.
I for one would rather have that prison cell reserved for a rapist or armed robber than a crack addict.
Third, many of the dirty crack pipe cases are the result of constitutionally questionable police detentions or searches. Takikng those cases encourages police to ignore the constitution.
Lykos has done other things which have improved the operation of the district attorney's office. Before the hiring freeze, she would bring on newly hired prosecutors who were waiting for their bar results and assign them to work under supervision in felony courts. When they finally passed the bar and became lawyers, they had some experience and knew that there are no capital DWI cases in Texas.
For my money, Lykos is a mixture of good and bad things, just like every other public official from the president to the county surveyor. And, yes, Patricia Lykos will never win the award for being sweet and cuddly. That's just not her.
Like all elected officials, she has to answer to the voters for her conduct in office. But, it should be done with facts, not inuendo and half truths.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
I deeply support free speech but....
No one believes in free speech and the First Amendment than I do. That is, except for eight justices of the Supreme Court.
Today, the Court held 8-1 that a church group could picket the funeral of a Marine killed in combat carrying signs with slogans like "Thank God for IEDs" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers." Other signs included "God Hates Fags" and "Fags Doom Nations." The church group is very anti-gay and takes the position that events like 9/11 and the death of members of the military is God's punishment for allowing homosexuality. Members of the church travel around the country doing the same thing at other military funerals. They've done it hundreds of times.
The Marine's father sued the church for intentional infliction of emotional distress. His theory was that he is a private person who shouldn't be subjected to this kind of abuse during the funeral of a son who gave his life for his country.
While I agree that the church members have the right to be anti-homosexual and to express those opinions, it raises my hackles to see them use my precious First Amendment to, in the words of Justice Samuel Alito, "brutalize" the father of this fallen Marine. I don't often agree with Justice Alito but I think he's right on point here.
If they want to shout down President Obama and tell him he will burn in hell for allowing gays in the military, I'd represent them. If they want to picket a gay political caucus meeting, more power to them. It's their right. I disagree with them but I believe in their right to express their views on public matters in public.
However, I also believe that all private persons have a zone of privacy which should be protected. We can pass laws forbidding picketing at private homes. The Supreme Court has said so. We all should have other zones of privacy where we can be protected from intrusions.
That Marine's family was entitled to mourn their son in peace. They sure didn't need to be forced to pass pickets on the way to the funeral with signs suggesting that their son's death was God's punishment for homosexuality in society. The church had thousands of places it could have picketed without intentionally torturing this grieving family.
I recently buried my mother. Losing a loved one, even a mother who had lived 100 years and died after only a short illness, is tough. It has to be even harder when the person being buried is a child who gave his life to protect our country -- and the church's right to protest homosexuality.
Funerals are a way for us to get closure after a loved one's death. Virtually every country's military recognizes this and provides special ceremonies for those who have worn the uniform. I've been to too many military funerals recently. My friends who served are reaching the age where they are dying. When I look at that coffin covered by a flag, hear a bugler play Taps and the firing of three volleys, it always brings tears to my eyes.
To Albert Snyder and his family, I say, thank you for the sacrifice of your son Matthew. Without young men like him, the United States would be at the mercy of those who would destroy us and take away our freedoms. All over the world, there are young Americans in uniform carrying weapons who are guarding us while we sleep.
It is a terrible price you had to pay but I for one am grateful for Matthew's service and your sacrifice.
As to the members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, you won in the Supreme Court but someday you will appear before a higher court. I hope you have a good explanation for your acts in torturing the families of our men and women who gave their lives for our country.
I'm a pretty good defense lawyer but I can't think of a good explanation for you.
Today, the Court held 8-1 that a church group could picket the funeral of a Marine killed in combat carrying signs with slogans like "Thank God for IEDs" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers." Other signs included "God Hates Fags" and "Fags Doom Nations." The church group is very anti-gay and takes the position that events like 9/11 and the death of members of the military is God's punishment for allowing homosexuality. Members of the church travel around the country doing the same thing at other military funerals. They've done it hundreds of times.
The Marine's father sued the church for intentional infliction of emotional distress. His theory was that he is a private person who shouldn't be subjected to this kind of abuse during the funeral of a son who gave his life for his country.
While I agree that the church members have the right to be anti-homosexual and to express those opinions, it raises my hackles to see them use my precious First Amendment to, in the words of Justice Samuel Alito, "brutalize" the father of this fallen Marine. I don't often agree with Justice Alito but I think he's right on point here.
If they want to shout down President Obama and tell him he will burn in hell for allowing gays in the military, I'd represent them. If they want to picket a gay political caucus meeting, more power to them. It's their right. I disagree with them but I believe in their right to express their views on public matters in public.
However, I also believe that all private persons have a zone of privacy which should be protected. We can pass laws forbidding picketing at private homes. The Supreme Court has said so. We all should have other zones of privacy where we can be protected from intrusions.
That Marine's family was entitled to mourn their son in peace. They sure didn't need to be forced to pass pickets on the way to the funeral with signs suggesting that their son's death was God's punishment for homosexuality in society. The church had thousands of places it could have picketed without intentionally torturing this grieving family.
I recently buried my mother. Losing a loved one, even a mother who had lived 100 years and died after only a short illness, is tough. It has to be even harder when the person being buried is a child who gave his life to protect our country -- and the church's right to protest homosexuality.
Funerals are a way for us to get closure after a loved one's death. Virtually every country's military recognizes this and provides special ceremonies for those who have worn the uniform. I've been to too many military funerals recently. My friends who served are reaching the age where they are dying. When I look at that coffin covered by a flag, hear a bugler play Taps and the firing of three volleys, it always brings tears to my eyes.
To Albert Snyder and his family, I say, thank you for the sacrifice of your son Matthew. Without young men like him, the United States would be at the mercy of those who would destroy us and take away our freedoms. All over the world, there are young Americans in uniform carrying weapons who are guarding us while we sleep.
It is a terrible price you had to pay but I for one am grateful for Matthew's service and your sacrifice.
As to the members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, you won in the Supreme Court but someday you will appear before a higher court. I hope you have a good explanation for your acts in torturing the families of our men and women who gave their lives for our country.
I'm a pretty good defense lawyer but I can't think of a good explanation for you.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Death of a hero
Major Dick Winters died last week. He was 92.
He is best remembered from the book and television series "Band of Brothers." He was commander of Easy Company, 2nd Batallion, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.
Winters won the Distinguished Service Cross shortly after D-Day in Normandy when he led an attack on a fortified German artillery position. The attack was so well planned and executed that it still is used as an example of how to do it at West Point and the Army Infantry School. He likely would have won the Medal of Honor except for strict limitations placed by Gen. Dwight Eisenhower on the number that could be awarded during the Normandy campaign. In recent years, a group of his friends and neighbors started a campaign to have President Obama award him the nation's highest award for valor.
After the war, Winters went into business with another Easy Company veteran until he was recalled to active duty for the Korean War. After he left the Army, he built a business and a farm. He retired in 1997.
Major Winters is an example of the World War II generation, the generation of my parents, the generation rightly called the Greatest Generation. After the war, Winters and his comrades returned to civilian life and worked hard to build a better society for themselves and their Baby Boomer children. By and large, they did a pretty good job. They used their wartime experience and lessons of teamwork to create the greatest economic boom in history. They built suburbs and the Interstate highways. They cured polio and put men on the Moon.
The generation is dying out now. It has been 66 years since D-Day, so the youngest veteran would have to be 83 or 84. They are coming to the end and when they are gone, we will miss them.
He is best remembered from the book and television series "Band of Brothers." He was commander of Easy Company, 2nd Batallion, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.
Winters won the Distinguished Service Cross shortly after D-Day in Normandy when he led an attack on a fortified German artillery position. The attack was so well planned and executed that it still is used as an example of how to do it at West Point and the Army Infantry School. He likely would have won the Medal of Honor except for strict limitations placed by Gen. Dwight Eisenhower on the number that could be awarded during the Normandy campaign. In recent years, a group of his friends and neighbors started a campaign to have President Obama award him the nation's highest award for valor.
After the war, Winters went into business with another Easy Company veteran until he was recalled to active duty for the Korean War. After he left the Army, he built a business and a farm. He retired in 1997.
Major Winters is an example of the World War II generation, the generation of my parents, the generation rightly called the Greatest Generation. After the war, Winters and his comrades returned to civilian life and worked hard to build a better society for themselves and their Baby Boomer children. By and large, they did a pretty good job. They used their wartime experience and lessons of teamwork to create the greatest economic boom in history. They built suburbs and the Interstate highways. They cured polio and put men on the Moon.
The generation is dying out now. It has been 66 years since D-Day, so the youngest veteran would have to be 83 or 84. They are coming to the end and when they are gone, we will miss them.
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