Category Archives: State news

State news

“Wipe that smirk off your face … “

This handout photo provided by Collin County, Texas shows Texas Attorney General Kenneth Paxton, who was booked into the county jail Monday, Aug. 3, 2015, in McKinney, Texas. A grand jury last week indicted Paxton on felony securities fraud charges. (AP Photo/Collin County via AP)

Look at this picture.

It is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton posing for his jail-booking mug shot.

Does that smirk bother you? It bothers me. It makes me wonder why politicians feel compelled to smirk like that when they’re being booked into a lockup, a place with sturdy iron bars meant to keep prisoners inside.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry smirked like that when he was booked after being indicted more than a year ago.

Paxton’s mug shot illustrates, I guess, a certain smugness that politicians have when the criminal justice system tags them with an allegation that they’ve committed a crime.

In this case, a Collin County grand jury has accused Paxton of securities fraud. It’s a big deal. The man could lose his political career if a jury convicts him of the felony accusations.

This mug shot reminds me of my dear, late mother.

I had this bad habit of smirking like that when Mom scolded me when I was a kid. I took the habit with me into the U.S. Army in 1968; our drill sergeants would get in our faces for this or that during our basic training and my reaction would be to, um, smirk. It drove these combat-tested soldiers crazy … and it damn near got me into some serious trouble.

Mom would get so angry she’d order me to “wipe that smirk off your face or I’ll wipe it off for you.”

Attorney General Paxton’s smirk will disappear if a jury hangs the “felon” label on him.

legal news, State news

Texas garners another dubious ‘honor’

First, it was a sitting Texas governor who got indicted by a grand jury.

The governor, Rick Perry, has since left office and is now pursuing the Republican presidential nomination.

Now we have a sitting attorney general who’s been indicted by another grand jury.

Welcome to The Club, Ken Paxton.

http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/03/paxton-set-surrender-securities-fraud-indictment/

Are they similar? Not by a long shot.

Perry’s indictment occurred in Travis County, where a grand jury has accused him of abuse of power and coercion of a public servant in connection with his veto of funds for the Public Integrity Unit. Perry and his allies have argued that the Travis County indictment was politically motivated; Travis County remains a Democratic bastion, while Perry is a Republican. Get it? Pure politics.

Not so with Paxton. He was indicted by a grand jury in his home county, which is Collin County. Paxton is a Republican attorney general; prior to that he represented Collin County in the Texas House of Representatives. I’m thinking it’s a real good bet that some — perhaps most — of the grand jurors voted for him when he ran for AG in 2014.

Paxton is indicted on two felony counts of securities fraud and another count of failing to register as an investment counselor.

This is serious stuff. Paxton is the state’s top law enforcer. He’s supposed to be clear of this kind of thing. He’s actually admitted to the investment advice matter.

Good grief! Can’t we do better than this in Texas?

OK, should he quit? No. He is still innocent until — or if — a court proves his guilt. Paxton plans to plead not guilty and will seek a trial by jury. Fine. That’s his right.

These indictments, though, of leading Texas politicians is getting worrisome.

legal news, State news

We should expect more from our attorney general

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is going to have a big start to his work week.

A grand jury in McKinney, about noon Monday, is reportedly going to indict him on at least two felony counts of securities fraud. One of the counts is a first-degree felony, the other is a third-degree felony.

Paxton has essentially admitted to committing the lesser offense. He did so while campaigning for the office to which voters elected him in 2014.

This all brings to mind an essential question about the wisdom of Texas voters: Shouldn’t we demand the very best from our elected officials?

Paxton was elected in a breeze this past November. That, by itself, really isn’t surprising, as Paxton is a Republican running in a heavily Republican state.

However, the guy took office in January as the state’s top legal eagle. Some AGs have cast themselves as major crime fighters; I keep thinking of the late Democrat Jim Mattox, who used to imply wrongly that he’d bring bad guys to justice, even though the office basically deals with civil matters.

Paxton’s indictments don’t suggest the man is morally unfit to hold the office he occupies. However, it galls me greatly that he could get elected for no other reason than he happened to be a member of the political party that calls all — and I mean all — the shots in Texas.

I don’t think Paxton needs to step down while he defends himself against the criminal complaints brought against him. I believe in the presumption of innocence. Thus, there’s no legal obligation for Paxton to recuse himself from his duties.

Yet it becomes difficult for the attorney general — and the office this one leads — to proceed with any matter relating to the very type of infractions that have produced these indictments.

Some of Paxton’s critics have noted that his record in the Legislature wasn’t all that stellar. He was under-qualified politically to ascend to an important statewide office, they said. I didn’t follow his legislative career all that closely, but this upcoming indictment involving securities fraud is a serious matter that needs to be resolved as quickly as possible.

The attorney general of Texas needs — and deserves — to have this matter adjudicated in short order.

For that matter, rank-and-file Texans need this case settled soon as well. Our state’s attorney general must not operate under this cloud. After all, this man works for us.

legal news, State news

Texas AG faces big legal fight

Well, isn’t this just like a punch in the chops?

A Collin County grand jury reportedly has indicted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on securities fraud charges … which Paxton actually admitted to while he was running for the statewide office he now holds.

The indictment will be unsealed in McKinney, Texas, the Collin County seat.

The indictment involves an allegation — if you can even call it that, given Paxton’s admission — that he rustled up some investment clients for a friend without filing the proper paperwork with the state; that’s a third-degree felony. But it gets even more hairy. Reports have surfaced that the grand jury also will indict him on a first-degree felony accusation of securities fraud involving a company with which Paxton was involved, and which has been investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/texas-attorney-general-indicted-on-felony-charges-sources-say/ar-BBljQAB

“The (Texas) Rangers went out to investigate one thing, and they came back with information on something else,” special prosecutor Kent Schaffer. “It’s turned into something different than when they started.”

The Texas Rangers are the elite investigative arm of the Texas Department of Public Safety. In other words, thee folks are good at what they do.

I feel the need to point out a couple of key political points, given that I’m quite sure someone is going to label it a “political witch hunt.”

One, the Collin County district attorney recused himself from the case; so a special prosecutor was brought in.

Two, a judge from Tarrant County, about 40 miles east of McKinney, is going to hear the case.

Officials have made a concerted effort to remove any taint of bias from this investigation, given that Paxton represented Collin County in the Texas Legislature before he was elected to the state’s top law enforcement office.

Oh, and what about the grand jury itself? Is it populated with folks who have an axe to grind against Paxton? Remember when the Travis County grand jury indicted then-Gov. Rick Perry? The governor accused the panel impaneled in heavily Democratic Travis County of playing politics, given that Perry is a Republican and the person he was accused of bullying is a Democratic district attorney.

Is Collin County a Democratic bastion that could find grand jurors ready to send the Republican AG up the river?

Consider this little item: Collin County voted nearly 2-to-1 for GOP nominee Mitt Romney over Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential race. It’s fair to presume, therefore, that the grand jury pool likely leans more toward the attorney general’s party than in the other direction. If it doesn’t, I’m quite sure we’ll hear about it.

This is possibly shaping up as a difficult time for the Texas attorney general.

State news

Lawmakers right to grill DPS head over Bland arrest

Texas legislators are putting the head of the state’s police agency on the hot seat.

He needs to stay there until he can offer some remedy for an incident that resulted in the tragic death of a young woman who was arrested for a traffic violation.

Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw came under fire this week in a Texas House committee hearing over the arrest of Sandra Bland by a DPS trooper; Bland later died in a Waller County jail after apparently hanging herself in her cell.

http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/30/lawmakers-review-county-jail-procedures-following-/

“I know the death happened in the jail, but the catalyst for the death clearly happened at the traffic stop,” state Rep. Jonathan Strickland, R-Bedford said.

The catalyst was a confrontation between Bland and Trooper Brian Encinia, who pulled Bland over after she failed to signal before making a turn in her vehicle. He asked her to extinguish her cigarette.Then matters got ugly.

Bland sassed the officer, who then became agitated. Bland then became angry. Encinia got even angrier. The trooper then pulled his Taser out and threatened to “light you up” with the device.

Bland and Encinia exchanged more heated insults. She exited the vehicle and was taken to jail.

And for what? Because she didn’t use her turn signal.

Strickland also wondered aloud why the trooper is still on the job, to which McCraw answered that the agency has a process that he intends to follow before deciding how to handle Encinia’s future with DPS.

The incident, which has drawn international attention, needs a thorough examination. McCraw has promised to provide one.

One avenue that needs exploring is how a trooper — who is supposedly trained to de-escalate tension with the public — actually took it in the opposite — and tragically wrong direction.

legal news, State news

Texas AG faces possible indictment

This one seems cut-and-dried, but it’s probably not going to be determined that way.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has actually admitted to securities fraud. He was elected anyway in 2014 as the state’s top lawyer, its chief litigator. He should be above reproach. Isn’t that correct?

http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/28/grand-jury-looming-paxtons-team-and-prosecutors-sp/

He’ll be investigated by a Collin County grand jury, which will get evidence presented by the Texas Rangers, the elite investigative arm of the Department of Public Safety.

Cut-and-dried?

The Republican attorney general admits to soliciting investment clients for a friend without notifying the state in accordance with state law.

So, is Paxton guilty as charged?

Let’s walk back a few years to around 1998.

President Bill Clinton took an oath to tell the truth while testifying before a federal grand jury. The panel asked the president some questions relating to his relationship with a young White House intern. The president didn’t tell the truth about that relationship.

What did the House of Representatives do? It impeached President Clinton.

Ostensibly, the impeachment really wasn’t about the inappropriate affair with the intern. It was about whether the president followed the law. The House said his lying to the grand jury constituted an impeachable offense.

The Senate, though, acquitted the president of the counts brought against him.

So, when a state constitutional officer — the attorney general — admits to breaking state securities law, does that constitute an indictable offense?

Cut … and … dried. Maybe.

State news

More questions regarding the Bland case

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bland

It’s highly likely that Sandra Bland took her own life in the Waller County jail cell.

The young woman had been arrested and tossed into the cell after being pulled over for the heinous crime of failing to signal before making a turn in her motor vehicle.

She got agitated with the Texas Department of Public Safety trooper, Brian Enciana, who violated just about every rule prescribed for calming a tense situation. He is supposedly trained to use restraint whenever possible. Did he do that? No. He did precisely the opposite.

The dashboard camera aboard his police cruiser tells a grim story of a police officer going too far.

Bland never should have been put in that jail cell. Yes, she behaved badly when the trooper stopped her. Yes, she should have reacted more calmly than she did.

Did she strike the trooper, as he contended in his arrest report? The camera doesn’t reveal that. If she struck at the trooper, she did it outside of the range of the camera. That, right there, gives a lot of folks pause to accept the officer’s word that she attacked him. She’s no longer able to refute the allegations, correct?

DPS officials need to take a long and careful look at what happened before Bland ended up in that jail cell.

It appears highly likely now that the young woman didn’t die at the hands of those who were detaining her.

However, she never should have been put in that jail cell in the first place.

State news

This journey is going to test us

2 Comments

This is the latest in an occasional series of blog posts commenting on upcoming retirement.

A big trip is in our future. I’m not nervous about it, but I am a bit anxious.

We’ll be on the road for two weeks and one day, if all goes according to plan. It’s going to be an in-state adventure with our fifth wheel RV, which my wife some time back nicknamed “Sally,” as in the late astronaut Sally Ride. You see, our RV will ride it us, get it?

We’re planning to head east and south through Texas. We’ll go to a state park just north of the Dallas area, where we’ll visit with our granddaughter and her parents. Then we’ll mosey southward toward the Beaumont area, where we lived for nearly 11 years before moving to the Panhandle more than 20 years ago; there we’ll catch up with some dear friends. Then we’ll head to Houston to see more friends. Then it’s on to Corpus Christi for some sand and surf. Our last stop will be the Hill Country to see more family and some friends.

This trip, though, is going to have an important new wrinkle added to it.

My wife and I had been thinking separately about what to do with our 13-year-old kitty, Mittens. Then my wife broached the subject out loud this weekend: Why don’t we take her with us?

OK, there you go. No worries, then, about keeping her in the house. We’ve known all along we didn’t want to board her somewhere; she wouldn’t do well in the care of strangers.

So, for the first time we’re going to take her with us. It’s going to be something of a trial run, as we intend to travel more extensively as we inch toward full retirement.

Mittens is in good health. We have some time plan how we’re going to do this. We’re kicking around a few options to employ while we’re on the road. We’re confident she’ll be just fine once we stop and get comfortable in our sites along the way.

Oh, of course we have Toby the dog, who’s proven to be a tremendous traveler. He’s one cool customer.

Mittens, though, might present some challenges for us.

Keep us — and her — in your thoughts as we ponder our plan of action.

We haven’t told her yet. We’ll save the best for last.

International news, political news, State news

Donald Trump: man of danger

donald_trump

Donald Trump came to Texas this week and, according to the man himself, thrust himself into harm’s way by speaking the truth about illegal immigration.

Well, since he’s the presumed frontrunner — for the moment — for the Republican Party presidential nomination next year, his visit requires a brief comment.

http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/23/trumps-presidential-spectacle-sweeps-through-texas/

It meant nothing in the nation’s ongoing battle against illegal immigration.

Trump’s appearance was just for show. That’s understandable, though. Political candidates do these things on occasion. He swept into Laredo, bounded off his big ol’ jet wearing a ball cap emblazoned with “Making America Great Again.” He said he’s the only candidate speaking the truth about illegal immigration.

He offered zero specifics about what he intends to do about illegal immigration, although he has said he would build a wall to seal off our southern border to protect us against the flood of murderers, rapists and drug dealers who are pouring into the United States en masse.

I’m wondering, though: Is Trump going to make a similar campaign splash in, say, Buffalo, Detroit or Bellingham, Wash., cities that sit on our border with Canada? Let’s seal off our northern border as well, while we’re at it.

As the Texas Tribune reported, the brief fling in Laredo was long on sizzle and short on substance.

He said: “I’ll take jobs back from China, I’ll take jobs back from Japan … The Hispanics are going to get those jobs, and they’re going to love Trump.” There’s that third-person reference again.

According to The Trib: “The spectacle reached its apex when he held court with a crush of media at the border following a roughly half-hour closed-door meeting with law enforcement officials. Against the backdrop of a line of trucks waiting to enter the country, Trump regaled reporters with a string of boisterous predictions — that he would not only win the GOP nomination, but would also take the Hispanic vote — and vague prescriptions for the issue that brought him here: illegal immigration.”

This event kind of reminded me of the time then-Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox traipsed through the mud in Matamoros, Mexico, in the late 1980s after a University of Texas student was killed. Mattox, a Democrat, wanted to make a grand show of how he would root out the killers and bring them to justice. That’s all fine, except for this minor detail: The Texas AG has virtually zero criminal jurisdiction; the office deals almost exclusively with civil matters.

But, hey, it made for great photo ops.

So did Trump’s appearance in Laredo. That’s it.

national news, State news

Never argue with those who carry guns

Sandra Bland likely would be alive today if she had followed a rule that I’ve followed my entire adult life: Never argue with someone packing a pistol.

Having said that, I want to stipulate in the strongest terms possible that the pistol-packing principal in Bland’s fateful confrontation never should have done what he did to escalate a minor traffic stop into what has turned into a shameful example of police intimidation.

Bland died in a Waller County jail cell after being arrested by Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Brian Enciana, who stopped Bland’s vehicle after she allegedly made a turn without signaling properly. As the Dallas Morning News editorial attached here notes, what should have been a routine ticket-writing event turned into a mind-boggling tragedy.

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20150722-editorial-troopers-bad-decisions-set-sandra-bland-tragedy-in-motion.ece

The editorial explains what happened. No need to detail it here.

What’s equally mind-boggling is that the DPS is a first-rate law enforcement agency. Its officers are well-trained and are taught to use restraint to cool down potentially explosive situations. Enciana did precisely the opposite. He ordered Bland to extinguish her cigarette; why he did that perhaps is the first great mystery of that case.

Granted, Bland didn’t react well. But as the Morning News editorial pointed, out Enciana is the one with the training — and he’s the one carrying the weaponry.

Maybe the most mind-bending element of all is that later today, when I leave my house to run some errands, I am likely to see dozens of people doing precisely what Bland supposedly did that caused Trooper Enciana to pull her over. Drivers routinely “break the law” by failing to signal their turns; indeed, I’ve actually seen law enforcement personnel doing the very same thing.

Someone, somewhere will have to explain how this case turned so terribly tragic.

We’re all ears out here.