Friday Roundup: Criminal Justice Crimes, Gun Control in its Full Glory, Another Isolated Incident & More
- One of the two best legal blogs out there, Grits for Breakfast, talks today about creeping overcriminalization, the decline of mens rea, and the unbalanced push for more security at the cost of liberty. My own contribution to this discussion comes in the February issue of D Magazine, which will hit the stands in late January, and it looks at the growth of the nanny state in Dallas.
- Ron Kirk’s appointment is a good sign Dear Leader is not a total moonbat on international trade, but there’s a lot of territory between here and the final judgment. The real test will be whether his boss tries to force other countries to abide by ridiculous American labor and environmental laws.
- Another question via Grits: “The single best solution would be to mandate an “open file” policy in every Texas jurisdiction (right now it’s done at the discretion of the local DAs and county attorneys) so that defense counsel could have access to the same police reports, witness statements, and other documents the prosecutors get to see. That system works wonderfully in Tarrant County, where these files are kept online and defense counsel can access files on their cases via a password that lets them see everything in there.” The question is, why isn’t that SOP?
- Here’s why gun control won’t work – “His weapon was recovered at the scene and later determined to be stolen during a separate offense in Terrell, according to police…” — and why it’s never smart to go out socially naked. (Nice shooting, btw.)
- A 12-year-old in Galveston is the latest “isolated incident” of police misconduct, getting roughed up for her troubles by plainclothes officers and arrested at her school despite police errors every step of the way. (Via Radley.)
- Driver with a baseball bat attacks someone who cut her off on I-30. Is she a woman? Why, yes she is.
Thursday Roundup: Killing Red-Light Cameras, Douche Drivers, Poor Reporting & More
- Oh happy day. A state district judge refused to budge on his ruling that red-light cameras in Dallas violate the law.
- Meanwhile, some of you clock-punching commuters — thank the highfather for teh Internets and telecommuting — are acting like douchebags. Especially during the morning rush.
- Do I even need to say what would put an end to these kinds of home invasions?
- A good tell that a news agency has little understanding of the basics of business and economics is in how they cast business stories in single-perspective black-and-white, focusing on a single negative. For instance, “Low Oil Prices Spell Trouble for Economy.” Which, yes, it hurts some energy companies and economic activity in the Barnett Shale, but it also benefits as many others — everyone from American Airlines to ordinary people heating their homes and gassing their cars.
Wednesday Roundup: What Interest Rates Mean to You; What’s Not to Tax?; COP DWIs & More
- I’m working closely right now with an acclaimed mortgage broker on a project, and without boring you with the details — early 2009 will be the prime time to re-fi your mortgage. Mortgage brokers and lenders are gearing up behind the scenes to get ready for the influx of businesses. An early sign, you ask? Well, glad you did.
- “I’ll tax the street; I’ll tax your seat; (if you get too cold, cold) - I’ll tax the heat; (if you take a walk, walk) - I’ll tax your feet.” More here.
- This is not reassuring given the usual outcome of this much evidence in a DWI case. Not the least reason being a drunken on-the-road fight with a girlfriend so bad he was swerving.
- Dallas is all-guns to make a doomed convention center hotel work at the cost of $550 million to taxpayers who may not even want it, yet they’re doing all the can to sabotage what will be one of the biggest economic drivers South Dallas has ever seen in its future. Keep this in mind.
- A Fort Worth woman did what too many in the DFW need to do — lost 110 pounds — and won a prize to boot. Bonus insider knowledge: did you know The Biggest Loser is one on DPD Chief David Kunkle’s guilty pleasures?
Tuesday Roundup: Bogus Trend, Creepy Children’s Books, The Convention Center Hotel & More
- The Dallas Morning News trots out a bogus trend story — “Home Swapping Growing Trend in Dallas-Fort Worth.” Just a casual skim gives us about a dozen violations of Jack Shafer’s tells: heavy on the anecdotes, lots of “some” “many” and “seem”, absolutely no hard numbers to support the trend, and not much else.
- Shots fired at the Dallas Kwanzaa Fest.
- Best DMN letter to the editor in a while: short, concise, and cutting.
- Okay, this Dear Leader stuff has getting really creepy, and it’s gone too far when it’s trickled down to children’s books.
Dallas Developer H. Walker Royall Abuses Eminent Domain, Is a Royal Pain
I know a lot of Dallas developers and H. Walker Royall isn’t one of them. For which I’m thankful. According to The Institute for Justice, Royall abuses eminent domain and then sues anyone and anything that calls him out on it.
According to the IJ’s website:
Royall worked with the city of Freeport, Texas, to try to condemn a generations-old shrimp business owned by the Gore family to make way for a luxury marina. The project became the subject of the book, Bulldozed: “Kelo,” Eminent Domain, and the American Lust for Land, authored by veteran legal journalist Carla Main. Bulldozed tells the story of Freeport’s plan to take the Gores’ waterfront property for Royall’s luxury marina development project. Only hours after the U.S. Supreme Court’s infamous Kelo v. City of New London eminent domain abuse decision, the city instructed its attorneys to redouble their efforts to seize the Gore family business. Bulldozed unravels why, after years of litigation, the threat of condemnation continues to hang over the Gores. The book was reviewed in many newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, was nominated for the Texas Historical Commission’s annual T.R. Fehrenbach Book Award and it won a highly competitive independent press award for political science writing.
Royall sued Main and her publisher Encounter Books, for defamation, and he “even sued nationally renowned Law Professor Richard Epstein who wrote a blurb for the book’s dust jacket. When someone reviewed the book, he sued him. When two newspapers published that review, he sued them.”
Rather than try to defend his indefensible effort to have the government take someone’s land for his private development project, H. Walker Royall sues and sues and sues and sues,” said Matt Miller, executive director of the Institute for Justice Texas Chapter, which is defending the book’s author, the publisher and law professor Epstein. Earlier, when the Gores—the original victims of Royall’s eminent domain abuse effort in Freeport—complained against Royall’s actions, he sued them for defamation. That lawsuit is ongoing.
Thursday Roundup: Fishy Searches in Addison, Fishy Hotel Claims, Fishy Bailouts & More
- When a cop from another city questions another police department’s search procedures, you know something is wrong.
- “Mr. Jones said that bookings at the center are up 20 percent to 25 percent over last year on word of progress on the hotel.” I’m sorry, I don’t believe there’s any evidence of causation at all, and Philip Jones has shown that he is not factually neutral when it comes to pushing the city into this $550 million (and growing) boondoggle.
- North Texas cities are lining up at the trough. Their list of items they want the rest of America to pay for is — frankly disgraceful: skate parks, tennis centers, unmanned drones (for God’s sake), and the biggest joke of all, hundreds of millions for the city-owned taxpayer hotel, which is such a great investment it already needs a bailout.
- “I’m a simple country boy from Nebraska, and all I want from politicians is to educate my grandchildren and give me highways I can drive on,” said Larry Ihfe, who smoked at the Dallasite bar in East Dallas while watching the council session on television. “I have to have a four-wheel-drive truck to drive the streets in Dallas, and the City Council is more concerned about me smoking in a bar.” I have nothing to add. Except a disgusted head shake.
Wednesday Roundup: Smoking Ban, He’s Got Crabs & More
Dallas takes another step down the yellow brick road of paternalism. I’ll have more on this nanny state mentality in the February issue of D Magazine.
“The man told officers that he accidentally drove over his uncle during a fight, police said.”
McKinney man’s crabs cost him $1,910. Seriously? A fine for transporting crabs?
So was this one-day kidnapping just another inept failed crime by some incompetent criminals, or a portent of things to come with Mexican kidnapping customs working their way north of the border?
Tuesday Roundup: Leppert Wants a Hotel Bailout, Russ Martin Off the Air & More
- Mayor Tom Leppert’s hat-in-hand visit to DC was more embarrassing than I thought. According to the folks at “Citizens Against The Taxpayer-Owner Hotel,” Leppert asked for pork to pay for the $550 million convention center hotel project. Anne Raymond, whose heading up the opposition to the hotel project, was at no loss for words. “Following in the footsteps of failed Wall Street banks and automakers, Leppert’s request for federal funds for a hotel bailout illustrates exactly what a money-losing venture this would be.” Saving grace? Leppert’s just one in a long line of city mayors lining up at the trough for a feeding.
- One of the movers behind the brilliant DISD grading policy — the one where you get to retake tests until you pass and homework can’t be counted against you if it would lower your grade — is leaving.
- I’m betting the firing of Russ Martin isn’t going to go over well in the short or long term. His fans are uncommonly committed, and I just don’t see yet another sports radio station making much of a dent in The DFW.
- Yeah, see, that’s pretty much going to have the opposite effect.
Monday Roundup: Busting Drug Cops, It’s Not News It’s AP, Death Penalty Conundrum, Dallas GOP & More
- This may be the coolest thing this week — a show that puts drug cops under the spotlight, and it’s done with at least as much fairness as all the breathless, mouth-breathing reality cop shows like “DEA” and “Cops.” It’s called “Kop Busters,” and they stage houses to be raided by cops that use phony information to get illegal search warrants. Here’s a rundown on what Kop Busters does, and here’s raw footage of the raid where they punked Odessa narcotics officers. (Via Robert Guest via the Agitator via nevergetbusted.com.)
- This is one of those stories that belong in the “people actually meet online and date” file. Why should this be surprising in the least? What are modern video games except interactive entertainment?
- Every time I think I’ve finally overcome my last vestiges of support of the death penalty– and it’s been a hard decision to settle on — along comes a guy who deserves it so much it throws a wrench into the works. Anyone else have this problem?
- That’s it. I’m converting my daughter to Amish. Amishism. Whatever. Before she’s 16. And I’m giving her male classmates walking tours of my home armory. And the swampland where I can dump bodies.
- And this is just downright embarrassing. Let’s hope Jeb’s outlook prevails.
- My colleague Sam Merten does a bangup job profiling Jonathan Neerman’s vision for the future of the Dallas County Republican Party. Neerman hits a bulls-eye with this: “We spend too much time worrying about shit that doesn’t matter.” (*cough* gay marriage, border fence, school prayer, online gambling, Internet porn, gay adoption, the War on Drugs *cough*)
Friday Roundup: “Rent” Oh My, Unequal Justice, NO More Cowbell
- Some Rowlett parents think that if the high school cancels its production of “Rent,” students will be shielded from ever having to hear about topics like drug abuse and homosexuality. Good luck with that. By the way, take a guess how many of the protesters have even seen the play.
- Scott Henson at Grits for Breakfast asks why there have been no charges filed against the crazy woman whose phony child abuse report triggered the state’s raid of the Yearning for Zion property and the separation of more than a hundred children from their parents.
- This is my worst nightmare.
- Correction. This is: