classes

From the Houston Chronicle: D.A. Lykos goes after undocumented workers:

A Harris County District Attorney’s office proposal to bar illegal immigrants from receiving plea deals sparked questions Wednesday — including some from longtime prosecutors in the same office — about the legality and practicality of such a policy.

Four senior assistant district attorneys, speaking anony­mously to protect their ­jobs, said Jim Leitner, District Attorney Pat Lykos’ first assistant, discussed the plan with about 50 prosecutors during a meeting last Friday. Under the plan, defendants in the country illegally will not be eligible for probation or deferred adjudication, including mandatory probations under state law. If the accused lies, he or she could be prosecuted for perjury.

The prosecutors also said plea papers are being redrafted for defendants to swear to their immigration status. If defendants refuse to sign, they will not be eligible for any plea bargains and their cases will be set for trial.

Lykos acknowledged that her office is examining policies surrounding illegal immigrants accused of committing crimes, but declined to comment on specifics.

One longtime prosecutor said the policy circumvents the intent of laws making probation the maximum punishment for some drug cases.

“I’m not a big fan of probation, but the law is the law, and I think we should follow the law,” the prosecutor said.

Mark Bennett, president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, said the idea may be unconstitutional.

. . .

It’s grossly unfair and, in my view, it’s unconstitutional,” said Maria Jimenez, a longtime Houston immigration activist. “There’s a double standard being placed on people here without documents. If they commit a crime, they should be held accountable. If the offense merits offering probation or deferred adjudication, then that’s what should be weighed, not the legal status of the individual. Otherwise, its unequal treatment before the law.”

commentary from the Houston Chronicle

Rick Casey notes a change from passive to active voice in pronouncements from the District Attorney's office:

There are places and institutions where what District Attorney Pat Lykos did last week would seem normal.

But this is Harris County, Texas. And the institution is the District Attorney’s Office.

So what Lykos did verged on the revolutionary.

She not only admitted mistakes, she used the active voice.

In a report detailing the sorry series of errors that led to the false child rape conviction of Ricardo Rachell and his more than five years in prison, she didn’t conclude by burrowing into the conventional refuge of bureaucrats, the passive voice. As in: “Mistakes were made.”

Instead, she detailed the specifics and named names of prosecutors, defense attorneys and police officers who ignored evidence supporting Rachell’s innocence.

And she apologized to Rachell and the public.

Granted, it’s easier to apologize for mistakes made during your predecessor’s tenure. Another test will come when inevitably, given the size the caseload of the Harris County District Attorney’s office, her own staff makes a mistake.

farming for cheap food 2 . . .

The Houston Chronicle has details on a plan to turn feral hogs (probably no MRSA problems) into BLTs.

Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack has a problem with hungry hogs. Houston has a problem with hungry people.

If Radack gets his way, hundreds of pounds of pork soon could be hitting the needy’s tables.

Radack plans to allow a few select bowhunters to begin targeting the thousands of feral pigs that live in George Bush Park and hopes to donate the meat to food banks, churches, homeless shelters or even needy individuals.

“If you could harness this, it could feed so many people it’s unbelievable,” Radack said.

The hogs have wreaked havoc in the west Harris County park for years and now are ambling into neighboring subdivisions where manicured yards and flower beds make for a tempting swine buffet.

Their numbers have grown so large that it is not unusual to see groups of the normally reclusive beasts foraging for roots and grubs in open fields early in the morning or late in the evening, Precinct 3 special activities coordinator Mike McMahan said.

Off-duty county employees have been allowed to trap hogs at the park for more than a decade, and they typically remove about 300 to 400 every year, McMahan said. The trappers are responsible for removing the hogs and have been allowed to keep the meat.

But those efforts barely have made a dent in a population that swells so quickly that 50 sows could replace all the hogs that were harvested with just one litter each.

While Radack estimated there are between 10,000 and 15,000 hogs living in the park, McMahan said it would be difficult to provide an accurate count.

There's more via the above link.