Supreme Court Does...Something?

The US Supreme Court may or may not have held, in a case arising in Texas, that persons who are arrested have the right to an attorney at their bond hearing (known as an Article 15.17 hearing). Having only skimmed the ruling itself and discussed it with several other lawyers and judges, we have no idea what the hell it means or what effect, if any, it will have on the way things are currently done. Thanks, Souter! Right now, in Johnson County anyway, arrestees are advised by the magistrate judge that they have the right to an attorney and one is appointed as soon as they ask for one. In other counties, including apparently Gillespie, the county in the Supreme Court case, lawyers aren't appointed until indictment. Further updates as events warrant.

UPDATE: More on Rothgery, again from Grits.

Republicans Give Up...

...on defeating Chet Edwards, anyway. After dispatching Arlene Wohlgemuth and annihilating the hapless Van Taylor, it's pretty clear that Chet couldn't be dislodged from this seat with dynamite. Hopefully, he will still run his usual strenuous campaign and offer some coattails to local Democrats, maybe even carry Johnson County this time (having fallen less than 10 votes short last go-round). And now that he's about as secure as you can get in Congress, he won't feel the need to cave on issues like Bankruptcy "reform."

H/T the Great and Powerful Kos

Hard Time

Another article from the Fort Worth Weekly about conditions at the Johnson County Jail, the Sheriff's Department and the Cleburne Police Department. This one is considerably more coherent than the last one, but it goes out of its way to insulate Sheriff Bob Alford from any responsibility for conditions at the jail that he is, well, responsible for. Though it must be admitted that if the County can't persuade qualified applicants to work as jailers for a third what they'd make in the Metroplex, that's ultimately the fault of the Commissioner's Court and the County Judge. The article also does a vicious hatchet job on Cleburne Police Chief Terry Powell on flimsy evidence and innuendo, while lionizing Burleson Chief Tom Cowan, for no apparent reason other than Cowan agreed to talk to the writer. I could also have done without Don Rice's opinion on local attorneys. Let him try a first degree felony before a Johnson County jury and then maybe I'll be interested in what he has to say.

Johnson County Confidential

This has been the talk of the courthouse lately, an "expose" of the Johnson County criminal justice system in Fort Worth Weekly by a former editor of High Times Magazine. Among its startling revelations:

1) Johnson County does not have a juvenile detention facility. What a scoop! It's only been closed for seven years now.

2) If you shoot your wife, and then are too stupid to take the plea bargain offer, there's a very good chance the jury will jack you up. Who knew?

3) The County Commissioner's Court is cheap. Fortunately, this parsimonious attitude exists ONLY in Johnson County and not in any of the other 253 counties in Texas.

4) Dale Hanna is not, all appearances to the contrary, a cuddly, bleeding-heart liberal teddy bear. This is a severe shock to those of us who have to deal with him on a daily basis.

There are plenty of legitimate complaints that could be made about how the criminal justice system works (or doesn't work) in this county. Sadly, none of them made it into this rambling, disjointed, poorly written article.

Chet Takes Johnson County?

Chet Edwards and a future member of Congress at the Johnson County Democratic Convention


With 83% of the total vote in, Chet is running away with it at 59% and is carrying every single county except for Hood. Even more astonishing, though, with 66% of the vote counted, he's carrying Johnson County 51% to 47% for Vancampen. If this holds, he'll be the first Democrat to win this county since (I believe) 1998.

UPDATE: Sadly, no. CNN reports that Chet lost Johnson County to Vancampen by 8 votes, still a remarkable achievement considering he didn't even break 40% in the last election. The Johnson County Elections site confirms the figures, as well as the fact that no other Democrats even came close to winning. More analysis of these results later, but they are frankly pretty grim for any prospects of this becoming a two-party county anytime soon.

Election Results

Check here for election results in Johnson County ONLY.

Check here for election results in Texas.

And, finally, go here for national election results.

Good luck, and God Bless America!