Commentary on Political corners illegal immigrant blog

My colleague at the Political corner blog wrote a commentary about a Texas loophole in the judicial system and it is extremely alarming. I had no idea this was going on, and in Texas? I know we have been taking a hard stand against illegal immigration including investing millions of dollars on a wall and border patrol personnel, but this does not mean we should simply send all illegal immigrants back across the border excusing them of the crimes they had committed while on their little "stay" here in Texas. What about the victims of some of these violent crimes? Where are the judges? Are they simply turning their heads the other way? According to one Dallas article , since 1991 in Dallas County, nearly 1,000 illegal immigrants have not stood trial after being accused of felonies! Apparently officials from the DA's office, the Dallas County Sheriff's Department, and the ICE met, but no quick fixes were found. I have an idea, DON'T SET A BOND! Do we need legislation for a judge to decide that a bond should not be set? Maybe we are purposely setting them free because our jail system is so overcrowded that we simply cannot accommodate illegal immigrants. This is a very dangerous situation, and as more and more illegal immigrants find out about this loophole, the more crimes they will commit, and the worse they will get.

Bikes and Cars Coexisting

People need to get it through their heads that bicycles and Austin go hand in hand! And with our public awareness of global warming and dependency on foreign oil, the ratio of bikes vs cars is only going to get higher. I find it disturbing that our youth is still ill informed and ignorant enough to shoot a bicycler in the back with a metal projectile simply because he didn't like bikes on the road. As stated in this Make Way For Peaceful Coexistence editorial, although attacking bicyclists with weapons isn't common, Travis County prosecutors can cite plenty of examples of threatening behavior by aggressive motor vehicle drivers. Is this due to lack of education or straight stupidity? I would like to think education is the problem, and if so, we need to implement some kind of training into high school (in particular) since this is when our youth begins hitting the Austin roads. Maybe a billboard campaign is in need. There are plenty of Signs for Bicycles and certainly this helps, but what about some sort of (large billboard) reminder campaign. I can't really remember seeing any billboards in Austin reminding people to share the road, although I am sure there are some (just not enough). I'm not even sure this would be a good election campaign since so many people are surprisingly not on the right page yet, and in Austin?? If the human being and fish can coexist peacefully can't bikes and cars!!!

International Man of Mistery...Liberty Belles's response to Jens Blog....

Upon reading several interesting blogs, I came across one that didn't seem like a homework assignment and (although it is a blog about a blog), I chose to read on. "Belle" as I will call her, was actually at the Alamo, saw Mr. Perry, and applied her intelligence, whether it was accumulated through her Texas Government class, osmosis through her son's 4th grade government class, or her keen perception, it definitely caught my attention. I must say that it was very perceptive to observe the fact that he (Mr. Perry) was actually utilizing the Alamo for future campaigning purposes. No, he did NOT need to sign any bill for it to pass or be there for any other reason other than to visit the Alamo. Wait a couple of days and spend your own money on your own campaign while the bill passes itself...he knows that, and so does everyone that was there for this glorious and heroic moment...so, basically Mr. Perry was using our tax dollars for campaign purposes...what a smart politician. Although I do blame this partially on the little power our Texas governors have and the amount they have to depend on "personal power" for public support and future elections, it does not condone utilizing our dollars for campaigning. By law, all parties in Texas must hold their political conventions in the month of June, but at the Alamo?? Nice catch Belle!!

Texas...Number 1 in The Death Penalty

Ahough I do agree in some aspect with the death penalty as some sort of consolation to the victims, I do believe the laws need some refining. I haven't been personally affected therefore haven't experienced the pain of the victims of violent capital crimes, but I can imagine there is some sort of satisfaction that comes from capital punishment. This is most likely the reasoning behind allowing victims and or victims' families to witness the exectution in Texas. The problem is the burden of proof beyond resonable doubt. If someone is going to lose their life, there had better be absolutely no doubt of that person's guilt. Unfortunately, there have been cases where there was some doubt, as well as cases where the suspect was proven innocent after recent forensic technology has advanced and proven otherwise. How many cases then, should have been overturned? More importantly, how many cases should be overturned currently before it is too late. There have been 8 innocent persons released from death row since it was reinstated in 1976. Currently Texas leads the nation in the number of executions since death penalty was reinstated Death Penalty Education and Resource Center I believe the innocence commission, which is a legal commission set up by the government to review criminal convictions in a new light, has their work cut out for them until we figure out another way of establishing resonable doubt or proving otherwise.

Forensic Commission, What's the purpose?

I agree with the Austin American Statesman Lawmakers should reassess panel's purpose editorial about the importance and most of all potential of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, and hopefully they will figure out and/or alter there purpose while they are on OUR payroll. I am not sure how much taxpayer money it cost to employ the nine members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, but more importantly, I don't understand their purpose, and neither do they apparently! It's obviously up to the courts to prove a criminal case, and if it's a capital case, whose punishment has been rendered, then isn't it too late to overturn the case or appeal? As with the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was sentenced to death and executed in 2004 for a fire in his home in 1991 that killed his 3 children, they were not able to draw a conclusion using forensics until he was already executed, at which time the report concluded that nobody could have used the available evidence to show that Willingham set the fire. If the purpose of the commission and report is to help prevent improperly charged individuals, then it is important to remember that the evidence gathered by commission appointed experts is not offered as evidence in a court of law. Maybe the purpose should be to prove that evidence is presentable and viable before being used and before the court precedings start, especially with capital cases. It doesn't seem that the commission is doing its job, whatever that may be, furthermore, with the recently released Willingham report, I find it alarming that 4 of the 9 members have been suddenly replaced by Governor Perry. Either way, mabye lawmakers will soon figure out what they've created, because it is pretty apparent that they may have a huge responsibility that was not originally intended.

Watch your language

I find THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE commentary posted in the Austin American Statesman interesting and alarming, although a bit biased. I agree that the Dallas police officers that have recently been citing drivers (you tube video From CNN) for not speaking English an ignorant mistake, which indeed raises some concern for the need of extra training. Some training on law, and yes, if you are a police officer in the state of Texas, maybe you should take some Spanish classes, especially since the largest minority is Latino. But isn't it a safety concern if someone is driving in the US and can't speak english? How can you expect to obide by traffic signs if you can't read them? Maybe you recognize most of the more common signs by shapes or colors, but I've seen some very unique construction and warning signs. I know if I went to Germany right now, not knowing a single word besides "brotwierst" (spelling check?... please allow some sarcasm here!!), I would be in trouble if I was behind the wheel. If you are going to live here, I think you "should" learn the language, but if you are going to drive in the US, you NEED to learn English ASAP. There is a reason it is a law for commercial drivers, and it should be the same for any driver, safety. It is alarming that our rookie officers don't know the very law they are trying to uphold, but I can also see their frustration, and have seen too many "Cops" episodes where the driver clearly is trying to avoid a ticket by not speaking English because he all of the sudden knows the language when he/she gets put in the back of the patrol car. I can see where it seems racist, and there is definitely a lack of training, but consider this: what if you got in an accident and couldn't give important life saving information about you or your loved ones in the vehicle to EMS or the Fire Deparment?

Laws: Too Fast For Technology!!

Is texting while driving considered so urgent and dangerous that we must pass an oridiance without explicitly specifying in the conditions what electronic devices are included? We are setting ourselves up for too broad of a law in the midst of a "handheld" revolution. The technology is ever so changing these days and we must be more specific as to exlcude some electronic devices specifically or specify exactly which devices we are talking about. After all, the automobile is utilizing more electronic devices than ever with safety in particular as a concern such as gps, voice activation, built in cells phones, and automatic sensors. I'm not Nostradamous, but I see more time and money being wasted on an amendment in the very near future. http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A901848