Faced with the inability to slap the wrists of citizens themselves for not wearing masks in public, local officials in Texas are beginning to resort to the next best thing in an effort to halt the spread of coronavirus: penalizing businesses instead. Bexar and Hidalgo counties—along with the city of Austin—have entered executive orders authorizing...
With what seems like the regularity of a Swiss watch, Texas’ pretrial release system is making the news again—just not in a good way. A recent story published by FOX 26 Houston tells of 20-year old Caitlynne Guajardo and her unborn child who, according to Pasadena police, were stabbed to death by her husband during...
Within the broad sphere of the criminal justice system, it is perhaps understandable that physical entities — predominantly state prisons, but also increasingly county jails — have received most of the scrutiny among the reform-minded. Rapid growth in prison and jail populations, driven in large part by “tough on crime” sentencing policies that emphasized carceral sanctions for...
There has been a long-running comparison between California and Texas as to which of the country’s two most populous states — each with a wholly distinct flavor of governing style — best serves its citizens. Commentators may point to this benefit or that, but the direction of net migration by ordinary citizens shows people seem...
Collecting seashells that are strewn across thousands of miles of America’s shorelines may be a pastime for many beachgoers, but a recent incident out of Florida highlights that the line between “commonplace” and “criminal” is thin, indeed. According to the Florida Keys News, Diana Fiscal-Gonzalez pleaded no contest to criminal charges after taking 40 queen conches out...
Although never explicitly codified in the Constitution, the axiom that a person is considered innocent until he or she has been proven guilty of a crime is a bedrock principle of our justice system. Indeed, the Supreme Court held in 1987 that while it is sometimes necessary to jail defendants before their trials — e.g.,...
FEATURES: 1. The 85th Texas Legislature Round-up A Conservative Texas Budget, major changes to our beleaguered foster care system, and significant criminal justice reform highlighted conservative successes in the recently concluded regular session of the 85th Texas Legislature. This feature highlights the victories—and some of the areas in which we still have work to be...
It’s long past time to breathe some innovation into a stale practice that isn’t adapting to modern realities. Furthermore, it’s better to fix these problems voluntarily than receive a judicial mandate. We can achieve better outcomes — for the public and defendants alike — and pre-trial risk assessments can help get us there.
This commentary originally appeared on TribTalk on April 25, 2017. Recently, two Texas district attorneys have taken to the editorial pages to openly defend a government practice that has engendered widespread condemnation: civil asset forfeiture. They have lamented reform efforts while making several spurious defenses for the practice along the way that merit challenge. Civil...
The ability to unilaterally seize and keep property—with little recourse to the individual—is no different. The administrative swamp is deep and its reach broad, making it liable to ensnare many people whose sole transgression is being an easy target.
It’s high time to abolish our current system of civil forfeiture and reestablish a constitutionally sound process for relieving criminals of their ill-gotten gains, while protecting innocent property owners.
If a 'fair value' approach were applied that accounts for default risk, Ex-Im actually costs taxpayers $200 million a year.