A scary story is unfolding about our courts. According to Statesman 3rd Court of Appeals Justice Jan Patterson who says Chief Justice Ken Law refuse to let her file a dissent in a politically charged case involving two associates of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
Justice Jan Patterson, a Democrat, is asking the Texas Supreme Court to intervene. She claims that Law, a Republican who's up for re-election, blocked the filing of her dissent to last week's ruling on whether fellow Justice Alan Waldrop, also a Republican, should step aside in the money-laundering case involving DeLay's associates.
In addition to the controversy swirling around the 3rd Court of Appeals, Texans for Public Justice has filed a complaint echoing Justice Patterson's sentiment.
Texans for Public Justice filed a complaint with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct today alleging that Third Court of Appeals Justice Alan Waldrop should not have written an opinion in the criminal case against Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) because his impartiality is questionable.
"Justice Waldrop's August 22 TRMPAC opinion reads like a 'Get Out of Jail Free Card' for Tom DeLay and his cronies," said Texans for Public Justice Director Craig McDonald. "As counsel for Texans for Lawsuit Reform in related civil litigation, Waldrop announced his bias in this matter years ago, dismissing the civil suit as 'politically motivated.' Waldrop should not have participated in this case."
The infighting in the 3rd Court is apparent. The Republicans seem to be shielding their friends and allies, while the Democrats appear to want justice. Democrat Diane Henson went so far as to ask for a full rehearing on the case. An unprecedented move in any circumstances.
Every day it becomes more and more clear why we need Woodie Jones on the bench. Luckily he is taking on Ken Law, and we can remedy these problems once and for all.
"The dark shadow of corruption of our judicial system hangs over this case," Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle said Monday, referring to the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals opinion that Tom DeLay's money launderers didn't really launder money because they used checks. Drug dealers throughout the state can rejoice. Turn those street dollars into checks and, well, you're safe as a crooked politician.
Despite the fact that turning ill-gotten cash into checks is a favorite laundering tactic of drug dealers and political criminals alike, the court said checks aren't "funds" under Texas law, and so transactions involving them can't be prosecuted.
The case involves indictments against two of DeLay's associates in the notorious 2002 campaign financing scheme that also resulted in DeLay's indictment and forced resignation from Congress. Earle's strong comments came in an appeal of the bizarre, Alice-In-Wonderland 3rd Court opinion.
There is no better example of the sickening corruption that has infected the Texas Courts from top to bottom since they became dominated by special interests who also control the legislative and executive branches. The courts are out of balance, and the corruption so thoroughgoing, so accepted as business as usual, that it can be hard to grasp.
But it is destroying the rule of law here, denying average Texans access to justice as the elite special interests who bought these judges escape accountability and responsibility for the harm they do all of us.
Texans for Public Justice (TPJ) filed a pair of complaints alleging that Third Court of Appeals Chief Justice W. Kenneth Law repeatedly violated the Texas Election Code in the course of his current reelection campaign.
TPJ alleges Law illegally collected more than $66,000 in political contributions without appointing a campaign treasurer and taking $10,000 from GOP Swift-Boat activist Harold Simmons-twice what the state Judicial Campaign Fairness Act permits.
Judge Law recently participated in a divisive ruling in the criminal case against Tom DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority PAC (TRMPAC). The ruling stated that "checks" are not subject to Texas' money laundering prohibitions.
Central Texas voters elected Law Chief Justice in November 2002. Last month he and two other Republican members of his court issued a divisive ruling in the criminal case against Tom DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority PAC (TRMPAC). The ruling uses technical distinctions between "funds" and "checks" to suggest that TRMPAC did not illegally launder corporate political funds. To protect DeLay and two cronies, the justices wrote that TRMPAC's checks were not money-laundering "funds."
"As Judge Law labored over the TRMPAC ruling, he appears to have raised tens of thousands of campaign dollars in violation of Texas election laws," said Texans for Public Justice Director Craig McDonald. "The chief justice even may have cashed these ill-gotten campaign 'checks' into 'funds.' So many violations represent incompetence or indifference on his part."
TPJ alleges that Chief Justice Law appears to have:
Accepted $66,850 in campaign contributions at a time when he did not have a duly appointed campaign treasurer.
Accepted $66,850 in campaign contributions without filing his intention to opt in or out of the Judicial Campaign Fairness Act's voluntary expenditure limits.
Violated the cap on judicial candidates taking more than $5,000 from an individual per election by accepting $10,000 from nuclear-dump owner Harold Simmons.
Accepted $1,000 from an out-of-state political committee without following the disclosure requirements prescribed for receiving large contributions from out-of-state PACs.
Used his campaign to reimburse himself for approximately $21,576 of campaign expenditures that were not properly designated as reimbursable expenses.
Failed to include required disclosure information about the occupation, employer, or job title of more than 50 contributors.
