Is it my imagination or is every liberal organization in Texas now issuing "official" reports that claim to have completed some "study" that shows something is going very wrong in criminal justice? Today, the ACLU has "determined" that drug task forces should be abolished.

Why does the press print such stuff with little or no filter? Perhaps prosecutors could form some important sounding group ("Prosecutors For Truth, Justice & the American Way", perhaps) and issue official reports on the people who are fairly convicted 99.9% of the time.

The best part about issuing your own "studies" is that you can then cite them in your appellate/habeas briefs as ("independent") authority for your position.

It's the gift that keeps on giving ...

Yeah, and you can cite statistics (like, 99.9% of all defendants are fairly convicted) without having to do anything silly like an actual, verifiable study.

Okay, that was an astute grasp of the obvious!

Not only was Matthew's Getts PDR granted, it was granted QUICKLY and the CCA requested oral arg in spite of Matthew's eschewing the same b/c of the complex nature of the statutory interpretation argument. He's also filed a PDR in Uriega and is in the process of filing one in Howard -- the recent Hood County case decided by the FW COA. The PDRs soundly attack the troubling conundrum created by the 2001 amendment to 49.09(e). I'm sure Matthew will share copies as he always does, and Richard and I have them in email form, too. The SPA office is always appreciated!

Hey guys,

Isn't it all just a bit like everything else - health issues, medical studies etc. - some group, who may have been created in the mind of the proponent, comes out with an "Official Report" that says some innocuous, usually foreign, study says that caffeine is the root of all evil and then the other side responds based on an equally bogus study that in fact it is the fruit of the gods and the key to longevity etc. Actually I would be willing to support the second study.

It seems that the same thing is happening in our bailiwick with these so-called "Official Reports". The real problem seems to be that when the real facts are put out, based on actual cases and data, that should dispel these bogus claims, no one pays any attention, or they don't believe them because they don't say what the media wants them to say. Count me in as a member of your new group though.