Today, I got a postcard from UH Law Center, informing me that there is a lecture and panel discussion in September about the "exoneration" of over 100 people on death row. The keynote speech is by Charlie Baird, an allegedly impartial former state judge (he was voted out of office but still hears cases by appointment), and the panel includes former death row inmates Clarence Brandley and Kerry Max Cook. The postcard does not note that Cook, who presumably claims to have been exonerated, voluntarily pled no contest and was convicted and sentenced to prison.

This is the sort of political approach to criminal law that is leading the public to believe that there is something wrong with prosecuting criminals. Unless prosecutors begin to respond, explaining the overwhelming due process available to inmates and countering the misinformation of such "continuing education" seminars, we are doomed to face jurors who have been polluted before the trial even begins.

One way to address this problem is for UH alumni to write to their former law school and ask the Dean to stop letting criminal defense attorneys use a public school to sponsor political messages. I have already sent my letter.

Its nice to see its not only my alma mater that is the bastion of liberal rhetoric

You can send your comments directly to UH by e-mail:

Briefcase@uh.edu

Maybe someone should send a transcript of the U.S. Senate hearing where Senator Hatch pointed out how little Judge Baird knew about Texas law in capital cases.