
This stuff makes me ill. I was contacted by a family law attorney that does business in Judge Alicia Franklin’s 311th District Court. The attorney complained that she felt pressured to give money to Judge Franklin for her upcoming honeymoon. Say what? Sure enough, Judge Franklin and her finance, Doug York, have a website asking for contributions to pay for their honeymoon. (click the pic to enlarge)
Here is a snippet in case you don’t want to read it all:
We plan to start our honeymoon by staying a few days in Paris. We want to visit our love lock on the Pont des Arts, visit a few museums, roam the cobblestone streets hand in hand while warming ourselves with café au laits, and visit a few favorite restaurants! Since it will be April, the weather will likely be a bit brisk. As such, we will make our way to warmer weather from Paris by next traveling to the Maldives for a little r&r. We plan to be beach bums with a little pampering such as massages and fine dining. We truly treasure spending time with each other and building memories together!!!
Aw, isn’t that sweet? Not only do they enjoy building memories, but they want someone else to pay for those memories! Truly sweet!
And guess what boys and girls? They have specific items you can pay for! Here are a few, you need to click over to the website to enjoy all of them.
Well now, ain’t that sweet! The happy couple needs two bottles of “excellent” wine because one, well, one just won’t do! But they need ten cocktails by the pool because, you know, it’s nice to get snockered when you are swimming!
And Judge Charley Prine wishing the happy moochers the best!
Unfreaking believable.
THIS IS WHAT PASSES FOR A FAMILY JUDGE THESE DAYS?
Sheesh, when I get it wrong, I get it wrong!
Folks, we aren’t talking about a couple of lovestruck teenagers that are starting a new life together and need a wedding shower or two. We are talking about two very successful attorneys and an elected district judge. Heck, Franklin received over $800,000 from Harris County taxpayers alone for appointed cases. Which reminds me, where again is Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson? It has been over six month since Greg Enos filed a criminal complaint against Judge Franklin (click here to read more about that complaint) and still NOTHING from the DA. NADA, ZIP, ZILCH.
Do you think the DA would have been silent if Judge Franklin had run as a Democrat? I surely don’t.
Franklin and York are obviously classless and tasteless. One attorney I talked to about this said that there is no way he would beg for money for a honeymoon – if he couldn’t take care of his new bride, she shouldn’t have married him.
That’s funny. But the bigger issue is a judge sitting behind a bench pressuring the attorneys in front of her to pay for her pleasure activities. And a DA that sits on her hands when a Republican is involved.
Can’t we do better?
Oh.
My.
God!
We need candidates for that bench NOW!
Are you listening, Meca Walker and Anthony Magdaleno?
Rhymes, you do realize that Meca Walker is Alicia Franklin’s Associate Judge? I will bet you lunch at a place of your choosing she does not resign. Understand, she took the job after the billing scandal was known.
Mary Jane Smith can explain all of this to you and you can read her comments below.
LMAO
This is the best that the Republican party can come up with? How disgustingly embarrassing!
I thought she was a Democrat a couple of years ago?
Ths is unbelievable. It’s nuts. And, it probably constitutes the offense of gift to a public servant. In fact, each contribution from someone who is not a personal friend of the judge is another count.
How can anybody be so damn stupid?
Sometimes you can’t fix stupid!
WTF Pratt doesn’t look so bad now? Class? Taste? I’m bewildered!
How is this not a campaign finance violation? Especially if she has solicited attorneys practicing in her court.
It may pass the test for not being a violation, but it sure smells.
You have no idea what you are talking about. This is not what is happening. Until you know the whole truth you should not spread statements that could be construed as defamation of a public official.
.
Which is:
(a) not a criminal offense under the laws of the United States or the State of Texas;
(b) likely unsustainable in a civil case due to the standard set for defamation cases involving public figures by the Supreme Court in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan a half century ago;
(c) would open Judge Franklin up to a very wide-ranging discovery process that would make public her personal, professional, campaign, and honeymoon fund financial records as those accused of defamation mounted a full and vigorous defense;
(d) would ultimately result in sanctions against whatever attorney filed such a frivolous SLAPP suit on her behalf.
But I suppose if they want to bring on such a lawsuit, the antics might just make the Denise Pratt saga look pretty tame and Pratt herself look competent and ethical in comparison.
Judge Franklin also likes coffee in the morning. Two creams, one sugar. If you could take care of that for her she would appreciate it. And that Lexus isn’t washing itself, people…
Isn’t this what y’all wanted? With your political scheming, this is the result. Isn’t it obvious that she’s a Democrat? And all of you left-leaning “conservatives” brought this on yourselves.
Why don’t you ask Valerie Swanson why she lied about Judge Pratt so that she could have an excuse to endorse Franklin in the runoff…
You can’t really think Pratt was an OK judge.
I am embarrassed, not for them, but for the many Republicans who she obviously fooled. And I am one, who believed she had scruples and good moral judgement.
We replaced an intellectually weak jurist with one who has, to put it mildly, very poor judgement.
I am sure someone is checking into possible ethics violations on this. I do not fault the D A’s office as they work quietly and behind the scenes gathering all the facts before they make a legal decision .
If in fact, Judge Alicia Franklin did receive $800,000 in court appointed cases prior to her going on the court, she should have no trouble doing that again, since she will be a former district judge appearing before her former peers. Perhaps she should pay more due diligence to her current and future employment than to her honeymoon.
Speaking of the honeymoon, it will not be all lobster, champagne and latte. She will have a primary opponent or two a full year from now. She should add a few cartons of Maalox to her wish list.
A little more than a year ago, I found myself waiting with my clients in the 311th District Court until 2:00 p.m. To see if the former judge was going to show up for a 9:00 a.m. hearing. That was over $1600 of my billable time wasted. This morning, I am up at the crack of dawn because I have to get to the 311th District Court for an 8:00 a.m. hearing before Judge Franklin. Big difference. Orders are being signed in her Court, cases are moving along, cronyism is not a factor, and common sense has returned to this Court. Shouldn’t that be what we are focused on? Judge Franklin is a friend of mine, I am one of her supporters, and I just found out about her wedding registry through this article. I could care less where she is going for her honeymoon. Neither she or anyone on her behalf has ever asked me or suggested to me that I need to fund her honeymoon or buy her a wedding present. That should be the point. I have not heard of anyone that has been told that they should donate anything to her vacation fund or wedding. I want judges on the bench that are going to show up, listen to the evidence, be fair and impartial, and make good rulings. I don’t give a damn about where they want to go on a trip, what sort of dishes they want as a wedding gift, or what they do on their own time. If anyone (Judge Franklin included) ever tries to suggest to me that I need to make a donation, sponsor an event, or buy a particular wedding gift in order to get a fair hearing, I would be the first person to start firing shots at them. I am rather disappointed in this article, because it seems more focused on taking cheap shots at the judge instead of actually looking at what she has actually accomplished on the bench. So, my main complaint about Judge Franklin is that she is making me wake up an hour earlier so that I can go to Court and she can do her job.
I agree there is no meat on the bone here. I wish peeps were as interested in what the City of Houston’s Office of International Communities was up to…..this story is nothing.
To Robert S. Clark: Alicia Franklin may be a hard-working and effective judge, but it looks like she has poor moral judgment, which is also essential for a judge. The place to resolve this problem is at the next Republican primary in March 2016, and there should be several good candidates available.
Interesting article.
Although I can’t imagine a scenario where I would ask somebody to fund my honeymoon, personally, I don’t know that it reflects upon Judge Franklin’s ability or character unless she truly is soliciting people to donate. I can’t imagine that she would be foolish enough to do that.
“The attorney complained that she felt pressured to give money to Judge Franklin’s for her upcoming honeymoon. ”
How, how did the attorney feel pressured? Did the judge announce it in court? Or did said attorney discover the beg site and decide to contact Bigjollypolitics just to start stuff.
I could care less about a judge setting up a beg site. Is it stupid prolly…….. way too much about nothing. I am more interested in the attorney’s motivation. We’ll probably never find the answer to that question.
Isn’t this just a wedding registry? One of my friends did the exact same thing for their wedding, and I liked the idea that we were giving a gift that we knew they would truly enjoy…
Surely the Republican party has more to worry about than what Alicia Franlikn and her fiance’ do with their wedding plans. Surely. Their wedding planning may not be the way you, or anyone else may have planned it, but it no way reflects in her ability to be an effective judge.
This is but one reason we, as a party, are in trouble. We eat our young and bitch about the most ignorant stuff, all the while refusing to talk about the issues people really care about that will advance our mission.
Looks like this article was spawned apby a great deal of jealousy and sour grapes… Perhaps Alicia and Doug should have cleared their wedding plans through the power brokers of the Republican party???
Sick.
Kudos Mr. Dexter. Well said.
You want to know what is killing the party and what is sick, Mr. Dexter?
Your and others low expectations of elected officials. Not only is it killing the party, it is destroying the country.
You want change for the better in this country? You want the country to continue to grow and prosper?
Change your expectations. And those of your friends.
It saddens me deeply to see people accept this type of behavior as normal. Elected officials, especially judges, should be above reproach. To see members of the party that I identify with defending this type of behavior gives me great pause.
DJ
Didn’t see Mathew complain to much about the 185th Grand jury. Matt is a prosecutor at the DA’s office and a former police officer, he was hired by Mike Anderson. There you have it Matt Dexters’ standards speak for themselves..
Seriously, Don.?
First and foremost, my perspective is my own and does not stem from my former or current employment. As for my standards, you are hardly in a postion to speak on such matters.
And what the hell does a Grand Jury have to do with my opinion on a flawed article regarding a honeymoon? In the interest of full disclosure ( not that I owe it to anyone) Doug is a friend of mine and Ihe is one hell of a good guy. A far cry from someone who launches personal attacks for the sake being devisive.
Matt
I’m sorry but whoever wrote this article is inane because PEOPLE DO THIS ALL THE TIME! Hello, wake up and welcome to 2015 where engaged couples, like myself, have a website set up for our honeymoon. The honeymoon registry is EXACTLY like a regular wedding registry. This isn’t the judge asking for anything political, is the website up in the courtroom, NO because she’s not an idiot, this is just someone doing what people do when they are engaged. So again, whomever wrote this article needs to step off their high horse now.
The honeymooners have caused the most outrage I have seen expressed in the volume of comments at the Big Jolly Politics blog ever! It is needed DA Devon Anderson’s “sitting on her hands” tacitly allowing the judicial system to be politically milked by the Anderson’s “criminal judicial sysytem is exposed for what it is.. Once again only the Bloggers at BJP, Republicans in the true sense of the Latin words “Res Publica” or upholders of the “Common Good, have broken the deathly silence which sorrounds Devon’s criminal machinations as DA. But this is not the first time, nor the last that Devon Anderson to be DA has gotten away with murder. There were very few comments of outrage, after Andersons presiding over Chip Davis’ Key Man Jury destroyed Pat Lykos politically as DA for Chip Davis in exchange for Michael getting her job as DA. Then Gov. Perry appointed Devon with the approval of then AG Abbott DA to exonerate Douglas Karpen (Houston’s own Kermit Gosnel) to keep Perry and his lobbyist sister’s partial ownership of Karpen’s late term “out patient” abortion clinic through their United Surigical Partner’s stock from being exposed if Karpen was indicted for infanticide for twisting the heads off of babies purposely born alive at his abortion clinic. After CIA Dave Dewhurst then LT. Gov. lauded Devon as DA in the Chronicle for protecting Texas Woman and babies from sloppy abortionists who violate Texas law by her exoneration of Karpen (a masterful example of CIA propaganda doublethink disinformation) Devon who like Michael will do anything, allow any injustice or corruption, say anything to be DA turned around and stabbed Dewhurst in his race with the full support of now Lt. Gov. and author of the Sonogram Bill, Dan Patrick. These phoney “pro-life” conservative rockefellar republicans (like John Boehner having nine true pro-life Republicans arrested) using the pro-life endorsement from Texas Right to Life to get elected are still silent on DA Anderson’s exoneration of Douglas Karpen. And that silence made way for Devon’s election as DA. But infinitely worse than Anderson as DA is their silence on Karpen’s exoneration which allows Karpen to continue to twist the heads off of live born babies from five to nine months at his Perry owned clinic. Gov. Abbott, Dan Patrick, Cardinal Dinardo, Texas Right to Life, Houston Coalitition for Life, all silent about the exoneration of Douglas Karpen.. But the honeymooners!
Why do crazy people always use run on sentences?
Oh, Father Christopher Terry, O P. ….. Please tell me your parish so next week, going into Holy Week, I may come and worship at your truly sanctified alter of truth and knowledge of all things. Will Father Don be there? I might need to go to confession and I know Father Don will forgive all my sins. He is so smart, just like you, and oh so forgiving. And, like you, can gloss over an issue and into another diversionary issue..
Again, Father, please tell me which parish?
Mary Jane Smith,
Father Terry has been around for a long time and involved with the pro life movement. I think you are trying to imply that I am Father Terry, I am not.
It is not a good idea to mock people of faith. This is not the first time I have seen you do this. I will certainly pass on to Father Terry and his group who tirelessly fight for the rights of the unborn your list of candidates in the next election cycle.
I never post anonymously anywhere. I don’t have to because as you know I am not real shy in telling people what I think right to their face.
By the way, I am pro life and wish I had more time to help the cause.
Couple of points:
Judge Franklin was elected to a four year term.
Though she was appointed to the office, that was effective until the November, 2014 election.
She will next be on the ballot in 2018.
I have known Judge Franklin since before she ran for the 311th, and have known Mr. York even longer.
More importantly, I have known the coordinator over 20 years.
Back door pressure (and I have heard numerous tales of it in my decades at the courthouse) usually comes through at will employees of the official.
I have cases pending before the 311th, and if there were “pressure” to buy a gift for their wedding or honeymoon, I would have been on the list.
There has been none. Period.
I certainly wish the happy couple well.
I’m Tom Zakes and I approve this message.
Tom, Judge Franklin would have to be even more stupid than she has been already, to solicit or pressure you (a known conservative and precinct chair) for money, honeymoon gifts or otherwise. If you knew Judge Franklin that well before the election, you knew of her Democrat, liberal way of life with her boyfriend. Someone wrote a long time ago that she lacks a moral compass, I think it was the guy her filed criminal complaints against her that should still be pending with the DA. This kind of stuff is not only what one could have anticipated it was what several regular practitioners at the courthouse warned about. Her boyfriend and she are a “real” team, when it comes too contriving ways to make a buck while acting no better than thugs. Practitioners are not going to be public about the Judges miss-adventures unless they are in a majority or just too desperate to care anymore, i.e. the attorneys that revolted against Judge Pratt out of self preservation. You might say this is Judge Pratt II, the sequel. I can’t even get credit for coining the phrase. Speaking of Judge Pratt, didn’t you endorse her in this last primary when her conduct was so bad that it drew the attention for Alicia Franklin to jump from another loosing campaign for the 247th (where she was getting no endorsements) to run for the present bench? Alicia Franklin had not been voting long herself, but it was for the Democrats not Republicans. If Judge Pratt had not used dropping out of the race, during the run-off, as a plea bargaining tool, we might have had a real Republican choice. Alas, could have, would-have, not what real politics are made of.