The most troubling aspect of the race thus far has been charges levied against Marc Brown that he is pro-choice. I’ll admit to not understanding why that would be a great concern in this particular race but it is certainly a scarlet letter type of charge within the Republican Party. I would have ignored it if the chargers were only coming from anonymous commenters here and elsewhere, or whispers at events I attend. But I was being asked about this by elected officials in the legislative branch – they were troubled by it, one even thinking about retracting their endorsement of Mr. Brown. So I did the logical thing – I asked him. I’m not sure why someone that endorsed him wouldn’t think to do that.
Here is his response:
Mr. Jennings,
You are correct that abortion has very little to do with the position I am running for. However, all Judges, Criminal and Civil are subject to being assigned to rule on the Chapter 33 cases involving whether a minor is mature enough to decide on her own to have an abortion. The Canons of Judicial Conduct prohibit judicial candidates and Judges from commenting on how they would rule in a particular case that may come before them. I do not want to fall for some sort of clever trap set by Mr. Dexter or his supporters. Furthermore, advocating for a particular case to be over-ruled would be akin to the judicial activism that I rail against. It is not the place for a Criminal District Court Judge to legislate from the bench.
However, even though I am a candidate for a Judicial office, I do not feel that I have forfeited my First Amendment rights entirely and the Supreme Court of the United States agrees with me. I can comfortably point out certain things without running afoul of the Judicial Canons. I am on record with regard to this issue prior to becoming a candidate for judicial office. Prior to Judge Stricklin announcing her retirement, I publicly said that I do not believe that Roe v. Wade is supported by the United States Constitution. I have publicly said that life begins at conception. I have publicly said that abortion is murder. I supported elevating the murder of a pregnant woman to capital murder as a double murder. Among the reasons I joined the Roman Catholic Church three years ago, well before I ever considered running for this position, is because of the Church’s stand on this issue. I am married to one of the strongest pro-life women I have ever met. Were I the person that the rumors* describe, I would not be allowed in my home. Were I the person that the rumors* describe, I would not be supported by all the pro-life folks who have endorsed me.
Marc Brown
I’d say that his statement was clear and unequivical. Now, can we stop with that type of slander? (note: the asterisk behind “rumors” was my way of editing out the name of one commenter – as I said, many people were going around saying this, not just one)
On the other side of the equation is Danny Dexter. As I noted here, his campaign is being hit with charges that he isn’t qualified for the job. Most of those charges come from current and former prosecutors, who have gotten hold of his personnel file when he was with the county and are using that to embarass him. As usual, there are two sides to that story as well. Here is Mr. Dexter’s response to Mr. Brown’s submitting of the memo that I posted earlier, a very damaging memo:
Mr. Jennings:
As I’ve stated, I do not want to get into a back-and-forth with my opponent via a blog.
However, I will say again that the record clearly reflects I resigned and was not dismissed. It’s fine to produce a memo written by someone who has now endorsed my opponent. I have previously and clearly addressed the work conditions and toxic culture at the office when I worked there. So, even though the record is clear, my opposition will continue to inaccurately report that I was fired. It is clear I resigned.
But while my opponent is going through my file maybe he can explain where some missing documents have gone. They include commendation letters and notes of praise from victims and witnesses and nomination letters and acceptance documentation to the National College of District Attorneys-Career Prosecutor School. There’s also the matter of my trial record, which is normally in such files. I had to use other public records to reconstruct my complete trial record. All those documents are gone. They are not in the file. They once were.
Now, that’s not to say my opponent would be talking about such things if they were still in the file. Of course not. If asked, he’d probably just ignore or suppress the complete picture. That’s what his campaign has done with the positive things that are in the file. But that’s his choice. Ignoring all the facts and evidence is probably not a trait that would best serve justice. However, that’s for the voters to decide.
Now, I will get back to the positive business of talking to voters about how best to serve our community. Respectfully, I have no further interest in discussing malicious smears and half-truths. My opponent can continue to engage in such tactics. I personally believe the voters expect more dignity, poise and maturity from those of us seeking a position on the bench.
Thank you again for your interest.
God Bless,
Danny Dexter
And I think that what he points out is extremely important – the people releasing his file are not releasing the entire file, thus voters are being deprived of the whole picture. Not only that, but apparently the file has been corrupted so that we will never see the whole picture. There’s dirty politics and then there is corrupt politics – this is on the corrupt side. Distrrict Attorney Pat Lykos should investigate this – after all, she ran on a platform of transparency and honesty. This is anything but that. How would you like it if someone altered your personnel file from a job you held many years ago?
I had the opportunity to meet with both candidates and their spouses on Saturday at the Senate Conventions. They are both just ordinary families trying to serve their communities and I don’t think that either of them is particularly fond of this type of campaigning. Fight hard, sure, but scarlet letters and altered personnel files go way beyond fighing hard.
The candidates are scheduled to be at the weekly Downtown Houston Pachyderm Club today at lunch. Click here for more details. If you have a chance, why not head over there and meet them for yourself? Or head over to their websites and find out more about them? Then make a choice but don’t make it based upon rumors, slander, and innuendo from either side.
Marc Brown’s Website: electmarcbrown.com
Danny Dexter’s Website: dexterforjudge.com