Big Jolly Politics

politics in Harris County and Texas

Whoa – Republican DA Candidate Mike Anderson hanging with Democrat anti-Semite?

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What the heck?

Out on the campaign trail with owner of Farouk Systems, Farouk Shami, a friend and supporter of the campaign

Like ·  · Share · Yesterday

Mike, are you kidding me? Friend and supporter of the campaign? Here is Shami with Neil Aquino, who blogs as the Texas Liberal:

And here is what Neil wrote about that scarf:

The problem is what the scarf says. On one side it says “Palestine” and on the other side it says “Jerusalem is ours.”

I read that scarf and I thought to myself—”Isn’t this race difficult enough for you already?”

Yeah, isn’t November going to be difficult enough for all Harris County Republicans without the guy at the top of the ticket palling around with a  Jew-hating, anti-Israel, 9/11 Truther?

Good grief.

But hey, look at the bright side! It reminded me of this video:

It’s amazing that Republicans win anything.

Harris County Democratic Party gets its writ kicked

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If you haven’t heard by now, Lloyd Oliver, Harris County Democratic Party nominee for District Attorney, will be on the ballot in November. Judge Bill Burke entered the order in time for the ballot printing and verifying process to proceed as normal. Most observers do not expect the HCDP to appeal his decision.

How bizarre was the case? The Dems tried to use the same argument that they used in the 1900’s to keep blacks from voting. See Grovey v. Townsend. Basically, the Dems were saying that they had a right to “associate” with whomever they deemed “acceptable”. Judge Burke saw through this and said in his order:

In this circumstance, the political party’s so called Right of Association must yield to other rights which vested as a result of the party’s primary process. The State of Texas, too, has a compelling interest in free and fair elections and promoting democratic decision making.

It is appalling that even as the Democratic Party is set to nominate a black man for a second term as President of the United States, Harris County Democrats would reach back into their history of racism to find an argument to use to keep a duly elected person off the ballot.

When he isn’t kicking Democratic writs, Judge Burke spends some of his free time playing one of his many Taylor guitars. He plays in a band called The Writ-Kickers (hence the post title) with fellow judges Brent Gamble, Patricia “Legs” Kerrigan, and attorney Steve Ferrell. They aren’t bad – check out this tune:

In the end, justice prevailed in this case. Congratulations to Mr. Oliver – now he gets to have his writ kicked by Mike Anderson!

Harris County DA race: Mike Anderson – Justice? You mean "just us", right?

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Mike Anderson

I have to admit that when I first saw Felicia Cravens’ complaint against Judge Mike Anderson, I was half, oh well, and half, hey, that is Judge Denise Bradley’s courtroom, I need to warn her. I mean, I’ve seen this stuff so often through the years that I’ve come to accept it. Yeah, I know shame on me and good on Felicia for not. And as for Judge Bradley, she had been very nice to me during her campaign and I thought that I was returning the favor. Although I was never able to contact her directly, I was able to get word to her through an intermediary.

Lot of good that did. I couldn’t have protected her because Judge Anderson himself hung her out to dry. In a blog post on Chron.com, either Chris Moran or Brian Rogers got this from Judge Anderson:

“Whether it’s the Cub Scouts or the South Texas College of Law doing mock trials or (Houston Bar Association) doing (continuing legal education), those are public courtrooms and you seek permission from the judge, which I did,” Anderson said. “It’s just been customary at the courthouse, for the 30 years I’ve been around, that if you want to use a courtroom, you ask the judge.”

He said Bradley even signed the group in and watched them go through the metal detectors at security.

Let’s review the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct:

Canon 2, B.     A judge shall not allow any relationship to influence judicial conduct or judgment. A judge shall not lend the prestige of judicial office to advance the private interests of the judge or others; nor shall a judge convey or permit others to convey the impression that they are in a special position to influence the judge. A judge shall not testify voluntarily as a character witness.

Great. Wonderful. Now both judges are guilty of judicial misconduct. Sad state of affairs down at the courthouse. And this is what people want to go back to?

No, Judge Anderson (and Judge Bradley), you don’t just “ask the judge” if you want to use a courtroom. Here is how it is done:

SECTION 7. NON-OFFICIAL USE OF PUBLIC AREAS

7.1 In accordance with this section, those Public Areas suitable for meetings or gatherings may be made available for Non-Official Use after regular business hours provided such Public Areas are not needed for official business. However, such Non-Official Use may not be scheduled between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m..

7.2 Any Entity desiring to meet or gather in such Public Areas for a Non-Official Use shall submit a written request at least ten days prior to the initial proposed use. Each request shall be valid for a period not to exceed ninety days. All requests shall be submitted to the FPM Customer Service Section at 1310 Prairie, Suite 140, Houston, Texas 77002. The request shall provide: (1) the full name, mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone number of the Entity, and the Person representing the Entity, desiring to make the Non-Official Use; (2) a specific description of the Public Area to be used; (3) a general description of the nature of the Non-Official Use (i.e., meeting) and the expected number of participants; (4) the dates and hours during which the Public Area is to be used; and (5) a promise to pay any cleanup or other costs.

7.3 Use is allocated by the County or District on a first-come, first-served basis, and is subject to the availability of the requested Public Area.

7.4 The Public Areas provided herein are primarily for official business, and in the event of a conflict, the need and use for official business shall take priority.

7.5 The County or District reserves the right to preempt or interrupt the scheduled use of the Public Area if the Public Area is needed to conduct official business.

7.6 A Person who makes Non-Official Use of a Public Area Surrounding a Public Building may hold, carry, or display as much material as that Person can hold, carry, or display on his or her Person at all times. Any excess material or any material found in the Public Area after the Person has left shall be removed.

7.7 A Person may use a portable chair or table while holding, carrying, or displaying material, but a Person may not place articles in or on Premises that give the impression of permanent or semi-permanent occupancy or residency (for example, a bed, cot, filing cabinet, sofa, desk, heater, refrigerator, stove, or portable bathroom facilities). Any excess articles shall be removed.

7.8 Activities may not interfere with or disrupt the conduct of official business, or interfere with the free ingress and egress to the Premises.

And here are copies of the forms that are supposed to be filed ten days prior to expected use:

Reservation
Indemnity

 

Perhaps judges do not have to sign in when they enter the courthouse on weekends because neither Judge Bradley’s or Judge Anderson’s names are on the log in sheet.

Sign In

Makes you wonder: who else entered the courthouse that day without signing in? Hard to believe that Judge Anderson would film an ad without his sleazy consultant around. I half expected to see the members of the 185th Runaway Grand Jury on that list.

Let’s go back to Cravens’ complaint:

Anderson’s use of the 262nd State District Criminal Courtroom to film his campaign advertisements is a clear violation of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct because it undermines, rather than promotes, public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, and clearly involves a judge lending the prestige of judicial office to advance their private interests.

I pay my taxes so government can carry out a few narrow, legitimate purposes. Establishing a judiciary to promote justice is one of them; but providing a no-cost set that politicians can use to film campaign commercials is not.

And she is exactly right.

I guess what bothers me most is not that Judge Anderson broke the rules and didn’t follow the law, although that is not a good thing. What bothers me the most is that Felicia filed her complaint over a week ago. Judge Anderson had plenty of time to huddle up with his consultant, figure out a game plan, and do the right thing by reimbursing the county for the cost of his use of the 262nd courtroom and issuing an apology.

But no, that isn’t what he does. He defiantly claims that he did nothing wrong even as the facts are staring him straight in the face. Not only is he defiant, he implicates another judge to go down with him.

Why? I’m glad you asked. I think it is clear that Judge Anderson has a pattern of doing what he wants, regardless of what should be done. Supporting Judge Bill Harmon’s dismissal of DWI cases rather than have the defendants go through a rigorous intervention program. Allowing felony DWI’s to be pled down to misdemeanors at the same time his is publicly admonishing the District Attorney for an intervention program for first time offenders.  Wanting the courthouse to revert to the good ol’ days of the frathouse.

Does Judge Anderson understand the meaning of justice? Or does it mean “just us” to him and his friends?

If you haven’t voted yet, think about that.

Harris County DA Race: Mike Anderson snatches hypocrisy crown back!

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Heh, sometimes, you just gotta shake your head. No, really. I mean, Mike, I was KIDDING, okay! When I said that Gary Polland had snatched the hypocrisy crown from you, I didn’t mean it as a challenge to get it back! C’mon, dude, take a joke already. You win! There’s no way (at least I don’t think there is a way) that you can top your current mailer for sheer, unadulterated hypocrisy!

Why, asks the unsuspecting public? Well, forget everything else and think about this guy for a minute:

Someone's looking over Dr. Steven Hotze's Shoulder

That would be Steven Hotze, who has a PAC called Conservative Republicans of Harris County. You can view their campaign finance reports here if you want. On 2/29/12, Friends of Mike Anderson gave this PAC $15,000 but I’m sure that was not for this mailer, that was most like for “other stuff” – endorsements, advertising, whatever, I’m not sure. This mailer cost far more than $15k to put in my mailbox. But what does a mailer have to do with hypocrisy. Well, remember that fella’s mugshot above, okay? Now, take a look at the mailer – what is the subject?

Hotze Anderson DWI Mailer with Extras

Mmm, hmm, you got it. The good doctor is sending out a keg full of mailers telling us that Mike is the guy to fight DWI. Interesting, no? Yes, very. Especially since Mr. Hotze’s case went “poof” and disappeared without a trace. Well, except for a few news stories at the time, which had the mug shot. Such as this one from the Houston Press on 12/7/2000, which contains a very, very interesting detail:

Considering that Hotze was an early, ardent backer of District Attorney-elect Chuck Rosenthal, and Blakemore was the candidate’s consultant, the case should provide a good test of the impartiality of justice under the new order.

A good test of the impartiality of justice under the good ol’ boy, Chuck Rosenthal. Now that right there is funny no matter who you are! Let’s see, how did that justice work out?

Drunken driving charges against Republican political activist Steven Hotze have been dismissed….

Hotze refused to take a breath test to measure his blood-alcohol level….

most of the case against Hotze is based on testimony from Adams, the arresting officer

Turns out that the arresting officer was under indictment along with a wrecker driver for some paperwork and the state, under the guiding hand of Chuck Rosenthal, decided not to pursue charges because Hotze’s lawyer would attack the officer.

So who better to tell us that Mike is the go to guy for DWI prosecution, right?

Well, wrong. How about we go and ask a fella named Hugh Graham Foreman III, okay? You probably recognize the name because Mike Anderson says that he idolized Percy Foreman as a youngster. Turns out that the grand-nephew of Mr. Foreman has a problem that no one seems to want to address. Instead, they keep coddling this now 31 year old along. Connections? You tell me, I’m just showing you the record.

List of charges

Obviously, this young man has excellent counsel given the “punishment” list – one of his attorney’s was Paul Nugent and his current attorney is Mike Degeurin. These guys used to work together at Foreman, Degeurin, and Nugent, now it is just Foreman, Degeurin, and Degeurin. If you look at the domain name, you will see that it still says ForemanDegeurinNugent.com. The Foreman in both cases being the aforementioned Percy Foreman. Nothing wrong with having connected attorneys. And I don’t care about the attorneys, just putting them in for context.

The key is that case above, #1196351 that was dismissed and refiled as case # 1242980.

This is where former Judge Mike Anderson comes in.

Now, to get the full context of hypocrisy from Mike Anderson, you have to remember the mailer above (and who sent it) and his campaign rhetoric scoffing at “Patsy” for not throwing the book at DWI offenders like he would and how that could affect someone down the road. Mike Anderson, would, if elected, throw the book at DWI offenders because he is tough, by golly big jolly. He is tough!

Oh yeah? Take a look at this order from Judge Mike Anderson:

See that? Book? Hardly. What JUDGE MIKE ANDERSON did to this multiple DWI offender was to reduce the charges against him from a Felony to a Misdemeanor, sentence him to a year in the Harris County Jail, and the SUSPEND THE SENTENCE, LETTING THIS MULTIPLE DWI OFFENDER WALK OUT OF JAIL. He then violated his probation but because of Judge Anderson’s reduction of the charges, the only thing Judge Denise Bradley could do last week is sentence him to jail with credit for time served, 161 days, and now this man is free again.

Hypocrisy? Thy name is Mike Anderson. I crown the king:

Mike Anderson, King of Hypocrisy

Folks, there is no such thing as the “good old days” at the HCDAO. There is only the “good ol’ boys days” and lord help us all if the voters of Harris County can’t see through this bull crap.

Justice for the connected few, the rest of us imbeciles need not apply.

I’m voting for Pat Lykos and I urge you to do the same. Tell your family, friends, and neighbors – their lives may well depend on it.

Harris County DA Race: Republicans should re-elect Pat Lykos

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Pat Lykos

It is time to make a choice. Early voting starts Monday, here are the locations and times.  If you have not made up your mind about the Harris County District Attorney, perhaps I can help. I’m voting for Judge Pat Lykos and here is why.

Justice. First and foremost, that is the word that pushed, pulled, and shoved me from my position as an observer of the race to a fierce supporter of Judge Pat Lykos. Justice is more than allowing our law enforcement officers to arrest anyone at any time for any reason and locking them up and throwing away the key. I’m convinced, and the record supports me, that Judge Lykos understands what justice is and how, as the chief policy maker on justice in Harris County, she can affect how justice is achieved.

Her opponents disagree with me. Notice I said opponents because although only one person is on the ballot, former Judge Mike Anderson, most of her opponents are not supporters of Judge Anderson – they are haters of Judge Lykos. This second group is loud and vicious and they do not accept facts. They never gave her a chance in her first term, even as she made positive change after positive change. They would much rather throw back a six pack on duty, then head downstairs to fire off a few rounds at the gun range than they would acknowledge that the courthouse should not be a frathouse.

Judge Lykos has made many, many positive changes to make certain that a citizen in Harris County has a chance at justice. Her policy of not prosecuting “trace” evidence cases means that a defendant has an opportunity to have the evidence against her tested, while at the same time lowering the cost to taxpayers of incarcerating non-violent offenders. Judge Lykos’ innovative DIVERT program holds promise at reducing recidivism in DWI cases and lowering the death rate. Against much criticism from the crowd that wants to be back in control of the DA’s office, she is finding criminals that other administrations gave up on and bringing them to justice. She is partnering with other agencies around the county, establishing databases that reduce gang activity. She cleaned up a known gang infested, crime infested apartment complex that her predecessors allowed to run wild.

In short, she is keeping her campaign promises. When was the last time you saw an elected politician do that?

Her ballot opponent, Judge Mike Anderson, has not run an honorable race. I don’t know why that is because, as I said earlier, he seems to be a stand up guy. He has a good track record and was by all accounts a good prosecutor. The only reason that I can think of for his dishonorable campaign is his choice of campaign consultant but even then, he must accept responsibility for that low-life because he chose him. Even today, I heard radio ads designed to make it look like the DA’s office is currently a cesspool of corruption – a smear job not supported by ANY facts. Judge Anderson takes shots at the DIVERT program even as his friend, Judge Bill Harmon, allows his own friends to enter it but not ordinary citizens. In fact, rather than forcing people to take responsibility for their actions, Judge Harmon DISMISSES DWI cases and puts people back on the street because of his dislike for Judge Pat Lykos. And Judge Anderson publicly supports this.  I wonder what he will say when the word starts making the rounds about his role in the Hugh Foreman case?

And that dishonorable campaign goes to the heart of the matter. I truly believe that Judge Anderson believes that if you are investigated, you are guilty – how could I not believe that given his record in this race? That mentality is not what I want anywhere close to the courthouse. We are innocent until proven guilty – I truly do not think that Judge Anderson believes that, given his record.

The biggest charge against Judge Lykos is that the morale at the office is low. This circles right back to the fact that she broke the grip of the frathouse on the courthouse. Hey, you’d be mad too if you were used to three hour, three martini lunches and all of a sudden the new boss says no mas. Sucks to be you, I guess. But great to be a taxpayer, knowing that someone is watching out for your interests.

Here is what I have to say about the morale of these coddled juveniles we call ADAs (and ex-ADAs). Grow up. Take charge of your life. Stop acting like you are in seventh grade and stop following the crowd. It can only help you. As a taxpayer, I don’t give a rat’s rear end that you are sad because Judge Lykos took your beer bong away.

I hope you will join me in voting to re-elect Judge Pat Lykos as the Harris County District Attorney. Your life and the lives of your children may, quite literally, depend upon it.

Harris County DA Debate Straw Poll Results

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Just for fun, I slipped an unannounced straw poll ballot into the hands of the attendees at Thursday night’s Harris County Republican Party Primary District Attorney debate. I didn’t announce it because the popular thing to do with straw polls is for a candidate to ask their supporters to come out and stack the poll. Obviously, the supporters of the DA candidates were there but beyond that, there were no coordinated campaigns. The other thing that has become popular is to sell tickets to your straw poll – tickets that give you extra votes. I’ve seen some organizations selling “sponsorships” for which the “sponsor” gets 10 votes per dollar. Not good. So I thought it would be interesting to see the results of a somewhat unbiased audience and it was.

As already noted, Mike Anderson easily won the poll for DA:

  • Mike Anderson – 56{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}
  • Pat Lykos – 44{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}

Also already noted, there were 102 ballots returned, with two of them having no vote for either Judge Anderson or Judge Lykos. Below are the results of the other races. In addition to tallying up who won, I cross-tabbed the votes with whomever they voted for DA.

Harris County Sheriff 

Louis Guthrie took the most votes. I was surprised at the number of “No Vote”‘s cast.

Guthrie had a very good week and it has nothing to do with this straw poll, although any win helps. In his ongoing case against Adrian Garcia for his politically motivated firing, Guthrie received a favorable ruling this week at the appellate level. More on that later. Pittman also had a good week, I guess – he received the endorsement of the Houston Chronicle. Which is not so good if you consider their track record in Republican primaries. Hueszel received about even support from both DA camps. Guthrie looks to be in good shape as the frontrunner, the real race will be to see if he can push his numbers up to 50.1{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} and avoid a runoff. I saw Louis, Harold, and Ruben in attendance.

Harris County Tax Asseossor-Collector

Mike Sullivan was in attendance but it didn’t help with this crowd as Don Sumners won easily.

The high number of “No Vote”‘s in a two man race is interesting, with a large number of Anderson voters not picking a candidate.

Harris County Republican Party Chair

Neither Jared Woodfill or Paul Simpson was in attendance – if they were, I missed them. I can only hope, wish, and dream that this result is an indication of what will happen on May 29th:

Wouldn’t that be a great result for Harris County Republicans? Alas, I can’t bring myself to believe it just yet. I still think that Paul has to step up his campaign and sharpen his attacks on Jared. The party is in miserable financial shape and it seems as though anyone can buy their way into the party for a buck or two.. That is what happens when you cannot raise money from business groups. But for now, I’ll hope, wish, and dream that this is a good indicator.

Hey, I didn’t have anything else to do today so why not play with numbers? Plus, even though it is only a straw poll and a snapshot of the people that attended a specific meeting, I’d bet it is more accurate of what is going to happen than most straw polls are.