Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association

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Harris County Launches Website for Criminal Defense Bar

October 10, 2014 Leave a Comment

Harris County has launched a website for the purpose of disseminating information to those attorneys practicing in the criminal courts of Harris County.

Our HCCLA President, Carmen Roe, had indicated it is a place for the judges and District Attorney’s Office to post notices for defense lawyers. Currently, this website has information about jail phone and video systems for attorney use.

Given that the site itself notes the County assumes no liability for continued accuracy of posts, you should always confirm information found on the site with judges or prosecutors. (From the site footnote: The information contained in this site was valid at the time of posting. Harris County assumes no liability for damages incurred directly or indirectly as a result of errors, omissions, or discrepancies.) Yet, the posts themselves are not dated so there is no way of knowing how current the post may be. As such, I have already contacted the site administrator to request, at a minimum, they add dates to the notices. The site administrator has indicated they are forwarding the request on to the proper department. (though we are unsure what department that may be)

Attorneys should have received an email today from the District Clerk’s Office introducing the website.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Op-Ed: Judges Misunderstand Role in Justice System

October 10, 2014 Leave a Comment

Op-Ed to Houston Chronicle
from: Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association (HCCLA)
Twitter: @HCCLA_org

Published: October 13,2014 (Houston Chronicle)
Defining a Fair and Independent Judiciary

The Houston Chronicle recently released its recommendations (here and here) for criminal judges in Harris County. Some candidates made comments that the editor called out for their lack of objectivity. The Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association (HCCLA) applauds the Chronicle’s call for fairness and objectivity by our judges and judicial candidates.

The largest local criminal-defense bar in the country, with over 800 members, HCCLA does not endorse any individual or either party. Even though judges are forced to work within a Republican-vs.-Democrat system of elections, they should be above politics and follow the Constitution and the law.

Our criminal justice system is an emblem of our standards of humanity. Fair dealing must be certain for those who find themselves accused of crimes. Judges play an important role in this process and are the first and last check in a system that must keep its promise to give every accused person a fair trial, no matter which political party is in power.

Political consultants typically advise judicial candidates to appear “tough on crime” because the voting public confuses justice with crime fighting. Judges and candidates do our community a disservice by promoting this misguided view. Our current “tough on crime” mentality has caused Texas to lead the nation in exonerations of the wrongfully convicted. Judges should be neither tough on crime nor soft on crime but instead fair and impartial, following the law wherever it leads.

The law requires judges to protect the citizens from their prosecutors. The public is only protected if our judges have the integrity to enforce the law despite contrary public opinion. The judiciary must be free to act on the law even when their decisions benefit defendants. Any judge who substitutes his or her own political beliefs for the law is not qualified to sit on the bench and certainly should not be given the tremendous responsibility of making life or death decisions. A judge who views himself or herself as doing the job of a prosecutor engages in the worst sort of judicial activism, impeding the separation of powers and insulting the memory of those who have fought to protect our constitutional freedoms.

A judge serves the public by enforcing the Texas and U.S. Constitutions, which our forefathers wrote to protect us from an overreaching government. The job of a judge is critical: to protect us by enforcing the constitutions without regard to whether doing so will benefit a particular defendant. The public is protected—from unfairness, from false accusations, and ultimately from tyranny—only when judges have the integrity to enforce the law despite the tide of public opinion.

But it takes courage to do the right thing despite the weight of public opinion. While craven candidates pander to fear and ignorance, the courageous deserve our support, the endorsement of the Chronicle, and most of all the support of the public at large. We must return to a fair and independent judiciary rather than one that will help the government win by being, like yet another prosecutor in the courtroom, “tough on crime.”

Filed Under: politics Tagged With: candidates, constitution, editorial, elections, hccla, judges, judges not prosecutors, justice, op-ed, opinion, politics, tough on crime

Education is Key to Voting!

October 6, 2014 Leave a Comment

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Take a few minutes and learn a little about your candidates for Harris County District Attorney: Devon Anderson and Kim Ogg.  They have squared off in a couple debates and you need to watch at least one of them!

You can view the Fox26 Debate by clicking here, and you can view the Local2 Debate by clicking here.

Now that you’re getting up to speed on the District Attorney race, spend a little time reading about the criminal judicial races via the Chronicle editorials: Part 1 and Part 2.

HCCLA does not endorse or support any particular party or candidate – we encourage you to become educated and vote Your Choice!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Final Argument from the Master

October 1, 2014

Many thanks to Dan Cogdell, HCCLA Past President and Texas Trial Legend, for presenting Final Arguments tonight at our FREE Members CLE and Happy Hour.

It is always entertaining and educational when we learn from the masters in our midst. One of the favorite lines from this CLE: “when you can’t win, you have nothing to lose!”

10703822_10152786993379672_5885659022305404550_o(photo courtesy of Russell Webb)

Thanks also to Troy McKinney for putting these events together every month to benefit our membership and raise the bar in Houston!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: cle, Dan Cogdell, final argument, hccla, learning from masters

History

September 25, 2014

HCCLA is collecting and publishing a bit of history!  With the help of our member, Rosa Eliades, we have recovered a few old Docket Call magazines and the first Defender issues.  You can view the older publications by visiting our website (www.hccla.org/publications).  Thanks to all our members who have worked on our publications throughout the years:  Robert Pelton, Allen Isbell, Rosa Eliades, Melissa Martin, Daucie Shefman, Shawna Reagin, Kathryn Kase, and JoAnne Musick.  And special thanks to our executive director, Christina Appelt, for her constant help.

Let us know if we have forgotten anyone or if you have additional archives we might be missing!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

The Defender, Summer 2014

September 25, 2014

Another exciting issue of The Defender has hit the mail is now available online here.

defender summer coverdefender summer coverCheck it out and thank our writers, sponsors and leaders for their continued work to benefit the organization.  This issue includes key pieces by Joseph Ruiz, Mark Theissen, and Justin Harris.  Additionally, Sarah Wood and David Ryan contribute with mentorship news; Tyler Flood contributes his chess corner and workflow in practice pointers.

With a short delay in timing on the Summer issue, the Fall issue is just around the corner! Look for it soon!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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(713) 227-2404

    

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