Dallas Morning News. April 24, 2024.
Editorial: Sidney Powell law license fight can’t be over
Despite appeals court loss, state bar must press on.
The State Bar of Texas’ disciplinary committee has egg on its face after suffering an embarrassing appeals court loss in its case against former Donald Trump lawyer Sidney Powell.
The 5th District Court of Appeals recently sided with a lower court that tossed out the bar’s ethics case against Powell largely on procedural and clerical errors. The court’s 24-page opinion scolded attorneys for the Commission for Lawyer Discipline for their “scattershot” handling of the case.
We’re troubled by the commission’s sloppiness in this high-profile, important case, which warranted much more careful handling. But we urge it to regroup and continue seeking disciplinary action against Powell in connection with her far more egregious actions in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Let’s take a step back and recall some important facts.
Shortly after the election, Powell brought lawsuits against Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia alleging that a vast conspiracy between Dominion Voting Systems and foreign dictators resulted in hundreds of thousands of fraudulent votes cast in favor of President Joe Biden. None of the cases was successful.
Last year, Fox News agreed to a $787.5 million settlement in a defamation case brought by Dominion after the network repeatedly aired and promoted Powell and her claims. And in October, the Dallas attorney pleaded guilty in Georgia to six reduced criminal charges accusing her of conspiring to intentionally interfere with the performance of election duties.
Back home, the state bar for two years has been trying to win sanctions against Powell for alleged ethical misconduct by filing frivolous suits in the battleground states. But unfortunately the bar’s case was derailed before it ever made it to trial when Collin County state District Judge Andrea Bouressa granted Powell’s motion for summary judgment in February 2023.
That ruling was made in large part because the bar’s response to Powell’s motion was riddled with errors, including critical misnumbering and exclusion of exhibits. We strongly criticized Bouressa’s ruling, and said she should have shown some latitude given the seriousness of the case.
There’s no excuse for the bar’s mistakes. All it had to do was present “more than a scintilla” of evidence that the case should move forward. It failed to do so, the 5th District court held, and it now appears the case has little hope. What a dumbfounding result given all we’ve learned about Powell in the last couple of years.
A spokeswoman for the bar told us in an email she couldn’t comment on what the commission will do next. Perhaps it will try to appeal the ruling or bring a new case against Powell based on her Georgia pleas, as some prominent lawyers have urged.
Whatever course it takes, we urge the bar to move forward and, this time, far more competently.
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Houston Chronicle. April 25, 2024.
Editorial: Abused Texas foster kids need a lifeline. Where’s Abbott?
We thought we’d heard it all, but Texas finds new and appalling ways to fail children in foster care.
U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack last week brought harrowing details to light in a 427-page contempt order that would shake anyone’s faith in humanity. Jack offered dozens of examples of severely flawed state investigations that put foster children in danger, particularly those who require medication for mental illnesses. Few were as disturbing as “Child C,” a teenage girl who suffered abuse at a group home in Austin that was so extensive it led to 12 state investigations in one year.
Child C first entered the foster care system as a traumatized toddler, removed from the care of her biological mother at age 3 due to physical and mental abuse. She has a range of behavioral and developmental disorders, and is given 12 pills to take every day. When Child C was placed at C3 Christian Academy in Austin in 2021 at age 14, she performed academically at the level of a preschooler, and had an IQ score of 55.
In May 2021 a state investigator found “a preponderance of evidence” that a staff member used a Taser on Child C on her arm while she was in bed. In July 2021, Child C ran away from the group home, was returned by a law enforcement officer, then attempted to strangle herself.
In April 2022, Child C’s caseworker reported she was admitted to the hospital with her jaw broken in two places. An administrator at the group home told investigators a staff member had punched the child in the face multiple times and she went to bed untreated. It wasn’t until the following day when an administrator observed Child C bloodied and bruised that they took her to the hospital.
As the presiding judge in a decade-old class-action lawsuit designed to force an overhaul of the foster care system, Jack has mandated a laundry list of reforms, including requiring the state to complete high-priority investigations within 30 days, and that investigators must make face-to-face contact with child victims. Each of the investigations involving Child C took months, and sometimes more than a year to complete, and several did not even interview her directly.
Jack, whom the Dallas Morning News named Texan of the Year for pushing the state to improve its foster care system, has been extraordinarily patient with the state. She has practically begged Gov. Greg Abbott, Health and Human Services and the Department of Family and Protective Services to abide by the reforms she’s ordered, and given them every chance to avoid a fate that nobody wants: a federal takeover of the entire system.
Yet the continued failures detailed in her order prompted Jack to hold HHS in contempt, issuing fines of $100,000 a day until the agency complies with her mandates. A federal appeals court temporarily blocked the fine while the state appeals Jack’s ruling. A compliance hearing is scheduled for June 26.
While Jack has repeatedly said she’d prefer not to take the Draconian step of a federal receivership, the state’s continued recalcitrance may force her hand. While the plaintiffs’ attorneys in the class-action suit have pushed for it, even they acknowledge ceding control of a state agency to a federal monitor would be a dramatic setback.
“Nothing is going to change quickly or substantially until state leadership decides that this is a priority,” Paul Yetter, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, told the editorial board. “Even with a receivership, if you don’t have the state executives behind it supporting reform and not resisting, it’s going to go very slowly.”
Washington, D.C., is the only other jurisdiction to have a federal receiver take over its foster care system, from 1995 through 2001. When their receiver was terminated, many advocates complained that the system was no better off than it was before. In fact, there were still gut-wrenching incidents under the receivership, such as a 1-year-old child who was beaten to death by a family friend after a judge removed her from foster care.
We’d much prefer that Abbott take responsibility for instituting the reforms mandated by Jack. Instead, he seems content to pay high-priced attorneys up to $6 million to defend the state at every turn rather than concede any failures.
Resources are not the issue. The Legislature has done its part, providing $400 million of the state budget surplus last session to increase payments to foster care providers. A policy reform blueprint is also right at Abbott’s fingertips. An expert panel the governor convened came up with a list of short- and long-term recommendations, such as emergency funding to place more kids with grandparents, aunts and uncles and kinship providers and strengthening mental health services for all children in foster care.
Tough talk is not in short supply either. In January 2021, Abbott ordered HHS and DFPS to quickly comply with Jack’s orders five days after she found them in contempt. His directive was unequivocal and even child welfare advocates concede, for a time, it led to a complete change in attitude by the agencies overseeing our foster care system. Yet far too many children are still caught in a revolving door from psychiatric care to unregulated, poorly supervised group homes because the state refuses to find proper placements for them.
What’s lacking is executive leadership and the necessary commitment that Abbott gives to more politically advantageous issues. Instead of staging photo ops on the border, he should focus his attention on foster children.
The state is on the road to a receivership unless he can prove he is willing to reform rather than resist an overhaul of the foster care system.
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San Antonio Express-News. April 26, 2024.
Editorial: Abbott deploys an authoritarian response to peaceful protest at UT
Humanity is moved by inhumanity. Pain and injustices inflicted on us or others, with cruelty and without cause, will move people to speak out and take actions to stop that harm.
Those who protest may risk their own comfort, standing, freedom and, sometimes, even lives for their cause.
The first challenge of any protest is to be effective, to accomplish its goal of stopping perceived wrongdoing without mirroring the wrongdoers, and to ensure it doesn’t add to the pain it’s trying to subtract. The first challenge for those at whom the protests are directed is how measured, heavy-handed or even authoritarian they will respond.
These have been some of the dynamics at play over the past week as pro-Palestinian protests have roiled college campuses across the country, including at Columbia University, the University of Southern California, and, closer to home, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at San Antonio.
We will soon turn to the stunning and uncalled for use of force at UT Austin to quash peaceful protest and free speech — an authoritarian response we condemn. But first, let’s turn to some of the underlying dynamics at this complex and challenging moment.
Protests first emerged in the days after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel in which innocent civilians were terrorized, butchered and raped by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls the Gaza Strip. About 1,200 Israelis were killed in the attack, and many of the more than 240 hostages seized by Hamas have yet to be released.
We wrote at the time that an unequivocal condemnation of Hamas’ barbarity does not equate to approval of the Israeli government’s decades-long brutal treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the horrible conditions under which they have lived.
We recognize Israel’s right to exist, retaliate and defend itself, but we have also been appalled by the relentless and indiscriminate bombing of Gaza under the leadership of unpopular Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption. The bombings have killed tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians, including children, and failed to secure the release of hostages.
The searing images of the rubble and ruins of Gaza, of the slain and maimed children, and of a growing humanitarian crisis have fueled the protests in the United States and calls for a cease-fire.
Those images, however, don’t excuse rising antisemitism in this country.
Earlier this year, the Anti-Defamation League issued an alarming report on the nearly 3,300 antisemitic instances between Oct. 7 and Jan. 7. These included 56 physical assaults, 554 incidents of vandalism, 1,347 examples of verbal or written harassment and 1,307 rallies on college campuses that involved antisemitic rhetoric — including ones that involved support for terrorism.
FBI data covering crimes in 2022 showed that anti-Jewish bias was behind 55% of religion-based hate crimes. People should be appalled when Jewish students at Columbia are told: “Go back to Poland!”
The proliferation and fervor of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses have drawn comparisons to the anti-Vietnam War protests of the 1960s and 1970s, and the anti-apartheid in South Africa movement of the 1980s and 1990s. But at no time during those campaigns was anger and vitriol aimed at a single group of people because of their race or religion as has been directed at Jewish students, nor were racist tropes repeated.
Nevertheless, distinctions must be made between student protesters, which have included Jewish students, and outside agitators.
Also, while the rise of antisemitism is real and disturbing, let’s be clear that advocating for Palestinian rights isn’t synonymous with antisemitism. It is not antisemitic to call for peace or to criticize the Israeli government. And to use the general concern of antisemitism as a cudgel to quash peaceful protest and free speech is despicable.
But that’s what Gov. Greg Abbott and the University of Texas at Austin administrators did this past week when hundreds of students walked out of class demanding that the school divest from manufacturers supplying Israel with the weapons it uses in Gaza.
Their protest was peaceful, but the appearance of law enforcement officers, including more than 100 Department of Public Safety troopers in riot gear deployed by Abbott, agitated the mood.
In 2019, Abbott made a big show of signing a law that he said would “protect free speech on college campuses in Texas.”
But on Wednesday, amid dozens of arrests of students exercising their free speech, Abbott boasted on X, “These protestors belong in jail. Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas. Period. Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any college or public university in Texas should be expelled.”
“These protestors belong in jail” is the rallying cry of an authoritarian. News reports described peaceful protest. But even if demonstrators had spewed antisemitic, racist and Islamophobic garbage, they would still have the right to peacefully assemble and speak. That’s how free speech works.
Shameless political posturing, not principles, is what transformed Abbott from fearless protector to fierce prosecutor of free speech.
Jeremi Suri, a UT professor of public affairs and history, watched the demonstrations for about an hour. He told the Austin-American Statesman: “I did not hear a single antisemitic statement (during) the whole time. And I’m Jewish; I’m sensitive to antisemitic comments. I’m against antisemitism. There was no antisemitism among that group of students — nothing being expressed at that moment.”
On Wednesday, DPS troopers acted against unarmed peaceful protesters with a sense of purpose and urgency they lacked at Robb Elementary against one armed gunman on May 24, 2022, in Uvalde.
Among the images seen on video was of two DPS troopers throwing a local TV cameraman to the ground and arresting him. Another video showed a protester being arrested by UT police as he explains to his fellow demonstrators how to peacefully disperse.
By Friday, all charges had been dropped against the 57 people arrested.
Contrast what happened in Austin with the march in support of Palestine at the University of Texas at San Antonio the same day. Granted, it was a smaller march, but UTSA’s administration didn’t feel compelled to push tensions to the brink by a show of excessive force.
It must also be noted that on Thursday, there was a larger pro-Palestinian demonstration on the Austin campus than the one on Wednesday. There was little law enforcement presence, and the protest and the day were peaceful.
It was a quiet rebuke to a governor who prefers manufacturing chaos than respecting the freedoms of assembly and free speech.
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Lufkin Daily News. April 27, 2024.
Editorial: Ending Child Abuse: There is no need for anyone, anywhere to silently suffer at the hands of another
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, first observed following a proclamation by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. During the month, individuals and organizations unite to address the causes of child abuse, maltreatment and neglect and work toward solutions to end such incidents.
When most hear “child abuse,” images of spankings or beatings come to mind, but according to the American Society for the Positive Care of Children, neglect (lack of basic needs, malnutrition) is the most common form of abuse.
According to the most recent federal data on child abuse, there were more than 4 million child maltreatment referral reports received in 2022, with child abuse reports involving 7.5 million children. More than 74% of victims (415,445) are neglected, 17% (95,026) are physically abused, 10.6% (59,044) are sexually abused and 6.8% (38,030) are psychologically maltreated.
The term “child abuse” belies just how lasting the crime’s impact is: Fourteen percent of men and 36% of women in U.S. prisons were abused as children, and children who experience abuse are about nine times more likely to become involved in criminal activity. About 30% of abused and neglected children will later abuse their own children.
For further statistics, visit americanspcc.org/child-abuse-statistics.
On this page, a letter to the editor from Wayne Haglund, president of the Angelina County Child Welfare Board, states:
“It’s a tragic fact that nearly 310,582 children in Texas are reported as abused or neglected every year. In 2023, 173 children died due to abuse and neglect in Texas. There was one child who died in Angelina County as a result of child abuse and/or neglect in 2023.
“We can’t walk away from or close our eyes to these statistics.”
The child Haglund refers to in his letter is Kylo Powell, a 4-month-old boy who died in a Houston hospital in October 2023 after being transferred from a Lufkin hospital three days earlier.
A Harris County examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by blunt trauma to the head and torso. Kylo’s father, Anfernee Durham, 25, of Lufkin, was arrested by Lufkin police Tuesday on a charge of capital murder in his son’s death.
Physical indicators of abuse can include unexplained bruises, burns or welts on the child. Behavioral indicators include aggressiveness, fear of parents and reluctance to go home. A full list can be found at americanspcc.org/indicators-child-abuse.
If you suspect abuse, call the Texas Department of Family & Protective Services 24/7 hotline at (800) 252-5400.
“It is the responsibility of every person to report suspected child abuse and/or neglect,” Haglund said. “The call is anonymous, and you could save a child.”
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AIM Media Texas. April 26, 2024.
Editorial: Many entities expected major windfall from budget surplus; sadly, much of...
A year ago public entities across the Rio Grande Valley and throughout Texas were excited about a record $32.7 billion budget surplus sitting in the state’s coffers as the legislative session began. Today, many of those same entities are hurting.
In the Valley alone, the McAllen public school district has bowed out of cooperative agreements that involved investments with the city, University of Texas RGV and other partners. The Brownsville school board recently voted to close three elementary campuses, consolidating their students into other schools. Cities, counties and other offices are canceling, reworking or rethinking their own planned expenditures.
What happened?
Certainly, many people are asking, where did the money go? The answer is more complicated — and perhaps more simple than some people might like to think.
One unfortunate answer is hubris. Many officials apparently gave in to the idea that their own entity and their mission were so important that a share of the surplus pie would certainly come to them. Of course, cities and counties would get allotments; they are the grass roots of governance. Of course schools would get their share; the state’s largest budget item is education. Of course teachers would get raises; schools can’t function without them.
Apparently, some of those entities accounted for those expectations when drawing up their own operating budgets.
Much of the money also was lost to politics and priorities.
Some of it was used to fund Gov. Greg Abbott’s border policies, including the purchase of shipping containers, razor wire and other obstructions along the Rio Grande and the deployment of state troopers, National Guard troops and others to patrol the border and inspect freight trucks. Some of the money was used to replace revue lost to recently enacted property tax cuts. Funds that initially were targeted for education were held hostage to the governor’s efforts to enact school choice options. That money wasn’t allocated after those efforts failed during the regular legislative session and several special sessions.
In the end, more than half of the money is still sitting in state accounts. Comptroller Glenn Heger announced on Oct. 5 of last year that he was still sitting on $18.6 billion in surplus funds and he planned to continue sitting on it because he still expects President Joe Biden’s policies to create a major inflationary period.
Inflation or not, there’s nothing wrong with holding on to at least part of the surplus. Many people believe it should be an exclusive emergency fund, and in the past it has been used that way, providing funds to areas that need help recovering from natural disasters and other unexpected emergencies.
In the end, this can be an opportunity to learn. Local entities can learn not to depend too much on funding that hasn’t been promised. Perhaps they can learn to communicate better with their representatives in Austin, who might be able to give them hints regarding possible allocations.
They — and voters as well — can also learn that money is power, and politicians are only too happy to wield it, with little regard to their constituents needs and requests.
END