There has been a story on ABC News for a few days about Charles Hood, a Texas inmate who was found guilty of murder when the judge and prosecutor were dating. The reason: the matter of the affair was brought up too late in the appeals process.
In terms of going back to the principles of conservatism, this bothers me greatly: let us revisit the principles. Conservatives stand for a small government that guarantees law-abiding citizens the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. As part of this effort, government will strive to make itself small, keep taxes low and maintain a strong homeland defense (for national security as well as law and order)
We cannot be focused on a strong national defense where a government can decide that murder has no statute of limitations--but the appeals do.
The only answer that critics will have is that from all available evidence, Charles Hood does appear to be indisputably guilty. If so, however, that should be still determined through a fair trial. Once we let journalists and the public make these "obvious" decisions, we start going down the slippery slope of rule and judgment by media and acclamation, not truth.
The real problem is not just that there is a statute of limitations on appeals but that the justice process was flawed in this case. Since the judge and prosecutor cannot be fired or impeached (they are retired) they should have their pensions revoked. They have corrupted our democracy and as such are a burden on their constituents. Since the affair was apparently "common knowledge" at that time, all their superiors should be severely reprimanded as well.
All this only goes to show that Texas continues to be a "bad" place for criminal justice. However, it is bad not because the people are bad; not because it is conservative; but because Texas is corrupt.
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