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Those of you who read my other posts on the subject may know that I was undecided in the San Antonio mayor's race, in a runoff between two (officially nonpartisan) democrats.
Last night, I made up my mind watching one of Castro's ads. I'm not sure if it was the local police association, or if it was Castro himself, but Castro appearently indicated it was fair game. In the ad, Castro's opponent Phil Hardberger, previously the chief of one of the state courts of appeal, gets hammered for overturning ten murder convictions, and a few convictions for child abuse.
Here's my gripe...
The job of an appealate court is to make sure people convicted of crime got a fair trial. If they didn't, it's the job of that court to correct the injustice. Yeah, they overturn convictions. It's not glamorous, it's not popular, but everybody knows that you can convict a ham sandwich, or at least a poor or otherwise unsympathetic ham sandwich, for murder in Texas. I met a guy once who went to prison on murder charges, only to have the conviction thrown out when it was discovered that he was in a coma in a hospital when the murder took place.
This attack is not helpful to democrats across the state. It's hard enough to get democratic judges elected in this state, or any judge elected in this state who actually takes upholding the law as seriously as they take judicial activism and winning elections. Once elected, fellow progressives ought to at least cover their backs.
I've heard nothing coming from Castro or the cops as to how or why Hardbergers decisions show poor judgment. But the attack ads smack of demogoguery, the kind of stuff they know better than to believe themselves. (In fact, the sheriff's association spokesman said, after attacking Hardberger, that he thought Hardberger would make a good mayor.) I'd expect more from a democrat and a progressive.
If someone has the real scoop, please let me know.
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