Justice Flaw

The Dallas editorial released an article called “Lawmakers must fix justice flaws now.” The intended audience the author was aiming for was lawmakers in Texas and I think that they are the only ones who can really do anything about the matter. Voters can’t make a difference, so I believe he was right in writing this for lawmakers. The author talked about a case that happened back in 1984, where a man called Johnny Pinchback was found guilty of double rape. They had the wrong man because his dna did not match that of the rapist. This makes his post credible and it is an example that lawmakers can learn from. Unfortunately in 1998 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Sharon Keller disregarded the dna evidence that proved Pinchback didn’t commit the crime. The author’s argument is that Texans must put some pressure on lawmakers so that there won’t be any more innocent people sent to jail and that way cut spending on prisons. The author says this has destroyed many lives and prosecutors have made many mistakes. He says that this must not go on anymore and that we should do something to stop it from happening to anymore innocent people.

                I agree with the Author and believe that Local and State government should look at the cases of all convicted criminals if even briefly and decide if DNA testing can help release innocent people from jail. I think that the author’s message is clear and there is really no excuse for these judges and prosecutors to not give someone who might be innocent a new trial to prove their innocence. If this happens then police can actually start looking for the real criminal responsible for the acts and this will greatly help our society. If the court system can’t even get the right person who committed a crime than what’s to stop that same person from doing a crime again? I think there is no negative to this issue and lawmakers should step up right now and start to make some changes to the trial system.

 

Original post on Justice Flaw 

Commentary on Hosniyeh’s Prison Post

Here is my comment on Hosniyeh’s post about the state’s prison spending.

For the most part I agree with your point of view on this manner and I believe that the economic status of the state will improve. If an inmate is too sick to take care of himself, then what is the point of prison if the inmate poses no threat to society? This only increases the costs to run the prison and we as tax payers are the ones who suffer the most. I believe that these elderly and ill inmates can be sent home to their families under parole and if they do anything wrong then the state will surely have no trouble placing them back in prison. If someone has been incarcerated since they were 21 years old and is now elderly and sick, doesn’t the state think that serving a whole life sentence is just too extreme? However I do believe that if someone is not under any life threatening issues than they should not be granted this parole because they might just do something unpredictable that might endanger others.

Hosniyeh's Post on Prison Spending 

Immigration Situation

Texas government has to step up now, regarding immigration with Mexico. Politicians in the state talk about changing laws regarding immigration, but nothing is being done. The dream act which would give students attending a university citizenship is one of several laws that were proposed, but with no avail. I think that if an immigrant is doing something positive with their life, such as going to college and helping out the community, there is no reason to deny them a chance to officially be a legal citizen of the state.  

Right now is especially a dangerous time for Mexicans who live in or close to borders because of the drug war going on which has not been seen before in some cities. These drug lords have in some cases taken complete control of some towns and citizens can do nothing, but live in fear because there is no one to turn to for help. Many innocent people have died and yet the Mexican government turns a blind eye at these criminals. 

The Hispanic population in Texas will only grow bigger in years to come and I see no reason for local government to just keep quiet about the issue. Obama also needs to address the nation about the current immigration issue and come up with a way to solve this broken system. It is not an easy task by any means, but I believe that if the government took the time to look at the immigration situation more in depth, they could surely find a way to implement a law that will help immigrants out. This doesn’t mean that I believe everyone should have citizenship because it will surely not be good for neighboring economies and even ours. Now is the time for the government to act and to at least start to fix this issue once in for all.  

Commentary on "Legalize It!"

Here is what I posted on Kash's Article regarding the legalization of marijuana.

I agree on your point of view and believe that marijuana should become legal Texas. Mainly because I believe that the state is spending too much money on holding so called criminals, whose only real crime is smoking marijuana. This will make the Texas economy richer, as seen in the emerald triangle of California. 2/3 of the economy there comes from the marijuana sales and I think many people will be able to benefit from this. This will also help the war on drugs somewhat, since the government will focus on prosecuting individuals who smuggle much more dangerous drugs, such as cocaine.

The one negative I do see to this is that a lot of teens will try to go for more of a high from drugs such as cocaine, and heroin because they do not find marijuana to do anything for them anymore. I think that you only took into account the immediate consequences of legalizing marijuana and did not look ahead into what other issues could arise from it. In the end I think that legalizing it would do more good than the harm that people think it is actually doing. People need to be more informed about weed and new test should be done to see if it is really such a detrimental drug to someone’s health.

http://texaspolitics2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/legalize-it.html 

The Dangers of Bearing Arms

The new law regarding concealed handguns being allowed on university campuses in Texas is a bad idea in my opinion. First of all I believe that the second amendment was not originally supposed to allow anyone to own a firearm. It could have meant something else, but the government has decided that it means just that, which creates situations such as this, were a new bill could let students carry handguns inside a school campus. Has the government not learned that columbine happened because a pair of teenagers were allowed to buy ammunition from a local Kmart without anyone saying a thing? I think that if this bill goes through there are going to be a massive amount of problems that have to do with firearms in Universities.

There are many things that could go wrong in letting this go through, such as someone accidentally firing a bullet inside a class and killing someone in the process. Also if a mass school shooting were to happen again, there might be an instance of someone accidentally shooting an innocent victim, instead of getting the actual shooter. I also believe that students who live in dorms will get to have guns inside their dorm and this could lead to a shooting where there is really no higher authority to control the students. I believe that school is not a dangerous place to be in, but with this new bill it’s as if the government wants to make everyone believe that it is. Yes there are instances in which tragedies have occurred such as the Virginia tech massacre, but I believe that if students were allowed to have handguns at the time, things would have been a lot worse.

In a way I can see why the government believes that this could help out with gun violence in school, but I don’t believe that it is the right approach and that they should really reconsider this decision. I know I wouldn’t want to be in a school were students are so insecure that they believe having a gun will make them impervious to danger.       

Sexting in the USA

The editorial board on the statesman site released an article about sexting in Texas and how teens would be prosecuted thanks to a new law. The author is giving this message to the parents of these teens and he wants them to do something about this sexting problem. The author has statistics, such as a 2008 study by the National Campaign to prevent Unplanned Pregnancy, which reported that 22 percent of teenage girls said that they had been involved in sexting. He also has information of the current law regarding charges with sexting and how this new bill will charge offenders and what steps someone convicted of sexting must go through to clean their record. This adds credibility to his editorial and gives the reader an informative perspective on the subject. He ends the article by saying that “the legislature should create a separate legal category for minors who are caught sexting so that the legal system has a tool to deal with it.” The author thinks that the bill is tough, but offers teens a second chance to redeem their mistakes.

I disagree with the author and believe that the Texas government should not be involved in these types of cases, unless it involved an adult messing around with a young teenager. The parents are the ones that should be blamed and they should start actually being parents and teaching their kids about the consequences that sexting can bring. Involving the government into these type of affairs will only make the situation worse and the teens would be publicly shamed. The author also never talks about the types of tools that should be used to help fight sexting, which leads me to believe that every image that gets taken in a phone will be uploaded to a database which other people will be able to see. Sexting is also not a definitive term and it does not say what would officially count as sexting. Could it be a teen in a bikini or a dirty message? There are way too many things that must be addressed in this new law and people will use this to take advantage of it.

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/give-parents-authorities-teens-tools-to-deal-with-1243887.html 

Medicaid Fraud in Texas

In what appears to be another hit to the Texas economy, Legislature’s investment to stop Medicaid fraud has paid off, but cases of fraud are heavily increasing. This is very bad news for the state because it means more money coming out of Texans pockets for taxes and some people that actually need the Medicaid might get the short end of the stick. 

The amount of people abusing the system really makes the dollars add up in the end and that is bad news for everyone. This article is worth reading because it can let you spread the word out and help fight this fraud. If we are kept more informed of what is happening to our money, we can avoid these kinds of problems and to be on the lookout for any other events which are hurting our state.
Medicaid Fraud