By A Colleague
Thu, Mar 31, 2022 7:42 p.m.
Reminiscent of Bill Ayers' remark when terror bombing charges against him were dropped because the FBI allegedly spied on him unlawfully -- "Is this a great country or what?"
https://www.khou.com/article/news/crime/capital-murder-suspect-out-on-bond/285-4b912e55-4254-43f2-a7fd-a095bb09398a
I hope he hasn't won an Academy Award this year--he MAY have to give it back(lol).
ReplyDelete--GRA
If you read the story at the (text) link provided here, you'll note (or should) that the reporter (link) does not name the judges who granted him bail -- so I sent an email to her to ask why.
ReplyDeleteHis latest victim was a white male, as you can see here:
$1M bond for 21-year-old who killed owner of yacht company, League City police say
Also the following article notes bail was granted twice, but does not name the judges:
‘Walking, ticking time bomb’: Anger, frustration after man accused of 2 murders, robberies across various counties posts $1M bond
But at least one person commenting ('Tetrodo') notices this and directly asks the reporter about it:
Mr. Cerota, if the crux of the story here is that this repeatedly violent recidivist offender should NOT have been given bond, why don’t you guys ever publish the names of the judges or magistrates who see this guy’s history and give him bond anyway? This is one of the more egregious examples of this problem and I don’t understand how or why this is happening. I vaguely understand a bit about bond reform, but thought those reforms weren’t supposed to apply to violent felons - especially ones with a history like this guy here. Can you guys do a deep dive on this story and explain why this is happening over and over? I really would like to better understand what on earth is going on here.
Kudos to 'Tetrodo' for the question, albeit other people commenting also mention the problem of judges.
Right now I won't bother asking this reporter the same question via email (his email address is available), although he does work for a different media outlet, and one of the questions I asked the other reporter is whether her outlet has a policy about this (naming judges) or not.
So similar to the way they started omitting race from crime stories decades ago, it appears the media now protects the identities of judges who make these kinds of decisions, for which some people pay with their lives.
"Is this a great country or what?"
ReplyDeleteBill said that in a laughing manner. All the while knowing in the back of his mind that IT IS [was] a great country. He couldn't get away with his shit anywhere else.
The irony cannot be ignored.
>so I sent an email to her to ask why
ReplyDeleteShe never replied ('enemy of the people'):
To: mhomer@khou.com
Subject: 'A no-brainer for no bond': Families furious after capital murder suspect released on bond twice
https://www.khou.com/article/news/crime/capital-murder-suspect-out-on-bond/285-4b912e55-4254-43f2-a7fd-a095bb09398a
[Devan Jordon was released on bond after the murder of a young Houston man. Then, he was charged with the murder of a League City man. Now, he's out on bond again.]
Ms Homer,
I have a few related question about this story, which has your byline:
Why do you not include the names of the judges who granted the accused bail? Does your media outlet have a policy about that? If so, what is that policy? If there is a policy, is it publicly available? -- e.g. can you provide a link to it?
Surely the names are known to you, or you could investigate and discover the names, right?
I ask because in many cases judges are elected, and this kind of info would be seen by a great many people as important when deciding how to vote -- or whether or not to organize a recall.
Thanks for any reply.
Regards.