Misery loves company, so here’s a bracket-busting joke for you:

Q: Why does the Gonzaga basketball team’s website go down every spring?
A: Because they can never string together three W’s in March.

Change to State Bar disciplinary rules?

The State Bar’s Committee on Disciplinary Rules and Referenda (CDRR) has posted notice for an online hearing regarding proposed ethics changes, including one that would expand prosecutors’ ethical duties under Rule 3.09 (Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor). That hearing will be held on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, starting at 10:00 a.m. If you haven’t read the proposal printed in the March 2022 edition of the Texas Bar Journal, you should—pay particular attention to the “cradle-to-grave” ethical duties regarding exculpatory evidence for anyone who was ever a prosecutor. If you have concerns, now is the time to raise them by testifying at the Zoom meeting or submitting comments. For more information, visit the CDRR webpage or contact Rob Kepple.

Disaster here, disaster there, disaster everywhere

Your local officials may be ratcheting down their pandemic threat levels or letting their emergency orders lapse, but not the state. Last week, Governor Abbott renewed his two-year-old COVID-19 disaster declaration for another 30 days (order available HERE). Ditto for the state’s 10-month-old border security disaster declaration, which was also renewed for another 30 days for the counties listed therein (order available HERE).

The Texas Supreme Court has also issued its 49th Executive Order (eff. 4/1/22) to continue various pandemic-related procedures that were recently been laid out in the court’s 47th Executive Order. (The only difference is the deletion of two prior provisions related to justice and municipal court proceedings; for details, see paragraphs 4–5 of Order 47, which are no longer included in Order 49).

Proceed accordingly.

House Interim Charges

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) has issued interim committee charges that will serve as the basis for House committees to take up matters during the interim in preparation for the next regular session. There’s a lot to unpack here, so we’ll break it down into smaller bites.

House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee

Topics for study by the primary committee impacting criminal law are:

1. Monitor the implementation of laws enacted last session, including HB 1540 (human trafficking)
2. Make recommendations for reducing employment barriers for people with criminal records, including considering expanding the types of records eligible for non-disclosure
3. Examine ways to increase compliance with court-ordered appearances, including virtual appearances and other new technology
4. Make recommendations to improve the availability and effectiveness of court-appointed counsel
5. Make recommendations for improving access to community-based services for crime victims

If you read that list and wonder where the usual “red meat” is—you know, death penalty, drugs, forfeiture, grand jury, etc.—those issues have been reserved for special treatment this interim.

Interim Study Committee on Criminal Justice Reform

In an effort to highlight his support for criminal justice reform, the speaker created a special “interim study committee” for that topic. Members of this special committee are:

• Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano), chair;
• Rep. Joe Moody (D-El Paso), vice-chair;
• Reps. Rhetta Andrews Bowers (D-Rowlett), Brad Buckley (R-Salado), Angie Chen Button (R-Garland), David Cook (R-Mansfield), Cole Hefner (R-Mt. Pleasant), Eddie Morales (D-Eagle Pass), Reggie Smith (R-Van Alstyne), and Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston), legislative members; and
• Public member Brett Tolman, a former U.S. Attorney in Utah who is now Executive Director for Right on Crime.

If you are surprised by that last entry, don’t be. This is a “special interim study committee” that doesn’t vote on actual bills, so the speaker can put anyone he wishes on it, including representatives of groups that lobby the legislature. (And remember when we shared with you in last month’s update Right on Crimes’s policy reform agenda? Well, now you know why.) Note also that only one member of this interim study committee (Rep. Cook) is currently on the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, making this unusual committee appear to be an “end run” attempt to shake things up in the lower chamber when it comes to criminal justice reform.

To that end, this new interim study committee has been created to “examine all elements of state policy that influence intake and outcomes in the state’s criminal justice system and make recommendations to protect the safety of all Texans and preserve Texans’ constitutional rights to due process of law.” To that (extremely broad) end, the committee is specifically charged to do the following (with some helpful interpretations added by us):

1. Monitor the implementation of SB 6 (bail reform)
2. Examine the following areas of criminal justice policy:
3. Policing, including training, use of force, arrests, and alternative responses (read: “back the blue”)
4. Criminal procedure from detention through appeal, including:
   a. drug offense penalties (read: lowering marijuana-related penalty ranges)
   b. use of prosecutorial discretion (read: hamstringing or eliminating it)
   c. use and conditions of detention and incarceration (read: limiting them)
   d. civil asset forfeiture (read: ending it)
   e. jury instructions and sentencing guidelines in felony cases (read: changing the law of parties, jury instructions in death penalty cases, and more)
5. Transparency in policing and prosecution, including the grand jury process (read: new interim, same old ideas)
6. Age of juvenile jurisdiction (read: raising it) and parole eligibility (read: “second look” retroactive early parole eligibility for certain violent offenders)
7. Opportunities to reduce recidivism and remove barriers to re-entry after justice involvement

Now, if you read all that and think “Good golly, they’ll never get through all that in the few months available to them during the interim,” let us assure you that they will have no trouble doing so. In fact, the recommendations that will come from the committee have probably already been written (as you can see from some of the links provided). So, sit back and enjoy the show.

More charges of interest

Other interim House charges of general interest include:

• Study appropriations from the state Sexual Assault Fund and Crime Victims Compensation Fund; consider whether current revenue sources are sufficient to maintain victims’ services grants (Appropriations Committee Charge #3)
• Study the impact or organized retail theft on Texas businesses and make recommendations for addressing it (Business & Industry Charge #4)
• Examine the availability of behavioral health services and drug/alcohol treatment and recovery options for individuals in county jails, in TDCJ facilities, and on community supervision and parole (Corrections Charge #6 / County Affairs Charge #4)
• Study the operations of specialty courts and determine whether additional specialty courts are needed to address specific populations (Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Charge #5)
• Examine new technologies to facilitate domestic violence reporting in the context of obtaining and enforcing protective orders (Juvenile Justice & Family Issues Charge #3)
• Examine ways to strengthen and enforce laws to reduce illegal gaming and game rooms, including those utilizing 8-liners (Licensing & Administrative Procedures Charge #2)
• Make recommendations to reduce illicit massage establishments and related activity connected to human trafficking (Licensing & Administrative Procedures Charge #3)
• Make recommendations to improve prevention, education, treatment, and data-sharing in regard to opioid abuse in Texas, with a focus on the impact of fentanyl-related overdoses and deaths (Public Health Charge #3)
• Monitor the implementation of HB 3927 relating to temporary vehicle tags (Transportation Charge #1)

The full list of House interim charges can be read HERE, for those so inclined. As committee hearings are announced on interim charges that are relevant to your work, we will try to post them in this monthly update. However, if you have a specific interest in a topic, you might consider tracking that committee separately on the state legislature’s website using their “My TLO” feature. If you have questions on how to do that, contact Shannon.

Senate update

Senate interim charges have not been assigned yet, but the Lite Guv did re-shuffle the deck chairs in the upper chamber in response to impending retirements. Perhaps the most interesting of those was the appointment of Sen. Chuy Hinojosa (D-McAllen) as Vice-Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, a position he held until replaced by Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D-Brownsville), who is not seeking re-election. In other words, Hinojosa is now replacing the person who replaced him. And so the world turns under the Big Pink Dome.

New SASTF-sponsored report

Researchers at UT-Austin’s Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (IDVSA) have released the second of two reports sponsored by the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Task Force (SASTF) that was created by the state legislature in 2019. This latest study focuses on the services needed by adult and child survivors of sexual violence in Texas. Entitled “Voices of Texas Sexual Assault Survivors: Services, Gaps, and Recovery Journeys (2022),” this report presents findings from interviews with sexual assault survivors and parents/guardians of child sexual abuse survivors about services they received and/or services needed but not received. It also highlights the gaps and barriers they experienced in the Texas service system and makes recommendations to improve service delivery based on the needs, experiences, and barriers expressed by survivors themselves. For more details, read the report at the link above.

Prosecuting Violent Crimes Conference

Online registration for our Prosecuting Violent Crimes Conference (April 11–14, 2022, at the Hyatt Regency Houston West) is still open. There will also be a FREE domestic violence training on protective orders provided separately on Monday, April 11, in conjunction with the conference. For more details or to register online, click HERE.

Annual Conference scholarships

We want to alert everyone to two potential funding sources to help you or your employees attend our 2022 Annual Criminal and Civil Law Conference in Corpus Christi this fall.

First, the Texas District and County Attorneys Foundation (TDCAF) is providing a limited number of scholarships through generous gifts made in memory of Mike Hinton. To apply, complete this online application and send it in by Saturday, April 30, 2022.

Second, the State Bar Criminal Justice Section’s scholarship process is also open for applications. To learn more about that option, click HERE. Those applications and related documents are due by Friday, April 1, 2022.

Scattershooting

Some articles and other online postings that you might find interesting:

• “Amid Austin police indictments, the issue of whether officers testify before grand juries isn’t as simple as a talking point.” (KVUE)
• “State officials are pushing back against local DAs who win elections on reform messages” (GRID)
• “Harris County to spend $50 million to fight crime by planting trees, adding lights, fixing sidewalks” (Houston Chronicle)
• “More than half of the Texas House wants to stop the execution of Melissa Lucio, convicted of killing her toddler” (Texas Tribune)
• “Demand for Safe Rooms Skyrockets in Los Angeles” (The Hollywood Reporter)

Quotes of the Month

“I’ll let you in on a secret: Republicans like to get high just as much as Democrats.”
            —Beto O’Rourke, Democratic nominee for governor, on why he thinks he can convince the legislature to legalize marijuana if he is elected governor.

“Nobody knows who we are—it’s impossible for the electorate to be informed.”
            —Judge David Singer, Harris County Criminal Court-at-Law No. 14, who was defeated in the Democratic primary by Harris Co. Asst. DA Je’Rell Rogers during an election cycle in which bail reform was a major issue.

“We’re spending millions and billions of dollars in trying to manage something, but instead of getting me the plumber to stop the leak, they’re sending me people to mop up the floor.”
            —Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez, referring to Operation Lone Star’s effectiveness—or lack thereof.

“The district attorney’s office was phenomenal. They had a victim’s advocate there as well, and she was wonderful. … I felt prepared, I felt supported, I felt believed, I felt empowered. … The whole process was as good as I can imagine it could ever be.”
            —Anonymous adult survivor of sexual assault, as recounted in the recent SASTF report referenced above. For related feedback—including negative experiences caused by inadequate communication, high staff turnover, and lack of trauma-informed practices—read the full report.

“Life is as it is. My life today is wonderful. I believe that I am needed. I think that’s the most important sense of life, that you are needed, that you are not just an emptiness that breathes and walks and eats something.”
            —Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, giving a #deepthoughts answer earlier this month to a question from the press about life after the Russian invasion.

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Only four more days until the 2022 primary elections! You can read an overview of some of the prosecutor races that have caught the attention of at least one criminal justice reform-oriented news outlet HERE, and we’ll send out a separate post-primary update next week with relevant results from around the state. Meanwhile, it’s been pretty quiet on the policy front, what with all the policymaking-types campaigning to keep that job, but here’s some news you can use—especially if you need CLE help due to pandemic-shrunk training budgets!

Right on Crime agenda

We are still more than 10 months from the start of the regular session of the 88th Legislature, but some advocacy groups are already starting to roll out their wish lists for 2023. Among those groups are Right on Crime, the criminal justice reform arm of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), which released its Policy Priorities for the 88th Lege a few weeks ago. The list of nine items includes seven retreads (grand jury, civil asset forfeiture, “second look” parole, etc.), plus two new items relating to limiting the use of no-knock warrants and allowing judges to deny bail in more cases (which would require a constitutional amendment). Click on the link above for all the details.

In related news, TPPF also announced earlier this month the launch of its “Right for Families” campaign. Their list of agenda items under that campaign can be found HERE and should interest any of you involved in DFPS representation—especially those of you who disagreed with some of the changes enacted by the legislature last session. (Nutshell summary: More of the same coming your way!)

New TDCAA online CLE

Speaking of DFPS work, we are proud to announce the launch of our latest online CLE course, “Fundamentals of Child Welfare Law.” In this six-part video course, you will learn the fundamental skills of child welfare law in a format specifically designed for prosecutors who represent DFPS. This online-only course costs $175 and provides 5.25 hours of MCLE. The course was created with assistance from the Texas Children’s Commission, which is offering a limited number of need-based scholarships for attorneys representing DFPS (in the form of reimbursement of registration fees after this course has been completed.) Interested applicants must apply for the reimbursement scholarship and can receive notice of their selection prior to registering for this course. For more details, click HERE.

Prosecuting Violent Crimes Conference

Registration is now open for TDCAA’s Prosecuting Violent Crimes Conference, which will take place April 11–14, 2022, at the Hyatt Regency Houston West. There will also be a FREE domestic violence training on protective orders provided separately on Monday, April 11, in conjunction with the conference for those interested. For all the details, or to register online, click HERE.

Annual Conference scholarships

We want to alert everyone to two potential funding sources to help you or your employees attend our 2022 Annual Criminal and Civil Law Conference in Corpus Christi this fall.

First, the Texas District and County Attorneys Foundation (TDCAF) is providing a limited number of scholarships through generous gifts made in memory of Mike Hinton. To apply, complete this online application and send it in by Saturday, April 30, 2022.

Second, the State Bar Criminal Justice Section’s scholarship process is also open for applications. To learn more about that option, click HERE. Those applications and related documents are due by Friday, April 1, 2022.

Mental health law symposium

The Texas Tech Law Review and the Texas Tech University School of Law are offering their biennial Texas Tech Mental Health Law Symposium as an online seminar on April 8, 2022. Like their prior programs on mental health law, this year’s symposium will address practical legal and policy issues that can contribute to improvements in the public mental health system and help address the significant challenges faced by the criminal justice system and law enforcement with regard to alleged offenders with mental illness. The program is designed for practicing lawyers and judges and is FREE OF CHARGE. They anticipate approval for 6.5 hours of MCLE credit, including 0.5 hour of ethics. Although there is no fee associated with the conference, you must register in advance. To do so, or to learn more about the webinar, click HERE.

Scattershooting

Some articles and other online postings that you might find interesting:

• “Supreme Court Advisory Committee considers remote jury trials and other proceedings” (Texas Civil Justice League)
• “Attacks fly in final days of Attorney General Ken Paxton’s primary fight” (Texas Tribune)
• “Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt takes heat for lack of Texas law license in his bid for attorney general” (Texas Tribune)
• “As human trafficking surged during COVID, Texas AG Ken Paxton closed 4 cases in 2 years” (Houston Chronicle)
• “Kim Ogg blames rising crime on Houston judges. Fourteen of her prosecutors are vying to unseat them.” (Texas Monthly)
• “Texas Gov. Abbott: Agencies must investigate gender-affirming care for trans kids as ‘child abuse’” (Dallas Morning News)
• “Gov. Greg Abbott floats pardons for Austin police officers charged with excessive force in 2020 protests” (Texas Tribune)
• “‘I hate it here’: National Guard members sound off on Texas border mission in leaked morale survey” (Texas Tribune)
• “The science of addiction: Do you always like the things you want?” (BBC World Service)

Quotes of the Month

“I’m told there’s a term around the Senate called ‘being Seligered.’ And that is, if you don’t do what the lieutenant governor wants you to do, you will be severely punished. … And that’s the rule. And all those folks who are chairmen know it.”
            —State Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo), in a recent Texas Monthly interview. Sen. Seliger is retiring at the end of this year.

“[M]apmakers are on pace to draw fewer than 40 seats—out of 435—that are considered competitive based on the 2020 presidential election results.”
            —Reid Epstein and Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times, in a recent story about Congressional redistricting in today’s hyper-partisan atmosphere.

“I’ve been screaming and jumping up and down about very important things that are technically complicated and kind of scary. But now that I’ve got your attention, you know, let’s talk about them.”
            —Sarah Stogner, Republican candidate for the Railroad Commission, when asked by the Dallas Morning News about her TikTok campaign ad featuring her riding a pump jack while wearing a cowboy hat, boots, and not much else.

“In a different universe, or maybe just a different state, Sid Miller might be in more trouble than he is. It is by no means disqualifying to have run afoul of ethical or legal issues in the Republican primary.”
            —Cal Jillson, political scientist at SMU, referring to current Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller’s defense of one of his former aides who has been criminally charged with extorting illegal fees from hemp license applicants. [Although truth be told, these types of legal problems are not disqualifying in EITHER political party in this state. God bless Texas!!]

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New year, same as the old year. When does this ride end? We’re ready to get off. #sigh

SCOTX COVID-19 extension

While many local courthouses scale back or cancel in-person proceedings due to the latest Omicron wave, the Texas Supreme Court issued Emergency Order No. 47 last week to continue and extend prior guidance for local courts regarding pandemic protocols, etc. The only difference from the most recent order we could find was in paragraph 6 (amended) and paragraph 7 (newly added) governing the extension of dismissal dates for certain CPS-related cases. To see if or how that affects any of your cases, please click the link above and read those paragraphs closely.

BPU volunteers

If you attended TDCAA’s Elected Prosecutor Conference in Rockwall back in December, you’ll recall a presentation from border prosecutors detailing the overwhelming number of “Operation Lone Star” (OLS) cases hitting court dockets in Kinney and Val Verde Counties. While some of the new filings are felony cases, the majority are misdemeanor criminal trespass and similar charges. As Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith and Val Verde County Attorney David Martinez noted in December, this not just a border issue, as many individuals entering illegally are either undetected or released and travel to other parts of the state.

Members of the Border Prosecution Unit (BPU) have been assisting those county attorneys by providing attorneys to appear on virtual Zoom dockets in Kinney County (which experienced the number of cases going from 2 or 3 a month to more than 30 a day!), but the need is great and the number of cases will only increase as DPS expands its OLS surge activities to other counties. BPU is recruiting volunteer prosecutors from throughout the state to assist by handling daily virtual Zoom dockets. The BPU, working with elected prosecutors in the border counties, will train volunteers and provide back-up legal research and other support. Whether you can handle one docket a month or one a week, this is a tremendous opportunity to work together in meeting these challenges head-on—not just in the borderland, but throughout the entire state. (We also note that similar recruitment is occurring on the defense side, where the Texas Supreme Court has issued emergency orders to allow out-of-state defense lawyers to represent OLS defendants.)

To sign up and/or get more information about being a BPU OLS volunteer, please email [email protected].

Prosecution 101

On the heels of the Court of Criminal Appeals’ decision in Stephens v. State confirming that the attorney general cannot unilaterally prosecute election law violations, that state officer—and an interesting cross-section of state GOP officials and activists—have put the full-court press on that court to ask for a rehearing. (Click HERE to read the motions and multiple amicus briefs filed to date.) The current holder of that office has even publicly claimed that a nationwide George Soros-backed prosecutorial conspiracy behind this opinion from the all-Republican “Texas Criminal Court of Appeals” (as he has repeatedly mis-named it in the wake of the Stephens decision). We can’t really do this argument justice—and even his interviewer seems to have trouble following the “logic” behind it—but you can watch one such interview HERE if you want to know what kind of mud is being slung during the current primary campaign season.

Regardless of the outcome of the motion for reconsideration before the Court of Criminal Appeals, this debate is likely to continue at the Legislature when it takes up various yet-to-be-assigned interim charges after the March primaries. In fact, the current AG is on record saying that if the Stephens decision stands, he will ask Gov. Abbott to call a special session to overturn the ruling. We’ve been following this topic for at least the past 20 years—as evidenced by the repeated revisions to our “Texas Prosecution 101” memo—but in light of the newly-polarized political debates over elections, it looks like we’ll have to update it once again in preparation for further discussions. You should also prepare accordingly.

Election law confusion

As you know, after robust challenges that included a rare quorum break by opponents, the GOP-controlled Legislature eventually passed its “election integrity” bill during the second special session of last year. With the exception of the bill’s addition of new CCP Art. 42.0194 (Finding Regarding Felony Conviction), which we included in our free downloadable PDF of CCP revisions from the special sessions, we have not yet put out any information on Senate Bill 1 (87th Leg., 2nd Called Session) because of the bill’s unusual timing and its contents being outside the scope of our standard publications. As you also know, there is some confusion over various parts of the bill relating to election procedures. We are not in a place to resolve those questions, but SB 1 also enacted new crimes and changed the elements of other existing crimes, as well as raising or lowering the punishment ranges for some of those offenses, which are things you may be called upon to review or enforce. Therefore, we wanted to share with you two external documents that summarize the criminal law changes made by that 75-page bill:

• SB 1 – New offenses
• SB 1 – Changed offenses

Note that these memos were not prepared by TDCAA, and while we have found them to be generally accurate in what they describe, we encourage readers to consult the new law in its entirety for full details, including the bill’s various transition provisions and effective dates.

Musical chairs

Regardless of elections, the recent rash of legislative retirements and resignations requires the House and Senate leadership to reshuffle their deck chairs before returning next session. That process in the Senate started earlier this month when Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-Houston) promoted State Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston) to the middle seat on the Senate Finance Committee, where she will replace the retiring chairwoman, State Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound). This move likely means the Lite Guv will moth-ball the Senate Jurisprudence Committee—which was created last session with Sen. Huffman at the helm—because that committee passed much of the legislation it was created to handle in 2021, and because serving as the chair of Senate Finance leaves no time for chairing other committees. That said, we expect Sen. Huffman—a legislative recipient of TDCAA’s Lone Star Award last session—to remain involved in the public safety issues that are near and dear to her heart as a member of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.

In other State Senate news, yesterday the lieutenant governor announced that border security issues in that chamber would be spun off from the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and Border Security (chaired by Sen. Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills)) and given to a new Senate Committee on Border Security. The new standing committee will be chaired by Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) and include Sens. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) and Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen) as members.

Candidate filings

With four weeks and change to go until the March 1 primaries, we’ve put together a list of 2022 prosecutor races that you can view HERE. If you have information correcting or supplementing what we’ve cobbled together so far, please email that to Shannon HERE and he will update our running list. (And congratulations to the 75 percent of y’all up for election this cycle who have no primary or general election opponent!)

Diversion map

The National DAs Association (NDAA) has launched a crowd-sourcing project to map prosecutor-led diversion programs around the country as part of an effort to show “the proactive and innovative work being accomplished by local prosecutors.” To date, their list only includes programs in Collin, Harris, and Jim Wells Counties. To view the map and add your local diversion and intervention programs to their list, visit https://diversion.ndaa.org/.

Scattershooting

Some articles that you might find interesting:

• “Car crash deaths have surged during COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s why.” (Los Angeles Times)
• “How Australian police will use DNA sequencing to predict what suspects look like” (The Guardian)
• “How Oregon became America’s illegal weed capital” (Politico Magazine)
• “Why More Inexperienced Candidates Are Running—And Winning” (FiveThirtyEight)
• “Gov. Greg Abbott urges court to allow unilateral pursuit of vote fraud by Texas AG Ken Paxton” (Dallas Morning News)
• “Analysis: Crime pays, politically speaking, for Texas AGs” (Texas Tribune)

Quotes of the Month

We have a bumper crop this month. Must be an election year!

“In politics, the old adage is that the only abuse of power is to have it and not use it.”
            —Bill Miller, Austin lobbyist, as quoted in a Texas Observer article about claims of gubernatorial abuses of power during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

“When you look at the Republicans becoming more conservative and the Democrats losing some of their moderates, it just increases the polarization in Austin.”
            —Mark Jones, political scientist at Rice University, quoted in a Dallas Morning News article about the impending legislative turnover in the North Texas delegation.

“The result [of the Stephens decision) is, by this November, if we don’t get this changed, I think it’s very likely we’re going to lose five [Republican] members of the Texas Supreme Court who are up, we could lose my position, we could lose the governor, it’s just a matter of—whether it’s this time [or] the next time [or] the next time, we’re done in Texas if anybody can vote.”
            —Ken Paxton (R-McKinney), Texas Attorney General, as quoted during an appearance on the podcast Bannons [sic] War Room (starting at the 5:00 mark).

“Leave a message that you want the court to restore Paxton’s right to prosecute voter fraud in Texas. If this decision isn’t reversed, then the Democrats will steal the elections in November and turn Texas blue.”
            —Robocall message sent to tens of thousands of Texans statewide by Dr. Steven Hotze, the Houston-area conservative activist seeking a rehearing and reversal of the CCA’s decision in State v. Stephens.

“From the perspective of legal ethics, it’s a lamentable act but probably not a forbidden one. From a more general perspective, it is another sign of the breakdown of norms that support the rule of law. Lawyers know better than to contribute to this erosion, but Paxton does not care.”
            —Prof. Charles Silver, co-director of UT School of Law’s Center on Lawyers, Civil Justice and the Media, on the attorney general’s efforts to convince his supporters to help him overturn the CCA’s Stephens opinion.

“[Texas needs an attorney general who will] confront county DAs that aren’t doing their jobs.”
            —George P. Bush, Republican candidate for attorney general, testing out a new angle of attack at a campaign event earlier this month based on the Stephens decision.

“It’s such a sleepy race that hasn’t seemed to get going. … The race is so flat. There’s a chance—and I wouldn’t have said this months ago—that Paxton could win without a runoff.”
            —Matthew Langston, Republican political consultant, quoted in a Dallas Morning News story on the GOP primary for attorney general.

“You are being ‘rage farmed.’ Your angry quote tweet = the goal.”
            —Excerpt from a tweet by John Scott-Railton, senior researcher at the University of Toronto, as quoted in a Texas Tribune article discussing the dynamics of social media and how divisive memes are amplified on those platforms to drive engagement and further divide partisan audiences.

“You can be critical and you can have your opinion as to the decisions that I make, but you should fear a prosecutor who is basing their decisions not on the rule of law but on satisfying those passions.”
            —David Soares, Albany County (NY) DA, in response to claims that his dismissal of a misdemeanor sex-crime charge against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was motivated by political affiliation.

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