Sleepless in Midland

The Odessa Bible Case

The Odessa American tells us that following the E.C.I.S.D. trustees meeting on 1/22/08 the trustees met privately with the ACLU lawyers about the recent mediation in the case of Moreno vs. Ector County Independent School District, et al.  See OA article.

The case was brought by ACLU, ACLU of Texas and People for the American Way Foundation along with some Ector County residents.  Lawyers from Jenner & Block are making the case for the plaintiffs.  Liberty Legal Institute is providing the defense.

The issue is whether the students in the Bible class are taught "The Bible," like a Sunday school class, or about the Bible, like a history or literature class.

You can find a link to the plaintiffs' complaint at the ACLU site.  However, and this is somewhat annoying, you can't get the defendants' answer there.  Until now the defendant's answer was not available on line without having to pay for it.  So as a service to readers, you can download it here.  Click to Download defendants_answer.pdf 

If anyone is interested in this case I recommend reading both the complaint and the answer.

The main concern of the plaintiffs is summed up on page 2 of the complaint, as follows:

Public schools may constitutionally offer courses about the Bible "when presented objectively as part of a secular program of education".  Sch. Dist.  Abington School Dist. v. Schempp, 374   U.S. 203, 225 (1963 ). This action seeks declaratory and injunctive relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983 against the Defendants, who have officially authorized and are now offering and teaching in ECISD public high schools a course of instruction on the Bible (the Bible courses) that is not presented objectively but instead actively promotes a particular religious viewpoint to public school students in a manner prohibited by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The Defendants adopted the Bible Course with the primary purpose of advancing religion generally and a specific religious interpretation of the Bible particularly, and the Course has the primary effect of promoting, advancing, and endorsing religion generally and a particular set of religious beliefs specifically. The Bible Course does not adhere to the constitutional standard of objectivity, but instead presents the Bible from a singular religious point of view that knight be appropriate for Sunday schools but has no place in public schools.

Both parties rely on dicta from Abington, (alternate link), as follows:

In addition, it might well be said that one's education is not complete without a study of comparative religion or the history of religion and its relationship to the advancement of civilization. It certainly may be said that the Bible is worthy of study for its literary and historic qualities. Nothing we have said here indicates that such study of the Bible or of religion, when presented objectively as part of a secular program of education, may not be effected consistently with the First Amendment.

So it's a fact issue.  Were the students taught the Bible course pursuant to Supreme Court guidelines?

The ACLU complaint alleges that the ECISD used the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools.  NCBCPS gets a lot of criticism for their Bible curriculum.  Mark Chancey, SMU religious studies professor, is a vocal critic, and here's an article in which he lays out some of his concerns.  To what extent the ECISD Bible course relied on the NCBCPS isn't clear from the Defendant's answer, and if the case goes to trial then witnesses will provide that evidence.

The parties have now gone through mediation, and CBS7 produces what it purports to be the contract points (see).  Chief among them would be the appointment of an 18 member committee of which 16 would be needed to approve a curriculum.   Assuming 16 committee members could agree on a curriculum, it would be strictly monitored.

I starting writing this post long before the settlement proposal was made public, and here was my early prediction:

But it doesn't cost anything to speculate, so here's an early prediction.  The mediation will probably result in an agreement between the parties whereby the ECISD keeps a Bible course but agrees to allow close monitoring so that course remains "about the Bible" and nothing more.  And ECISD ends up paying the ACLU legal fees.   Whatever high minded motives a lawyer might claim, he/she is still in business for the money.

Well, the part about the legal fees was wrong, or maybe that's yet to come.

So that brings us up to date.  Now we sit back and wait for a decision of the ECISD trustees of whether to accept or reject the proposal.

State of Texas vs. Robert Marshall Pickard -- an arson trial

This trial has been postponed so many times it makes the head spin.  The original Grand Jury indictment was in late 2005, and it accused Robert Marshall Pickard and Leslie Neal Griffen of igniting a combustible material with the intent to damage or destroy a habitation owned by Mr. Pickard at 5000 Heather Rd., Midland, Texas.  Here's the local news report from back then.  The charges against Ms. Griffen were later dismissed.

Mr. Pickard was originally represented by C. H. (Hal) Brockett and David G. Rogers.

So far the most interesting development of the case was the motion filed on behalf of Mr. Marshall by Mr. Rogers, on 12/05/05.  The "Motion to Restrict Publicity" sought a restriction on news media from taking photos of the defendant in the courthouse or at anytime while he was transported to the courtroom.  And it sought to restrict news media from reporting in detail the evidence obtained during pretrial hearings.  And the motion requested a court order that no person, police officer, witness, court participant or counsel comment to the media on any matter concerning the case during pretrial or trial.

At the March 14, 2006, hearing on that motion Judge Hyde pointed out that public trials are a not only a Constitutional right but are fundamental to a fair trail.  Mr. Rogers replied by telling the court that shortly after the fire an individual on the prosecution's side of the case held a press conference divulging details about the case prejudicial to the defendant.  The news report linked above probably resulted from that press conference.  Anyway, the judge admonished the prosecutor pointing to  Rule 3.07- Trial Publicity in the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct.

The trial is scheduled to start on January 14, 2008, In the 238th Judicial District Court, and if this case is as interesting as I think it will be you will be able to read about it on these pages.

Updated 1/14/08, 9:50 a.m.:  Case continued.  Wouldn't you know it?  The case has been continued yet again.  A state's witness had a medical emergency and wouldn't be able to attend, so Judge Hyde has set a hearing for this Thursday afternoon to set a new trial date.  He said that once a new date is set then if that witness is unable to attend on that new date the case will go to trial anyway.

Updated.  The trial finally started on 4/28/08.  Click for daily trial summaries.

When police kill

It appears as there had been a small wake on the front porch.  The photo was taken on Christmas morning, 2007,  in the front of the house where Alfredo Losoya Vela was shot and killed by police a few days earlier.

[The remainder of this entry was revised on 2/23/2008.]

It was an unfortunate event, and it was sad that Mr. Vela died.  A grand jury heard all of the evidence and ruled that the shooting by the police did not warrant any criminal charge against the police officer.

I was very upset about this shooting originally.  It was unfortunate, and I thought it should have been handled differently.  But it's over.  It's done with.   And now it's time for everyone else to get over it and move on.  If this seems unfair remember that life is unfair.  This is one of those things  that everyone is just going to have to live with.   And anyone who might think that retaliation is the appropriate response is sadly misguided.

San Antonio Toyota factory cranking out those trucks

I counted 67 Tundra pickup trucks on the local Toyota dealer's lot the other day (12/30/07).  The factory in San Antonio must be really grinding those things out.  And there must be a big market for them in Texas -- they're big boy trucks with lots of head room, horse power, altitude and attitude.   Hopefully, the workmanship that went into these vehicles is of the high quality for which Toyota used to be famous.

And they're selling like hotcakes.  In 2007 Toyota sold 196,555 of them, a 57.4% increase over 2006.  Source:  Autospectator.com.

You can see a list of the Toyota of Midland inventory here,  although it may not be current.

Too bad they get such low gas mileage.  But we'll worry about that another day.

Chris Rock: civic responsibility is for grownups

Comedy Central has been playing and replaying Chris Rock's 2004 show, Never Scared.  And it's got some funny parts.  I like Chris Rock, or more specifically, I like the way he tells a story and gets a laugh.  But being Chris Rock means telling a line that gets a laugh from some but leaves others saying, "Hey wait a minute.  That's downright wrong."

He's got a riff about how to get away with murder.  Simply kill a rapper.  You can watch it at youtube beginning at around 4:17. According to him, the police won't do anything if a rapper gets murdered.  It's funny, but skewed.  Here's the quote:

The government hates rap. That's why they don't arrest anybody that kills rappers! Only the good ones are dead, man! Only the good ones: Biggie dead, Tupac dead, Vanilla Ice still alive! They don't fill out a police report! They don't even have a chalk line when it's a dead rapper; they just [urinate] around the body...

It's all for laughs, but Mr. Rock is blaming the wrong people.  Maybe that's what his audience wants to hear, but it seems more likely the reason no one gets arrested is because no one wants to step up and tell the police what happened.   If they did they would be a bad old snitch.  See 60 Minutes Stop Snitchin':

In most communities, a person who sees a murder and helps the police put the killer behind bars is called a witness. But in many inner-city neighborhoods in this country that person is called a "snitch."

"Stop snitchin'" is a catchy hip-hop slogan that embodies and encourages this attitude. You can find it on everything from rap music videos to clothing. "Stop snitchin" once meant "don’t tell on others if you’re caught committing a crime."

/snip/

Reluctance to talk to police has always been a problem in poor, predominantly African-American communities, but cops and criminologists say in recent years something has changed: fueled by hip-hop music, promoted by major corporations, what was once a backroom code of silence among criminals, is now being marketed like never before.

The message appears in hip-hop videos, on T-shirts, Web sites, album covers and street murals. Well-known rappers talk about it endlessly on DVDs. It is a simple message heard in African-American communities across the country: don't talk to the police.

So he says the whole world's f___d up.  Whatever you say, Mr. Rock, but you seem to be riding on top of it.  Too bad being a good comedian doesn't mean being a good citizen.

It's a crying shame

If only I could draw a cartoon.  This one is just begging to be put on paper.  Picture this:  It's a scene of the Presidential candidates in a debate.  They are each standing behind a podium, and they are all bawling like babies.  Tear drops splashing everywhere!  The caption reads, "Always ready to adopt the latest successful technique, the candidates open the floodgates."

That successful technique was Hillary sobbing for the cameras to prove how much she really cares for the country just prior to the New Hampshire primary.  She really, really cares.

Was Hillary faking it?  It looked sincere, but what do I know?  I'm reminded of the time I joked to my ex about how she used to cry to get her way with me.  I was just making a joke not really knowing how she would respond, but she admitted it!  She had faked it!

As for Hillary, we all have to make that decision for ourselves. Maybe she was crying because she thought she would lose the vote.  She's not crying now.

Updated 1/20/08 -

Someone did it!  See Sandy Huffaker 1/19/08 at CaglePost.

Science for Celebrities

Ya gotta love the Brits.  The optimism.  The willingness to help.  Here comes a British charitable outfit that has set out to help educate celebrities so that they don't say dumb things in public.  It's Sense About Science.  Excerpt:

People in the public eye are often drawn into promoting theories, therapies, and campaigns that make no scientific sense. This leaflet shows how easily some mistakes could have been avoided. Now it’s possible to check the facts before going public. Hundreds of scientists from many fields are available to help you get it right for the public. It costs a phone call.

In the first week of January 2007, we released Sense About… Science for Celebrities, a leaflet that was elegantly abridged by the Sun: ‘Profs rap dim stars’! Download the leaflet (pdf) and read about Madonna’s, Joanna Lumley’s and Chris de Burgh’s brushes with nuclear physics, oncology and physiology.

It's just a phone call away.  Rosie?  Whoopie?  Got that number?

Via Blowing Smoke.

The Do It Yourself Detective

Ben Adams, private eye.  Client:  self.  Property recovered:  stolen pickup.

It's a fascinating story.  He sold his classic pickup on e-bay on a Friday night.  Someone picked it up on Sunday leaving behind a fake cashiers check for payment.  On Monday his bank gave him the bad news about the fake check. 

It turns out that the perps were buying restored classic vehicles with fake cashiers checks and also buying junkers of a similar make and model legitimately.  Then they would resell the nice ones on e-bay with the junker titles.

He reported the crime to 13 different law enforcement agencies but couldn't get help from them.  So he tracked down the perps himself.  And when they tried to resell it on e-bay with a different title he had a friend take it for a test spin.  Then the police helped him and made the arrest.

You can read Mr. Adam's story in his own words at his blog.  Check it out, it's worth the read to get the details of his investigations.  There are a couple of unanswered questions, though.  For example, did the thieves attempt to alter the VIN on the vehicle to match the other vehicle's title?  And what exactly did he tell the police on the phone that last time to convince them to come and make the arrest?  Maybe these questions will be answered after the trial.

So, what have we learned today.  First, it is probably advisable for e-bay sellers to verify the check before releasing the merchandise.   And second, used car buyers should make sure the VIN on the title matches the VIN on the vehicle.

Finally, here's a writeup about it at Computerworld.

Via TechClicks.

Nice work, Detective Adams!