Thursday Link Dump

We expect today to be a pretty busy day, so we’re going to throw out a little link dump in the hopes we’ll be able to address some of this in more detail later today:

Justice for Sale: The Price of Immunity, $2,000,000: Today the Texas Supreme Court takes up an issue that goes to the heart of what it means to be a Texan:  Are we accountable for the consequences of our behavior?  Lord John Brown, former CEO of British Petroleum and his special interest peers say no. They argue that they are above the law-literally. [Burnt Orange Report]

Two Executions Halted Over Different Challenges: In the nation’s most active death penalty state, two November executions have been halted because of pending capital punishment issues before the courts. On Tuesday a federal judge in Sherman stopped the Nov. 6 execution of Allen Bridgers, whose attorneys claim he is mentally retarded. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that mentally retarded people cannot be executed. In another case, a judge in Fort Worth stopped the Nov. 27 execution of Dale Devon Scheanette following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to consider the legality of lethal injection. [Austin American-Statesman]

Conditions At North Texas Youth Lockup Are Dismal: The September inspection report about a Texas Youth Commission lockup in North Texas paints a grim picture. The buildings are “structurally suffering, dangerous and unclean,” states the confidential assessment by Ombudsman Will Harrell, who ranked the Victory Field Correctional Academy in Vernon as “the least adequate” of any he’d visited since he took the job in May. [Austin American-Statesman]

Group Opposes Sale Of West Texas Mountain Range: The controversial proposal to transfer the pristine Christmas Mountains to private interests continued fueling opposition Wednesday. A conservation group criticized Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and launched an online petition drive calling upon Gov. Rick Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbott to intercede. [Fort Worth Star-Telegram]

Corny Votes Against SCHIP, But Really Supports SCHIP. WTF?:  We got the most amazing newsletter this week. Apparenty John Cornyn really DOES support SCHIP. We’re sort of wondering why he would vote against it, if he supports it. [Texas Clover Leaf]

Walle Makes A Run In HD 140: Armando Walle, a native of Aldine, recently announced he would be challenging Kevin Bailey for the Texas House District 140 seat. Bailey is one of several “Craddick D’s” being challenged, and I must say Walle is definitely running hard for the seat; so hard, that Cody Garrett at the Texas Observer has noticed. [Dos Centavos]

Brett Shipp Investigates Railroad Commission; Michael Williams Refuses To Talk: I told you so! The Texas Railroad Commission is broken! They’ve got it all back-ass-wards! They’re supposed to protect us, we the people, the ones whose taxes pay their salaries. Instead they protect industry, especially the oil and gas industry.

But now, Brett Shipp is all over the Railroad Commission. Tonight he reported about the gas leak dangers from faulty pipe couplings. This investigation has been going on for 8 years! [Bluedaze]

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