10.02.08

Broken Law and the criminality of what is legal

Posted in County Attorney, Election 2008, Had Enough Yet?, Money In Politics, Precinct 1, Uncategorized, Williamson County at 10:52 am by wcnews

Today Patricia J. Ruland at the Austin Chronicle expands on the connections between 3rd Court of Appeals Chief Justice W. Kenneth Law’s ethics problems and how they connect to elected officials in Williamson County in this article, TPJ Campaign Complaint Leads Back to WilCo. Ruland examines closely the links to County Attorney Jana Duty and Precinct 1 County Commissioner Lisa Birkman.  The story begins by breaking down the ethics complaint filed against Justice Law by the non-partisan advocacy group Texans for Public Justice (TPJ).

In all, TPJ’s complaints (the civil complaint is filed with the Ethics Commission) cite six apparent violations: • accepting approximately $66,850 without a designated campaign treasurer; • not filing a sworn declaration of intent to comply with expenditure limits; • reimbursing himself for an estimated $21,575.81 in campaign expenditures without having officially indicated the expenses were subject to reimbursement; • accepting $10,000 (twice the legal limit) from one donor (Harold Simmons, the energy tycoon who helped pay for the “Swift Boat” attacks against John Kerry and is now involved in similar attacks on Barack Obama); • accepting the KochPAC donation without full disclosure; and, • failing to provide “name, employer, or job title” of 47 contributors.

As it happens, one inadequately identified contributor was Williamson Co. Commissioner Lisa Birkman, and the WilCo connections raise additional questions about potentially improper influence on a case heard by Law’s court. Austin attorney Bill Aleshire, who is representing Constable Gary Griffin in a lawsuit against the county commissioners (which alleges the Commissioners Court violated the Texas Constitution by eviscerating Grif­fin’s 2005 budget in midyear), believes Law’s campaign finance trail reflects an institutional conflict of interest. Aleshire pointed out that County Attorney Jana Duty, who represented the county in the lawsuit, and Sheriff James Wilson, who testified against Griffin, helped organize a Dec. 13 fundraiser for Law (see “Appeals Court Rules Against WilCo Constable,” Dec. 21, 2007). The fundraiser was announced in a letter signed by Duty and Wilson (among others) and dated Nov. 28. That was the same day Law, writing for a three-judge panel, upheld a WilCo district court’s granting of summary judgment against Griffin and in favor of the county.

In the TPJ complaint and in all the subsequent reporting, there is no illegal activity alleged regarding Duty or Birkman. The only person accused of lawbreaking is Justice Law. While those with GOP sympathies in Williamson County would like us to believe there’s nothing wrong with Duty and Birkman’s actions, that’s for the voters to decide. Their defense is that all elected officials, due to the high cost of campaigning, must take money from those whose they give county contracts to. That’s one way to look at it. But if that’s how a candidate chooses to run their campaign, they can’t cry foul when the connections between their campaign cash and county contracts come to light.

And Duty, for her part, uses the “everyone does it” excuse, to explain her timely contributions to Justice Law, as well as, her campaign contributions. Maybe we should ask Duty, “If Tom DeLay jumped off a bridge…”, well you get the point. I give Duty credit, at least she’ll berate talk to the media, unlike Birkman.

Commissioner Birkman did not respond to requests for comment. In an e-mail response, Duty answered angrily, shrugging off the apparent conflicts of interest as commonplace among lawyers. “Not that any of the facts below will ACTUALLY be reported accurately,” she wrote, “but … I did not ‘plan’ a fundraiser for Judge Law, I was simply asked to be a sponsor, which means my name [was] listed on the invitations as being on the host committee (i.e., that I am a supporter of his). Lawyers help judges raise money all the time. How about you do some investigative reporting by taking a look at other Judges’ financial supports and I guarantee that you will find TONS of lawyers (even lawyers who have pending cases) on the judges’ contributors lists. It is very common. I have no personal knowledge about the allegations against Judge Law, as this is not my case, it is David Escamilla’s case.”

She could have cited one, since it’s purportedly so common. The case against Justice Law is proceeding and here’s what TPJ had to say about all of this:

TPJ Executive Director Craig McDonald commented that while only Law may be held legally accountable for fundraising improprieties, the “deep, intertwined web of conflicts of interest involved in the whole affair” is representative of a larger problem, even echoing Duty’s shrug that this kind of fundraising is commonplace. “What happened in WilCo was clearly unethical, with public officials raising money for a judge who’s ruling on a case in which they are involved, but, sadly, this happens day in and day out.” How elected judges are placed in office must change, he said, adding, “We need to get money out of the courtroom.”

Ultimately what this comes down to is not whether this is legal or illegal, but whether this is right or wrong.  Do the voters of Williamson County want their elected officials acting in this way?  Just because it’s not illegal doesn’t make it right.  But there’s an acronym that’s long been used in the new meida it’s IOKIYAR (It’s OK If You’re A Republican). There’s a stark difference between the method the GOP candidates in Williamson County use to finance their campaigns and the Democratic candidates do, as reported in the Williamson County Sun, Dems’ reasons for low fund totals personal, political.  Accountability comes in November.

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