Apologies, incompetence, tweaks and farewells

Here are a few odds and ends that may interest Grits readers:

Adios, Jerry y Suerte, Pete

There's a nice, exeunt profile of Jerry Madden in the Plano Star-Courier after the House Corrections Chairman announced his retirement from the Legislature. And it turns out House Criminal Jurisprudence Chairman Pete Gallego left his seat to run for Congress. Both were fine legislators and I wish them well. MORE on Madden's departure from Rodger Jones at the Dallas News.

Empty Apology
Williamson County District Judge and former prosecutor Ken Anderson apologized for Michael Morton's false conviction that earned him 25 years in prison based on false allegations that Morton murdered his wife. If Anderson had included $4 with that apology perhaps Mr. Morton could have gotten himself a latte at Starbucks after the presser. Morton's second chair, Mike Davis, at his deposition said he was "shocked" by then-DA Anderson's failure to disclose exculpatory evidence. Wilco Watchdog rightly says Anderson's substance-free press conference was a (mostly successful) attempt at "pre-emptive damage control" before the transcript of his deposition is released next week.

'Mental health facility? The county jail'
At the Houston Chronicle, Patricia Kilday Hart asks "How did Texas law enforcement get in the mental health business?"

Cameron constable merger?
The Cameron County commissioners court voted to eliminate two constable positions in light of a budget crunch. "The consolidation still requires the approval of the U.S. Department of Justice."

'Texas Tweakers'
The Houston Press has a lengthy article on meth in Lufkin. The Wall Street Journal recently ran a fascinating story about the rise of "one pot" or "micro" meth labs, which use a small enough amount of pseudoephedrine to fly under the registries' radar.

Texting bans hard to enforce
Police told the Amarillo Traffic Commission that a ban on texting in school zones is hard to enforce because, predictably, officers have "difficulty distinguishing between a driver tapping a phone to make a call or text messages."

Incompetent defendants 'held hostage'
See an essay and new report (pdf) on a subject much discussed here at Grits: "defendants found to be incompetent [who] are being held hostage by the court," in particular a Baltimore-based mental health court, but the circumstances are far from unique.

Prisoners online?
Matt Kelley has a column promoting a group dedicated to "giving prisoners a voice online," which reminded me of Grits' email exchange with Michael Landauer at the Dallas News earlier this year titled "Putting iPhones behind bars." Notably, Facebook recently announced it will disable prisoners' accounts if they're updated while the prisoner is incarcerated, since by definition prisoners have no legal access and it's a violation of their user agreement if the page is updated by someone other than the account holder.