That's right, Texas Gov. Rick Perry will be on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight to promote his new book Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America From Washington. In the book, Perry appears to argue that Washington is guilty of overspending and has taken too many rights away from the states. See the NPR coverage here, coverage from the Dallas Morning News here, and Newsweek here to name a few. The appearance on tonight's show is part of the tour to promote Perry's views on the way government should be run.
The big question, however, is what else Jon Stewart will have access to question Perry about. As Grits has pointed out, we can only hope that Stewart will corner the esteemed governor about his comments regarding Anthony Graves, a Texas man released from Death Row after some 18 years. Following the release of Mr. Graves, the Governor announced that this exoneration is proof that "…our system works well…" Somehow, having an innocent man in prison for almost two decades is a shining example of the way the criminal justice system should work. This is particularly frightening in light of how Graves came to be in prison in the first place.
Graves was released based on what special prosecutor Kelly Siegler described as "horrible" and one of the worst cases of prosecutorial misconduct she had ever seen. The misconduct was committed by former prosecutor Charles Sebesta, who went so far in the case as to threaten to prosecute the wife of the actual killer if he did not name Graves as an accomplice. Charles Sebesta represents everything that is wrong with the criminal justice system, but unfortunately will not be held accountable for his actions. He flatly denies the complaints about his fraudulent prosecution of an uninvolved party, a denial that Siegler seems to have trouble believing, and the State Bar of Texas has dismissed a complaint filed against Sebesta by Graves' attorney. See coverage by the Houston Chronicle here. With no real teeth to prosecute district and county attorneys who play so fast and loose with the rules, Sebesta will go untouched for his actions.
Beyond Graves is the question of the Texas Forensic Science Commission and the Cameron Todd Willingham case. Willingham's case is a hot issue in Texas now, given the fact that our state may well have executed a man for a crime he did not commit. Indeed, our state may have executed Willingham for a crime that did not even happen. Perhaps even hotter, however, is Gov. Perry's rotation of the TFSC tasked with hearing evidence regarding arson investigation "science" in Texas, in particular evidence about the Willingham prosecution. In the months leading up to this year's election, Perry rotated the chair to Williamson County DA John Bradley, who has done everything short of burning the Commission's files to prevent a hearing on the matter.
Now, the election is over, and Perry will appear on a show not known for pulling punches or supporting a "Conservative Agenda." Certainly, appearing on the show is still a risk for Perry where speculation runs that he may make a run at the Presidency in 2012. Of course, his people are aware of the risks, and surely they would not allow the governor to appear without taking precautions regarding the questions he is to be asked. Either way, it should be fun to watch. To help make sure of that, the Criminal Justice Blog at change.org is running a twitter petition here to convince Stewart to ask our governor the critical questions we would all like answered.
No comments:
Post a Comment