5 ms·

The Most Lawless County in Texas

41 points by leephillips 4y ago

js2 4y ago
Here's a more succinct version of the story: https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=5346 https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedeta...
- tomcam 4y ago
  Much better, thank you.
jdlshore 4y ago
One of the things that strikes me about this story is that it took six grand juries to indict Woolley. Now, I don’t know what the grand jury selection is like in Texas, but I’ve served on a grand jury in Oregon. And I gotta tell you, it is not hard to get a grand jury to indict. We were basically a rubber stamp, confirming that it was reasonably possible that the DA had a case. For five grand juries to refuse to indict, there must have been a serious lack of evidence.
woodruffw 4y ago
What an incredible and maddening story. These kinds of small-town corruption infuriate me, and demonstrate a historic weakness of the US’s legal system: the extreme power vested in county DAs, and their incestuous relationships with their law enforcement and judicial counterparts.
- ultrarunner 4y ago
  I'm reading this from Maricopa County (where Phoenix, AZ is the county seat). You might remember Maricopa County from the numerous times that Joe Arpaio made headlines for his cruel, racist, and ultimately illegal behavior for which he sought pardon from Donald Trump. He also liked to stage witch hunts for political opponents and even reporters, freezing their assets and subjecting them to investigations where the process is the punishment. I wish that type of corruption was limited to small towns, but from where I'm sitting it seems quite likely that this takes place every day across this country.
  - js2 4y ago
    Well, conversely, the Wake County DA is prosecuting the NC AG over a campaign law that has never before been enforced, probably torpedoing her political career. https://www.theassemblync.com/politics/courts/lorrin-freeman-last-stand/ https://www.theassemblync.com/politics/courts/lorrin-freeman...
- bmitc 4y ago
  It's basically just state sanctioned mob behavior.
- gorkish 4y ago
  In D Magazines overzealous attempt to dramatize the story, they appear to have failed to communicate to their non-Texan readers that Collin County carves out a chunk of the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex and has a population of approximately one million people and four thousand attorneys.

41 points by leephillips 4y ago

js2 4y ago

Here's a more succinct version of the story: https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=5346 https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedeta...

tomcam 4y ago
Much better, thank you.

jdlshore 4y ago

One of the things that strikes me about this story is that it took six grand juries to indict Woolley. Now, I don’t know what the grand jury selection is like in Texas, but I’ve served on a grand jury in Oregon. And I gotta tell you, it is not hard to get a grand jury to indict. We were basically a rubber stamp, confirming that it was reasonably possible that the DA had a case. For five grand juries to refuse to indict, there must have been a serious lack of evidence.

woodruffw 4y ago

What an incredible and maddening story. These kinds of small-town corruption infuriate me, and demonstrate a historic weakness of the US’s legal system: the extreme power vested in county DAs, and their incestuous relationships with their law enforcement and judicial counterparts.

ultrarunner 4y ago
I'm reading this from Maricopa County (where Phoenix, AZ is the county seat). You might remember Maricopa County from the numerous times that Joe Arpaio made headlines for his cruel, racist, and ultimately illegal behavior for which he sought pardon from Donald Trump. He also liked to stage witch hunts for political opponents and even reporters, freezing their assets and subjecting them to investigations where the process is the punishment. I wish that type of corruption was limited to small towns, but from where I'm sitting it seems quite likely that this takes place every day across this country.
- js2 4y ago
  Well, conversely, the Wake County DA is prosecuting the NC AG over a campaign law that has never before been enforced, probably torpedoing her political career. https://www.theassemblync.com/politics/courts/lorrin-freeman-last-stand/ https://www.theassemblync.com/politics/courts/lorrin-freeman...
bmitc 4y ago
It's basically just state sanctioned mob behavior.
gorkish 4y ago
In D Magazines overzealous attempt to dramatize the story, they appear to have failed to communicate to their non-Texan readers that Collin County carves out a chunk of the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex and has a population of approximately one million people and four thousand attorneys.