IF JUDGES ARE GOING TO BE ELECTED, HERE IS A GOOD REASON TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE REPUBLICANS

It’s not rape if she’s “on top”? The death penalty is unconstitutional? Never mind that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the United States Supreme Court have affirmed the death penalty as constitutional.

This “recovering drug addict” has got to be snorting those lines again.

HARRIS COUNTY JUDGE DECLARES DEATH PENALTY UNCONSTITUTIONAL; WE’RE GUESSING THERE WILL BE AN APPEAL
By Chris Vogel

Houston Press
March 4, 2010

State District Court Judge Kevin Fine may be the only judge in Harris County with tattoos running up and down his forearms, and he is certainly the only one to declare the Texas death penalty statute unconstitutional.

Fine was hearing motions Thursday from accused killer John Green's attorneys, and unpredictably granted a motion asking the court to declare the death penalty unconstitutional. Green is suspected of shooting a woman in 2008 and could be executed if found guilty.

"In every capital murder case," Green's attorney, Casey Kiernan, tells Hair Balls, "lawyers always ask the court to rule that the death penalty is unconstitutional. And this time the judge did it. I don't know that this has ever happened before in Harris County. It may be the bravest decision I've ever seen a judge make in more than 30 years as a defense lawyer."

This is not the first time Fine, a recovering drug addict who was elected to the bench as a Democrat in 2008, has made waves.

Last year, he was accused of telling an alleged rape victim in his court that he didn't believe she was raped because she was "on top" during the act.

EDITOR’S NOTES

Green stands accused of killing a mother in front of her children and badly wounding her sister during an armed robbery on June 16, 2008.

District Attorney Pat Lykos responded to the judge’s ruling by issuing the following statement:

“Words are inadequate to describe the Office's disappointment and dismay with this ruling; sadly it will delay justice for the victims and their families. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and other appellate courts have consistently rejected the same issues raised in the Green case.

The decision of whether to seek the death penalty is a solemn and profound responsibility. After a deliberative and thoughtful process this Office reached the conclusion to prosecute Mr. Green for the horrific capital murder he committed and to ask the jury to assess the death penalty. We respectfully, but vigorously disagree with the trial judge's ruling, as it has no basis in law or in fact. We will pursue all remedies.“

And here is the Texas attorney general’s response:

"In an act of unabashed judicial activism, a state district judge ignored longstanding U.S. Supreme Court precedent and improperly granted John Edward Green's request that the court declare the death penalty unconstitutional.

The Attorney General's Office has already offered to provide help and legal resources to the Harris County District Attorney's Office--which is handling the Green prosecution--and will take appropriate measures to defend Texas' capital punishment law. We regret that the court's legally baseless order unnecessarily delays justice and closure for the victim's family--including her two children, who witnessed their mother's brutal murder."