Making Bad Law for All, just to Save Tom DeLay's Behind?

[Jane Austin]

Sorry Tom DeLay - it's NOT just about you

by aerialist Mon Jul 16, 2007 at 07:39:49 AM PDT

In Austin, TX, District Attorney Ronnie Earle is warning that a narrow Texas appeals court majority is about to create two classes of felony crime through a ruling that would let Tom DeLay escape trial for conspiracy to violate the Texas Election Code.

If he can’t persuade them to reconsider, police and prosecutors would be powerless to bring conspiracy charges in a wide variety of felony crimes, perhaps including the next pair of Columbine-style killers who plot to bring their guns to a Texas school.

-snip-

At issue is whether the general crime of conspiracy to commit a felony applies to ALL felonies in Texas, or just to those felonies enumerated in the Texas Penal Code. Texas keeps multiple sets of lawbooks, listing some felonies in the general penal code, but many others in special codes that apply to specific areas of law and segments of society.

-snip-

A simple Google search turns up the felony of "exhibiting, using, or threatening to exhibit or use a firearm" in a Texas school or on a school bus. It’s not a Penal Code offense, though - it’s part of the Texas Education Code. So does the majority intend that if Texas cops uncover an e-mail plot by the next Harris and Klebold to take their guns to school on Thursday, they have to sit on their hands until the Tec-9s come out from under the trenchcoats? Is letting Tom DeLay escape trial on one charge out of three worth imposing that kind of legal restriction?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/7/16/9571/20903