DeLay's judge is on board! Donated to MoveOn, Kerry, DNC

[President Jesus]

details: http://www.newsmeat.com/judiciary_political_donations/Bob_Perkins.php

Let's just hope he doles out some that world famous 'Texas justice' on DeLay's ass!

[nankerphelge]

1. For the record...

the best judge is an impartial judge. Therefore, I'd hope he wasn't "on board" with anything other than looking at the facts and applying the appropriate law. Just because the Republicans misunderstand the role of the judiciary doesn't mean that we should. O.K... I'm done complaining now.

[bonito]

7. Couldn't have said it better

I'm with you there.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[nankerphelge]

23. True...

I'm sure none of your 1800+ posts have any real import, for the record.

[Dark]

22. I'm with you. nt

[comsymp]

25. Very nicely said

Is it asking too much to expect both judges and reporters to be as objective as is humanly possible?

[Zodiak]

32. agreed.

I don't want a judge who is on "our side". I want impartial justice so Delay's crimes are not seen through a political prism.

[BigYawn]

35. I have to agree with you, but Delay would look good in ORANGE

[stepnw1f]

2. I Want Him to Follow The Law

I want justice for the crimes Delay commited, but never at the price of law itself.

[shance]

20. His credentials prove that he WILL follow the law. That is the difference

between them and us.

[enough already]

30. By any means necessary

Whatever it takes to get that jerk behind bars is fine with me.

[Justitia]

3. Actually, it's the GRAND JURY, not the judge, doing the heavy lifting

here. The judge is simply requiring that BugMan make an appearance at court - since the GRAND JURY has indicted him.

[President Jesus]

5. Oh. The Grand Jury issued the bench warrant? -nt

[Justitia]

11. Grand Jury issued the indictments, county clerk signed arrest warrant -eom

[iamjoy]

4. This Is Bad

Makes it look partisan
It should be about justice and the law.

[President Jesus]

8. agreed. but at least now we know it won't be fixed

and ps: this is absolutely a partisan affair through and through. Every iota of this crime reeks of partisanship.

[onenote]

12. all the more reason that the prosecution should NOT be partisan

[Justitia]

15. This prosecutor has prosecuted more DEMS than REPUGS.

Considering that fact, and that we are not a state exactly overflowing with Dems, it is offbase to consider Ronnie Earle as a friendly prosecutor to either side.

[onenote]

17. I should've said that its important the TRIAL not be partisan

I know Earle is not partisan. My point is that posts (like the OP) that proclaim that the judge is
"on board" because he gave money to moveon.org are misguided, as are posts such as the one that defended the OP by suggesting that the crime was partisan. Absolutely it was. But that makes it all the more important that the trial (including the behavior of both the prosecutor and the judge) is not partisan.

onenote

[Justitia]

18. Right, I understand. I'm confident they will handle this one w/kid gloves

I don't think they are going to give DeLay any room to cry foul as far as the proceedings go. Although I am sure he will anyway - he bitches constantly about being "persecuted".

Imagine that.

[July]

24. You're talking about DeLay's crime, right? nt

[Justitia]

13. Not really - these are elected positions, they will be of one party or

another. The individuals are elected for these jobs, the duties remain the same whether Dem or Repub.

[Zen Democrat]

19. Are you kidding? Most of the judges in Texas gave to Bush/Cheney.

Would you be happier if one of the kool-aid kids was the judge?

[President Jesus]

36. Amen. My point exactly.

[texastoast]

6. Too bad the criminal case couldn't be assigned to

Ted "Bring-Your-Toothbrush" Poe, who is now a Texan freshman neocon congressman. I would love to see Ted trying to keep his integrity of severe, and unusual, sentencing practices on the bug man. Timing is everything. Hopefully, DeLay will get someone just as mean. No one deserves it more.

[alcibiades_mystery]

9. That sucks

I want an impartial judge.

Are you looking for some kind of show trial?

[Justitia]

14. We don't know he isn't impartial. He is just an administrator for the

Grand Jury at this point.

The Grand Jury issued the indictment and the county clerk signed the arrest warrant.

The judge assigned to the case (Perkins) will simply oversee BugMan's arraignment on Friday, probably take less than 15 mins.

[neoteric lefty]

27. What evidence to you have to say

that Judge Perkins is politically biased towards this case and won't fulfill his duty to be an impartial magistrate. Just because he donated ~$2000 to the Dems/Kerry in '04, that in no way means that he cannot uphold his oath. Political donations are considered free speech. I know the Right will spin this, like they always do.

[readmylips]

16. Gee, shouted to the world....

You're giving ideas to the bugman and repig talking heads. Who cares, the judge has to follow the rule of law. Something the repigs crap on.

[knight_of_the_star]

21. Damnit

This gives DeLay potential ground for an appeal and retrial.

[Justitia]

26. Uh, how? Should all defendants have juries / judges from their own party?

I really don't see how this affects his trial one way or the other.

The gov't positions are all elected offices, chosen by the people.
We don't poll juries based on their political affiliation.

But since I'm a badly outnumbered partisan TX Dem - hey, I like your suggestion - next time I'm in traffic court, I'm going to insist on a 100% Dem panel of folks!

[1932]

29. I have never once heard of a judge's political donations being grounds for

appeal.

Judges are either elected or are political appointments. Our judicial system would fall apart if a judge's political affiliation were grounds for appeal.

I think Delay's lawyers would need a much more compelling argument for appealing than this guy gave money to Democrats.

Not saying one doesn't exist, but this isn't enough, IMO.

[npincus]

28. maybe he can redistrict Delay into an 8 x 6 jail cell

[tsuki]

31. So, let me get this straight. You want him to be as corrupt

as DeLay. Only you figure that if he is "on board" with the left wing, corruption is okay.

[President Jesus]

33. for once I'm happy to know 'the fix' isn't in for their side...

...like it has been for decades.

I'm not suggesting Perkins is corrupt...I'm simply pointing out that this is one judge those cretins likely don't have in their pockets.

[Zynx]

34. That concerns me. Republicans could claim this is a Democratic conspiracy

against DeLay with a fairly decent dose of evidence if that is the case. Obviously DeLay is a crook, but he also could be put in a strong political position with this information.

[flaminbats]

37. this is the end of Tom Delay as a force in politics

Now that Delay isn't the majority leader, why would Republicans risk their majority in Congress and reputations for this backstabber? If they do, that will only help us win control of Congress. If they don't, Tom Delay will resign from Congress before the end of the year.

More importantly, Tom Delay's legal fate is now in the hands of the grand jury and prosecutor.