Although there is a plethora of issues in Texas, I find myself almost drawn to issues regarding criminal-justice; and perhaps that's because of the abundance of examples of those issues. One such example came to my attention yesterday, march 23rd, on Scott Henson's (aka Grits for Breakfast, or GFB's) blog. In Henson's post, Alleged police perjury here and yon: Brian Encina on the dock while Dallas cop on year-long paid vacation, he compares two incidents of officers supplying false testimony, and questions the permissibility of how the officer in the case that received a public outcry was punished, while the officer in the case that received no indignation was seemingly rewarded with what is now over a year of paid administrative leave. Henson then stresses that a situation like this that flys under the radar is a "...typical outcome when perjury allegations arise against police officers: The behavior is too often excused and overlooked by their peers and supervisors, in this case giving him a year's worth of paid vacation when he should have been fired soon after he got off the witness stand." Grit's arguments are undoubtedly valid considering his experience in the criminal justice reform movement and the magnitude of the awards that his blog alone has received.
Additionally, his argument seemingly serves two purposes with two intended audiences: while highly unlikely, the article may poke at and possibly foster some sort of productive reaction in the criminal justice system and concurrently inform and the various readers of Grits for Breakfast which could potentially induce positive feedback and brainstorming. Although i'm sure the lack of accountability discussed in this article won't surprise many people, I feel there is an important message that can be taken from this article- that the criminal justice system doesn't only need reform with how it filters individual citizens, but also how it tends to its' individual employees.
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