MoPress

Author: mopress

  • Texas AG Declines to Release Records that Request Early Help with Operation Jump

    June 23, 2006

    From: Asst. AG for Public Info
    To: AG Open Records Div

    On June 8, 2006, the Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) received a written request for information from Greg Moses. A copy of the request is enclosed.

    The OAG asserts that the responsive information is excepted from disclosure under the Public Information Act (“PIA”). Specifically, the OAG invokes all of the exceptions provided by, and the exceptions incorporated into, sections 552.101 through 552.147 or the PIA, including sections 552.101, 552.103, 552.107, 552.108 and 552.111. Pursuant to section 552.301(a) of the PIA, this letter is submitted in order to seek a decision as to whether the exceptions apply. To assist in your review, the OAG will provide a brief of written comments in support of these exceptions and the brief will be submitted not later than the 15th business day form the date the request was received.

    Request for Public Information

    June 8, 2006

    …please provide the following documents related to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) released by the Governor’s office June 4, 2006. By the term document I intend to reference both paper and electronic forms of communication, including pdf and email.

    Background: a comment made by Guard Chief Gen. Blum in a May 16 press conference (posted at the DHS website) indicates that legal review of Operation Jump start was already underway with state Attorneys General.

    Request: Please provide documents that indicate the earliest requests for involvement of the Texas Attorney General’s Office in the operation that has come to be known as Operation Jump Start.

    POINTS OF LAW referenced by OAG

    § 552.101. EXCEPTION: CONFIDENTIAL
    INFORMATION.
    Information is excepted from the requirements of
    Section 552.021 if it is information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision.

    § 552.103. EXCEPTION: LITIGATION OR SETTLEMENT
    NEGOTIATIONS INVOLVING THE STATE OR A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION.
    (a) Information is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if it is information relating to litigation of a civil or criminal nature to which the state or a political subdivision is or may be a party or to which an officer or employee of the state or a political
    subdivision, as a consequence of the person’s office or employment, is or may be a party.
    (b) For purposes of this section, the state or a political subdivision is considered to be a party to litigation of a criminal nature until the applicable statute of limitations has expired or until the defendant has exhausted all appellate and postconviction remedies in state and federal court.

    (c) Information relating to litigation involving a
    governmental body or an officer or employee of a governmental body is excepted from disclosure under Subsection (a) only if the litigation is pending or reasonably anticipated on the date that the requestor applies to the officer for public information for
    access to or duplication of the information.

    § 552.107. EXCEPTION: CERTAIN LEGAL
    MATTERS. Information is excepted from the requirements of Section
    552.021 if:
    (1) it is information that the attorney general or an
    attorney of a political subdivision is prohibited from disclosing because of a duty to the client under the Texas Rules of Evidence or the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct; or

    (2) a court by order has prohibited disclosure of the
    information.

    § 552.108. EXCEPTION: CERTAIN LAW ENFORCEMENT,
    CORRECTIONS, AND PROSECUTORIAL INFORMATION..

    (a) Information held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if:

    (1) release of the information would interfere with
    the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime;
    (2) it is information that deals with the detection,
    investigation, or prosecution of crime only in relation to an investigation that did not result in conviction or deferred adjudication;

    (3) it is information relating to a threat against a
    peace officer or detention officer collected or disseminated under Section 411.048; or

    (4) it is information that:
    (A) is prepared by an attorney representing the
    state in anticipation of or in the course of preparing for criminal litigation; or

    (B) reflects the mental impressions or legal
    reasoning of an attorney representing the state.

    (b) An internal record or notation of a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that is maintained for internal use in matters relating to law enforcement or prosecution is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if:

    (1) release of the internal record or notation would
    interfere with law enforcement or prosecution;
    (2) the internal record or notation relates to law
    enforcement only in relation to an investigation that did not result in conviction or deferred adjudication; or
    (3) the internal record or notation:

    (A) is prepared by an attorney representing the
    state in anticipation of or in the course of preparing for criminal litigation; or

    (B) reflects the mental impressions or legal
    reasoning of an attorney representing the state.

    (c) This section does not except from the requirements of Section 552.021 information that is basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime.

    § 552.111. EXCEPTION: AGENCY MEMORANDA.

    An interagency or intraagency memorandum or letter that would not be available by law to a party in litigation with the agency is excepted from the
    requirements of Section 552.021.

  • Letter from Ramsey: July Fourth 2005

    "I covered my face with my hands, and sat still in pure
    unconsciousness, neither hearing nor feeling nor knowing, in the
    darkness of the dungeons of America, like the deep of the sea. With no
    time and no world, in depths that are timeless and worldless. It was
    then that the spirituality of our ancient Mexicano ancestors reached
    into the depth of my heart." — Tezcatlipoca. R. Muniz

    Please forgive me for not writing and/or sharing the essences of our
    spirituality, cultura, and politica. The reason for my not
    communicating has now become a struggle for the beginning of my freedom.

    My family, friends, and others have retained the services of an
    attorney from San Antonio, Texas, named Mr. Jesse Gamez. He was
    retained because the Bureau of Prisons of America has decided to
    convert this hard-core penitentiary into a lower level Federal
    Correctional Institution. I have suffered, sacrificed, and struggled
    for 11 years in this medieval mazmorra.

    Legally and administratively, I should have never been confined in
    one of America’s hardest penitentiaries. I’m not a violent person nor
    does my entire life’s record reveal violence. Yet I was chained and
    shackled in the violence of America and its prisons.

    From the beginning of this most horrible nightmare of my life I was
    determined to overcome the oppression, discrimination, and unusual
    punishment. I confronted the authorities here in this penitentiary and
    I was instructed that if I would bring to them perfect, clear conduct
    without violence, with perfect testing for drugs and alcohol for 10
    years, I would qualify for a transfer to a Federal Correctional
    Institution.

    Well guess what! I reached into our spirituality and decided that I
    could accomplish the latter because I had a responsibility to fulfill
    this not only for myself, but most importantly for my family, my
    friends, mi gente, mi raza, y Aztlan! Yes, I accomplished the
    impossible!

    For the past 11 years my prison records reflect perfection in all
    classifications of this prison. I also took the time in the darkness of
    this prison to teach, to share, and embrace ancient Mexicano
    spirituality, cultura and political ideology. The teachings are now
    available for all. Many years I took the time to teach classes on our
    history, cultura, and future. If some doubt my words, please make
    reference to the new, fresh Mexicano/Chicano/Hispanic/Latino who is
    rising into the midst of our struggle.

    I’m not a criminal. I’m a spiritual/cultural leader
    of the 21st century.

    The attorney, Irma, Norma, Roland, Juan, Oscar, Dr. Guerrero,
    Clotilde, Bob, Raul, Alvaro, Oscar and Diana, Adolfo, Bobby, Erika,
    Kiko, and many more from the entire southwest are presently involved in
    trying to have me transferred from the darkness of these prisons to a
    Federal Correctional Institution.

    You will find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the United States
    government will never confine a white-collar crime defendant in these
    violent prisons. Yet they found it convenient to shackle my soul in the
    belly of this beast for 11 years. Ya basta! No more! I will struggle
    and fight against this injustice on my life to the end. I will not rest
    until I’m transferred to a Federal Correctionl Institution!

    With my heart in my hand I ask and pray that you join me in this
    most humane struggle for justice and enlightenment. If you wish to
    assist me in this humanistic struggle, please be so kind as to contact
    my wife, Irma Muniz. For 11 years she has faithfully visited several
    times a year. It is so amazing and astonishing that I requested an
    institutional record of her visitations, and even that is beyond
    perfection. As a people, as a family, as soul-mates, we are truly
    strong and brave as we have been from the time of our creation.

    "As I embrace our ancient, sacred Indigenous
    spirituality, I’m transformed by a passion I have discovered from our
    past. Now I perceive it in my own Mexicano soul. I have been given
    access to a great and profound secret. Now I know the imprisonment,
    suffering, sadness, sorrow, grief, and sacrifice of my ancient
    ancestors, and it has become my own.”

    R. Muniz – Tezcatlipoca
    www.freeramsey.com

    Received via email from Irma Muniz, 1 July 2005.

  • Why Wouldn't White Folks Want to See 'Black Movies'?: A Cape Cod Reply

    Mr. Moses:

    In reply to your article titled “Racism at Cape Cod?”

    The introduction to your story raises another issue
    of “racism” which begs the question: When will
    white people get away from self-centeredness and
    learn to seek out and enjoy “black” movies?

    It is not unusual to see black folks (and members
    of other “minority” groups) waiting in long lines outside
    of theaters showing “white” movies (i.e., movies with
    predominantly white characters and, perhaps,
    “white” themes). When will white folks learn to value
    (or, at least, respect) the talent, culture and skin color
    of other peoples, as other peoples have learned to
    respect the talent, culture and skin color of whites?

    I have a sneaking suspicion that white folks really are
    watching “black” movies– maybe they just wait until
    the “black” movies come out on video or DVD, and then
    they can “sneak it” from their local video store. Much
    the way white folks use to sneak and listen to black
    music during the Jim Crow Era of racial segregation and
    racial terrorism. Back then, a white person could get
    killed for admitting they liked black music.

    A modern day “hidden shame” may be at work today when it comes to “black” movies. Or perhaps it is true, as I’ve
    heard some suggest, that white men won’t take their
    girlfriends to see any of the rare black “date flicks”
    because they can’t stand to have their girlfriends
    watching a black man having sex on the big screen
    (big name movie stars like Denzil Washington and
    Will Smith, seem to avoid sex on screen like the
    plague– some say because of the continued white
    male fear of the black penis).

    It’s like listening to the “liberal” NPR radio network
    where you hear programs about sit-coms, and you
    listen for a half an hour or forty-five minutes to a show
    where black sit-coms are not mentioned even once. Do
    those folks believe that there is something inherently
    “profound” and “superior” about white sit-coms? I’ve
    watched both “white” and “black” sit-coms, and they
    seem equally stupid to me; both re-cycling the same
    old sight gags and the same old story lines. Even
    Seinfeld admitted his show was mostly “about nothing.”

    No “black” movies in the theaters of Cape Cod?
    I insist that this is an example of the self-centered racism
    that continues to haunt white society. A kind of racism
    that has major news outlets focusing massive attention
    on missing white women, while ignoring those women of
    other races who have gone missing.

    It is an issue of what white folks value: and they seem to
    have little value for (or fear of) things labeled “not white.”

    Ronald Jackson
    Staten Island
    Posted by permission of the author.

    The writer points up a crucial issue regarding liberal “public radio” and other usual suspects of the progressive left. Truth in labeling would usually require “progressive” institutions to be say it plain: “WHITE progressive.”–gm

  • Coleman, Thompson, and Ellis: A Texas Hall of Fame for the Fourth

    Three reasons to face the Fourth with hope:

    PRESS RELEASE
    June 29, 2005

    Coleman Fights to Protect Gay and Lesbian Students During Special Session: Passes amendment on bullying, re-files Dignity for All Students Act

    AUSTIN, TX – Against the backdrop of a special session of the Texas Legislature to overhaul the way in which Texas funds public schools, Representative Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) has taken two extremely important steps that could reform Texas public schools to ensure the safety of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth.

    Last night, during a long and intense debate on HB 2–a bill to overhaul the funding and programming of Texas public schools–Representative Coleman successfully added an amendment that will shed light on the bullying and discrimination that takes place everyday in our schools. The amendment, crafted by Randall Ellis (former Executive Director of the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas), would require the Texas Education Agency to collect data on the reasons for and frequency of bullying and discrimination in our public schools. The results of this report will help educators and policymakers create positive environments and ensure that all schools are places where students are free to learn, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/_expression.

    “Governor Perry has called us back to Austin to fix some of the fundamental ways we fund and educate our Texas youth,” stated Representative Coleman. “During this important debate, we must remember that every Texas student has the right to a public education. When students are discriminated against in school, and the school does nothing about it, we are failing them in a very fundamental way. This amendment will give lawmakers the necessary information to better understand and address the issue of bullying and discrimination against LGBT youth in our public schools”

    A separate bill filed by Representative Coleman, HB 60, would go one step further. The Dignity for All Students Act would protect students from bullying and discrimination based on the ethnicity, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or national origin of the student or the student’s parent in Texas public schools.

    The Dignity for All Students Act is seemingly a nonpartisan issue: it protects gay kids from being harassed in public schools. Representative Coleman filed the bill in response to the fact that no state or federal law extends protections to LGBT youth in Texas public schools. A national study done by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN, indicates 84% of LGBT youth in public schools reported regularly experiencing homophobic harassment, while 82.9% of LGBT students report that faculty or staff never intervened or intervened only some of the time when present and homophobic harassment takes place.

    “Instead of addressing the real problems of our state during our regular session, Governor Perry chose to hide behind an amendment to the Texas Constitution banning the recognition of same-sex marriages,” continued Representative Coleman. “I will not tolerate politics based on fear and prejudice, and I will continue to fight for all Texas youth. I want to send a message loud and strong across Texas. No type of discrimination will be tolerated in this state.”

    Rep. Coleman represents District 147 in Houston and is the Chair of the Legislative Study Group (LSG).

    ——–

    See Also: PinkDome’s posting of Rep. Senfronia Thompson’s defense of civil rights for gay and lesbian Texans.

    ——–

    And while we’re waxing nostalgic for Texas Civil Rights highlights this Fourth of July, don’t forget Sen. Rodney Ellis who brought a catheter to his planned filibuster of Republican-led efforts to imposed voter ID restrictions. This clip from Dos Centavos.