New Mexico is facing difficult budget issues in this year due to a short fall in tax revenues which forced the legislature to cut the budget of many law enforcement agencies. Among those cut the most were the court systems and the district attorney’s office.
Judges are required by both state and federal constitutional laws to provide swift justice and fair due process to all individuals accused of a felony crime or for that matter any crime committed in this state.
I was in a courtroom just Friday where the district attorney’s office had failed to notify a lawyer of discovery and the trial set for Monday was postponed even after the judge in the case had set an order for a deadline for the District Attorney’s Office to provide the lawyer for the defense with large amounts of information which the legal system calls discovery. Without that information a defense lawyers have no ability to adequately defend their clients against charges.
In the Albuquerque Journal yet another case was being debated where the district attorney’s office could not afford to bring back witnesses in a case where the individual in question was charged with sexual assault of a child. If information is not given a possible child molester could go free.
I know that the last thing a judge in our state court system wants to do is be forced to free someone who could be guilty of a serious felony crime because of a technicality that is nevertheless very important to the defense of someone accused of a felony in this state.
At the same time District Attorney Kari Brandenburg is being forced to make unacceptable calls when it comes to which cases to fund and which to let drag on to the point where the defendant could end up being released because of a lack of due process. District Attorneys are being shamed in front of judges due to their lack of control over important information that should be given to the defense attorneys. These District Attorneys are doing the best job they can with very limited resources.
Second District Court Judge Bob Schwartz in his clear frustration with the current events in his courtroom has ordered the District Attorney’s office to show cause why the sexual assault case should not go on without the vital evidences needed to either convict or free the accused sex offender.
He also suggested a bake sale to raise the money needed to transport the witnesses back to New Mexico. I would go even further and suggest that they invite the republicans in the state legislature because if you look at State Senator Tim Jennings I would say they could make a huge amount of money off just his appetite alone after all he was in the lead when it come to cutting the state budget in the first place that has caused this problem. So much for Republicans being tough on crime in this state.
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Quotes:
Senator Edward M. Kennedy (Teddy)
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."
The O'Coilean (O'Collins)
'A great host with whom it is not fortunate to contend, the battle-trooped host of the O'Coileain."
Abraham Lincoln
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
From NPR Radio
"Rosa sat so Martin could walk.
Martin walked so Obama could run.
Obama ran so our children can fly!"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new."
Unknown
"Friendship is loving someone no matter what is in their past. It is accepting the fact that they are human and that they have made their share of mistakes over a life time. Trust is being able to tell your friend the most private secret knowing that they will not judge you. A life is not lived well without that one true and trusted friendship."
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones
"My job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable"
Albert Einstein
"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
Will Rogers
"I don't belong to an organized party--I'm a democrat."
President John F. Kennedy, Democrat
“If by a ‘liberal’ they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people—their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties—someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a ‘Liberal,’ then I’m proud to say I’m a ‘Liberal.’”
Martin Luther King Jr.
"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."
Lora O'Brien
"All I can do is share one person's experiences on her own path, not tell you how to walk yours. If a guru is what you are looking for, find another! If I am a teacher, it is because I am already walking the path that you, Dear Reader, may wish to be on. Although each of us must make our own way, I can put up signs at least, and make the way slightly less hazardous for those who wish to walk a similar path."
C. S. Lewis
"Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives."
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."
The O'Coilean (O'Collins)
'A great host with whom it is not fortunate to contend, the battle-trooped host of the O'Coileain."
Abraham Lincoln
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
From NPR Radio
"Rosa sat so Martin could walk.
Martin walked so Obama could run.
Obama ran so our children can fly!"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new."
Unknown
"Friendship is loving someone no matter what is in their past. It is accepting the fact that they are human and that they have made their share of mistakes over a life time. Trust is being able to tell your friend the most private secret knowing that they will not judge you. A life is not lived well without that one true and trusted friendship."
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones
"My job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable"
Albert Einstein
"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
Will Rogers
"I don't belong to an organized party--I'm a democrat."
President John F. Kennedy, Democrat
“If by a ‘liberal’ they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people—their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties—someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a ‘Liberal,’ then I’m proud to say I’m a ‘Liberal.’”
Martin Luther King Jr.
"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."
Lora O'Brien
"All I can do is share one person's experiences on her own path, not tell you how to walk yours. If a guru is what you are looking for, find another! If I am a teacher, it is because I am already walking the path that you, Dear Reader, may wish to be on. Although each of us must make our own way, I can put up signs at least, and make the way slightly less hazardous for those who wish to walk a similar path."
C. S. Lewis
"Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives."
A Female Democrat
1/1/10 A new year and a number of future elections to cover. The budget will be a major issue this year and we must work hard to protect the core values of our party.