Sheriff Garcia, Precinct Constables, Representatives from the County Judges office, esteemed deputies, officers, surviving family members and friends.
Thank you for this invitation and your warm introduction. In a world that seems to race forward at an ever increasing speed dictated by e-mails, texts, and tweets, I am truly honored and proud to be a part of this moment as we pause to remember and honor those that have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Tonight, I’d like to take a line from the National Law-enforcement Memorial in Washington, DC, “we honor them and remember them not because of how they died, but because of how they lived.”
President John F. Kennedy once said, “A Nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers. As these valiant men and women died because they made it their duty to protect and serve, it is our duty to honor and remember them for their selfless contribution to our communities.
As a 30 year career law-enforcement officer and the son of a police officer, the brother of a career police officer, and the brother-in-law of a current Police Chief, I feel a strong personal and intimate bond with each and every one of you, my brother and sisters in the law-enforcement family.
That bond and kindred spirit with the police community continues for me now as I have the opportunity and honor to teach and train police officers around the world with the U.S. State Department’s, Anti-Terrorism Assistance program. This past year I have had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to train with our law-enforcement partners in the Philippines, the Middle-East, Mexico, and Colombia. Just a week ago, I returned from east Africa where we trained a group of state and federal police officers in Counterterrorism strategies within the small country of Djibouti, a former French colony in the horn of Africa, that shares a common border with Somalia.
This is also a special moment for me personally because each year at this time when we honor those who have given their lives in the service of our nation and its citizens, it brings back the pain I felt as a young FBI, Special Agent, when in April of 1986, I lost a good friend and colleague, Jerry Dove, in a Miami Bank robbery shootout. Jerry and I were buddies and teammates in our basic SWAT training class just months before Jerry was struck down in the streets of Miami. As Jerry lie wounded in the street and attempted to reload his weapon, the heavily armed Bank Robbers ran up and summarily executed him in the street.
Jerry was great guy; he had a lot of charisma and a great sense of humor. I remember in SWAT training as we got pushed to the edge during the long, hot days of summer, we could always count on Jerry to get a laugh out of all of us with one of his classic lines or pranks.
He was smart, diligent, had a great sense of humor and, as his Mom said at his funeral; he died doing what he always wanted to do, be an FBI agent. That shootout cost the lives of two FBI agents, along with Jerry, Ben Grogan, a senior well-respected agent and the serious wounding of a third agent, Ed Mireles, who incidentally was able to reload his shotgun despite being seriously wounded and kill both suspects at the scene.
In the follow-up analysis of the shootout, it became evident that the bad guys were outgunning us on the streets and the FBI and law-enforcement community as a whole, reassessed our weapons and the move from revolvers to semiautomatic pistols with higher capacities and higher firepower became the law-enforcement standard.
I found solace in the belief that Jerry’s death may not have been in vain because this shift and upgrade of weapons may have indirectly saved the lives of many law-enforcement officers that followed.
Lt. Ruben Diaz was kind enough to send me a copy and bio of each of the 39 Harris County Sheriff Office deputies that have died in the line of duty. While I was overseas, I read each one and pondered the circumstances and senselessness of each of their deaths. I also thought of those they left behind; the wives, the children, the Moms, the Dads, the brothers, the sisters and how time may ease the pain of their loss somewhat, it never fully subsides. Today, we also honor and pray for you, those victims of the fallen, that you find solace in knowing that your loved ones died honorably and in service to their community and their country.
It’s not feasible to recall each of the fallen 39, but I would like to mention a few of those that we wish to remember today.
DEPUTY CARL COURT was the first HCS deputy killed in the line of duty on Nov. 30, 1895 at a shootout in a bar while working in what was described as the western side of town and in a somewhat lawless part of the county, then called Chaneyville or Chaney Junction near what is today the area of Washington Street and Studemont.
Imagine a Harris County where Washington and Studemont were considered the wild edge of town.
In the fall of 2008, Sergeant THOMAS LUELL KEEN died responding to the Emergency call out of Deputies during Hurricane Ike. Sergeant Keen was trying to get out of his neighborhood and stopped to help others in his neighborhood clear trees that had come down during the hurricane and were blocking the streets.
While cutting the trees which were in contact with fallen power lines, Sergeant Keen suffered a serious injury and died 2 days later from his injuries. Sgt. Keen was two-tour U.S. Army Vietnam veteran, a husband and a father. He left behind his wife, Jana, his son, Cody and a brother, Mike Keen.
In 2009 and in 2004, Detention officers, DIONICIO CAMACHO and THOMAS FLORES DOUGLAS each respectively died during training exercises. DIONICIO was U.S. Marine veteran and left behind a wife and son.
Deputy SHANE BENNET died in the line of duty in 2002 in a gun battle with home invasion suspects in north Harris County. He left behind his wife and 20 month old daughter.
Deputy Joseph Norman Dennis was shot and killed while apprehending a gun-wielding suspect leaving behind his wife Rene and his 2 children.
Deputy Barrett T. Hill was shot and killed pursuing 4 suspects that were breaking into vehicles in an apt. complex in north Harris County in the early morning hours of December 4, 2000.
He was remembered as always being a positive force to those around him.
He left behind his wife and 2 daughters, ages 18 and 7.
Deputy JOHN RISLEY was shot and killed Oct. 23rd of that same year when he responded to a disturbance call in the Tomball area by a shotgun wielding suspect. In an ensuing gun battle, the suspect was shot and killed by other deputies but Deputy Risley lost his life leaving behind a wife and 2 daughters, ages 16 and 11.
16 and 11 is just too young to lose your Dad.
Deputy OSCAR C. HILL IV was killed as a result of severe injuries sustained while pursuing armed suspects that had created a disturbance at a night spot in north Harris County. Associates of the suspects in a second vehicle ran over an injured Deputy Hill as he lay wounded in the street. Deputy Hill was U.S. Marine veteran who had served tours of duty in Southwest Asia and Somalia. He died days later as a result of his severe injuries.
He left behind his Mom and Dad, a brother and 3 sisters.
Finally, let’s remember, Rebecca Ann Shaw, a Field training officer, 14 year veteran of the department and the only woman to die in the line of duty when her patrol vehicle was struck by a train in northwest Harris County.
They are part of the more than 19,000 law-enforcement officers that have fallen in the line of duty. Incidentally, in the history of Policing, Texas leads the nation in law-enforcement death with nearly 1600 far exceeding states such as California and New York with larger or comparable populations. Today, on average, one law-enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty every 53 hours. In a single week-end this past January, we may recall because it became a national story in the media, 13 Police officers and federal agents were shot in a four day period throughout the U.S.; four were shot fatally and several others critically wounded. As we pay tribute this evening, that tribute will ring hollow unless we do all we can to support the men and women who keep our society more lawful and our lives more secure, to help them as enforcers of the law and do all we can to keep them from being victims.
Improved training, better equipment and tougher criminal justice laws have made a difference.
But that is of little solace to the survivors of those who we lost last year.
And there are troubling signs on the horizon. A weakened economy has threatened training, equipment and corrections dollars.
Already this year, 69 officers have been shot and killed nationally…….that’s a 17 % increase over the same time last year.
This is certainly no time for complacency. Recent news reports have carried frightening stories of militia plots against police and terrorist threats against our citizens. The simple truth is that America’s law-enforcement officers have never been more challenged or more vital to our safety and security. We owe them all a huge debt of gratitude tonight and always.
They have been collectively called the THIN BLUE LINE. That line is nothing less than a shield against chaos, against the worst impulses of humanity, a protection we may not always think about often take for granted until it is raised in our own defense.
The safety of our citizens in their homes, where they work, where they play…it all depends on that Thin Blue Line….and, so, it behooves us to strengthen, respect and reinforce that Blue Line and to make it as strong as we can.
A scholar once said, without law and order in a society, nothing else may be realized. There can be no economic, social or political growth. Unfortunately, there are far too many examples within societies around the globe and throughout history wherein chaos and anarchy overshadow the principles of law and order. Those societies became void of any growth and opportunity for its citizens.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I submit to you, the role of police and the judiciary in any free and democratic society is critical to its very existence.
Tonight, we honor the men and women that represent and humanize those very principles. These officers and deputies reported to work not knowing that fateful day would be the end of their devoted watch. In the words of a colleague of one fallen officer, “we all take for granted that they will come back safe and sound after their shift. Then, one day, they don’t.”
That is part of the selfless heroism of law-enforcement – knowing that the most routine of calls can turn suddenly violent.
In the worst of moments, it is that heroism that faces danger to protect a victim and risks all safety in the protection of citizens. Each and every moment of the day, our country is indebted to all the men and women in patrol cars, on bikes, on foot and standing post….we must never take them for granted.
This closeness to danger inspires a special loyalty among those who carry a shield and enforce the law. When one is lost, the family left behind is cared for, and held close by the brotherhood of law-enforcement. Tonight, as we honor those who have fallen, let’s remember their calling in life was to keep the peace and we pray that they have now found peace in the presence of God Almighty.
As a closing thought, I’d like to read a quote from the esteemed psychiatrist and writer, Dr. ELIZABETH KUBLER-ROSS in her book titled, Death: the Final Stage of Growth.
“Those who have been immersed in the tragedy of death during conflict and have faced it squarely, never allowing their senses and feelings to become numbed and indifferent, have emerged from their experience with growth and humanness greater than that achieved through almost any other means.”
Death is the final stage of growth in this life. There is no total death…only the body dies. The self, the spirit, whatever you may wish to label it, is eternal”.
Thank you and Godspeed.
This presentation was given by James Conway at the Law Enforcement Memorial Service, May 10, 2011 hosted by the Harris County Sheriffs Department.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Why we need to investigate Radicalization by Rep. Mike McCaul
When Barry Bujol wanted advice on how to support Jihad, he would go to the library at Prairie View A&M University in the Houston suburb of Hempstead. But beyond surfing the Internet for answers, Mr. Bujol would exchange emails directly with the man believed to be the world’s most dangerous terrorist.
Mr. Bujol, a 29-year-old Muslim-American, was a textbook recruit for Anwar Al-Awlaki, the radical Muslim cleric with dual US-Yemeni citizenship. In the post-9/11 era, Awlaki has transformed the way al Qaeda plots against our nation and has surpassed Osama bin Laden as the single greatest threat to the United States.
English-speaking operatives such as Awlaki have enhanced al Qaeda’s ability to target U.S. citizens for recruitment. Al Qaeda’s tactic is to radicalize American citizens to follow a violent, jihadist sect of Islam and direct or inspire them to carry out small-scale attacks.
Mr. Bujol was indicted for attempting to provide money and materials to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. By the time he was arrested in May 2010 attempting to board a ship at the Port of Houston that he thought was bound for the Middle East, federal investigators had compiled a trail of evidence of his radicalization at the hands of Awlaki.
In numerous e-mail exchanges Mr. Bujol requested guidance involving “jihad.” In return, Awlaki e-mailed a document titled “42 Ways of Supporting Jihad.” After Mr. Bujol was arrested during an earlier attempt to leave the US for training in Yemen, officers found a CD in his car titled “The Hereafter” by Anwar Al-Awlaki, subtitled “Introduction, the importance of Akhira-Death.”
The radicalization of Barry Bujol is just one example of ongoing attempts by organized terror networks to transform Muslim-Americans into foot soldiers of Islamic extremism that will infiltrate and attack the United States.
The Bujol case was one of 27 terror plots over the past two years, each of them involving radical Islam extremists. Suspects in at least 24 of the plots were US citizens or residents.
Mr. Bujol received little public attention compared to high profile arrests such as the Detroit Christmas Bomber, the Times Square Bomber, or Nidal Hasan, the US Army Major who had also been in contact with Awlaki before he went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas. However, each case represents the urgent need to investigate the dangerous infiltration of radical Islam into America’s otherwise law-abiding, patriotic Muslim community.
This ongoing threat to all Americans is the basis for this week’s hearing before the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security titled “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response.”
It is unfortunate that some have attempted to mischaracterize this hearing as an attack on American Muslims. To the contrary, it is al Qaeda that is attacking our Muslim youth. Al Qaeda had made it clear they are targeting Muslim-Americans. This hearing aims to protect members of the Muslim community from terrorist organizations by strengthening their relationship with law enforcement. There is no question that American Muslims are vital partners in fighting homegrown radicalization.
Failing to investigate what our Intelligence Community deems a threat to the American people is simply an abdication of our foremost responsibility under the Constitution. Yet the Congress, under recent Democratic leadership, failed to hold a single hearing on attempted terrorist attacks, including the Fort Hood massacre.
Major Hasan was promoted on numerous occasions from within in the name of political correctness despite the red flags of his radicalization. At a memorial service for the victims Fort Hood’s commander, Gen. Robert Cone, told me he wished he had been warned about the relationship between Major Hasan and Awlaki.
Equally troubling is that the Obama administration has favored political correctness over its highest responsibility to the American people. It has hesitated to call suspects “terrorists,” has been slow to acknowledge radicalization and recruitment, and refused to accurately describe attacks as obvious acts of Jihad.
This week our committee will end the era of political correctness and begin respectfully asking the necessary questions that may ultimately protect every American.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) is a fourth-term congressman and has been a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security for six years.
Mr. Bujol, a 29-year-old Muslim-American, was a textbook recruit for Anwar Al-Awlaki, the radical Muslim cleric with dual US-Yemeni citizenship. In the post-9/11 era, Awlaki has transformed the way al Qaeda plots against our nation and has surpassed Osama bin Laden as the single greatest threat to the United States.
English-speaking operatives such as Awlaki have enhanced al Qaeda’s ability to target U.S. citizens for recruitment. Al Qaeda’s tactic is to radicalize American citizens to follow a violent, jihadist sect of Islam and direct or inspire them to carry out small-scale attacks.
Mr. Bujol was indicted for attempting to provide money and materials to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. By the time he was arrested in May 2010 attempting to board a ship at the Port of Houston that he thought was bound for the Middle East, federal investigators had compiled a trail of evidence of his radicalization at the hands of Awlaki.
In numerous e-mail exchanges Mr. Bujol requested guidance involving “jihad.” In return, Awlaki e-mailed a document titled “42 Ways of Supporting Jihad.” After Mr. Bujol was arrested during an earlier attempt to leave the US for training in Yemen, officers found a CD in his car titled “The Hereafter” by Anwar Al-Awlaki, subtitled “Introduction, the importance of Akhira-Death.”
The radicalization of Barry Bujol is just one example of ongoing attempts by organized terror networks to transform Muslim-Americans into foot soldiers of Islamic extremism that will infiltrate and attack the United States.
The Bujol case was one of 27 terror plots over the past two years, each of them involving radical Islam extremists. Suspects in at least 24 of the plots were US citizens or residents.
Mr. Bujol received little public attention compared to high profile arrests such as the Detroit Christmas Bomber, the Times Square Bomber, or Nidal Hasan, the US Army Major who had also been in contact with Awlaki before he went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas. However, each case represents the urgent need to investigate the dangerous infiltration of radical Islam into America’s otherwise law-abiding, patriotic Muslim community.
This ongoing threat to all Americans is the basis for this week’s hearing before the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security titled “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response.”
It is unfortunate that some have attempted to mischaracterize this hearing as an attack on American Muslims. To the contrary, it is al Qaeda that is attacking our Muslim youth. Al Qaeda had made it clear they are targeting Muslim-Americans. This hearing aims to protect members of the Muslim community from terrorist organizations by strengthening their relationship with law enforcement. There is no question that American Muslims are vital partners in fighting homegrown radicalization.
Failing to investigate what our Intelligence Community deems a threat to the American people is simply an abdication of our foremost responsibility under the Constitution. Yet the Congress, under recent Democratic leadership, failed to hold a single hearing on attempted terrorist attacks, including the Fort Hood massacre.
Major Hasan was promoted on numerous occasions from within in the name of political correctness despite the red flags of his radicalization. At a memorial service for the victims Fort Hood’s commander, Gen. Robert Cone, told me he wished he had been warned about the relationship between Major Hasan and Awlaki.
Equally troubling is that the Obama administration has favored political correctness over its highest responsibility to the American people. It has hesitated to call suspects “terrorists,” has been slow to acknowledge radicalization and recruitment, and refused to accurately describe attacks as obvious acts of Jihad.
This week our committee will end the era of political correctness and begin respectfully asking the necessary questions that may ultimately protect every American.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) is a fourth-term congressman and has been a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security for six years.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
"A Hit below the Belt"
A couple of weeks back, Kyra Phillips of CNN did a story about misconduct in the FBI citing disciplinary reports that delineated embarrassing accounts of incidents and missteps by FBI employees over the past three years.
A negative story about the FBI, to a veteran FBI agent, feels like a story about your “family” exposing some shortcomings and mistakes by members of that family. Naturally, it always causes pain, embarrassment and a gut reaction to, certainly not endorse or support the missteps but to try and put things in perspective and ask what could have happened or prompted that person to fall into the circumstances that brought about their misstep. We’ve all seen it on a number of occasions in all our personal lives, being human is often reason enough. We hope that the American people, we serve and work tirelessly to keep safe look at the issue on balance and from the larger perspective.
First of all, was Kyra Phillips story really newsworthy? Many said it was purely sensational and done to purposely embarrass the FBI. On the other hand, some believe it is important and deserving to know any and all missteps by those who are working for the American people and whose salaries are paid by the taxpayer and to that logic, one cannot argue.
Obviously, someone passed the internal FBI document citing the findings of the FBI’s internal affairs division called the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) to Ms. Phillips. I guess it was alright for her to be complicit in the receipt of this sensitive document from her source which in and of itself is not only unethical but criminal. I wonder if she will report that person to the FBI’s OPR for investigation. That’s one story that all FBI employees would welcome but will not hold their breath in anticipation.
What did the report really cite? It showed first, an organization that is fearless in the protection of its standards and its vow to live by its core values and its motto of Fidelity, Bravery and Integrity. It also showed statistically that over 99% of all FBI employees take those words to heart and live by them each and every day.
Yes, we are an organization of human beings; human beings that put their lives on the line each and every day in every corner of the globe, work endless hours to find that missing child or dangerous terrorists amongst us, human beings that skip soccer games, events and holidays with their families to get the job done. But it also showed that sometimes FBI employees slip into that human trap and make mistakes and some of them are stupid and embarrassing. I witnessed it in my career; good agents sometimes make mistakes and ultimately, suffer the consequences.
But those agents and support people who make those mistakes represent less than 1% of FBI employees and less than 10% of that group or a total of less than 0.01% are actually terminated from employment because of their actions. The disciplinary process in the FBI is swift and merciless and no organization is more demanding and more unforgiving of bad behavior than the FBI.
The FBI can put its personnel and its record up against any other law-enforcement agency or organization, public or private, in the world. FBI employees are chosen from the top of the professional ranks of law, accounting, the sciences, languages and the military. Their work ethic is without comparison and their personal sacrifice in the face of adversity is unmatched. So many could walk out the door and make twice the salary in the private sector but they don’t. One might call it loyalty, a vocation, a calling; many just call it Patriotism.
We have not had one terror attack on U.S. soil since 2001 and it is due, in large part, to the round the clock work of the men and women of the FBI; men and women who work seamlessly with their police and intelligence counterparts not only in the U.S. but in war zones and in every corner of the globe. FBI Director, Robert Mueller, has publicly stated, time and again, that terrorism is the FBI’s number one priority and that the FBI has short-circuited numerous attacks on American soil since 9/11 and have taken many terrorists off the streets of America. Americans read accounts of many of these cases in newspapers around the country every day but many more are part of a larger threat and they never make the press while the silent war goes on.
While FBI agents are covering the global terror threat, they are also tasked by our lawmakers and policy-makers in Washington to investigate, collect evidence and capture those that are victimizing children, those that are smuggling drugs, counterfeit software and pirated goods into the U.S., those that are fraudulently causing our insurance rates to skyrocket, those that are committing espionage against our government and our corporation’s secrets and on and on. All of these crimes and threats to the American people fall under the umbrella of more than 375 federal laws that the FBI is required by the President and Congress to enforce in its service to the American people.
Give the FBI a break and look at the positive. Yes, we have slipped and shown our human side at times but we don’t sweep our mistakes under the rug. We confront them and deal with them, promptly, fairly and justly.
We have to. The American people expect it and deserve it.
This article was written by a 25 year veteran of the FBI.
A negative story about the FBI, to a veteran FBI agent, feels like a story about your “family” exposing some shortcomings and mistakes by members of that family. Naturally, it always causes pain, embarrassment and a gut reaction to, certainly not endorse or support the missteps but to try and put things in perspective and ask what could have happened or prompted that person to fall into the circumstances that brought about their misstep. We’ve all seen it on a number of occasions in all our personal lives, being human is often reason enough. We hope that the American people, we serve and work tirelessly to keep safe look at the issue on balance and from the larger perspective.
First of all, was Kyra Phillips story really newsworthy? Many said it was purely sensational and done to purposely embarrass the FBI. On the other hand, some believe it is important and deserving to know any and all missteps by those who are working for the American people and whose salaries are paid by the taxpayer and to that logic, one cannot argue.
Obviously, someone passed the internal FBI document citing the findings of the FBI’s internal affairs division called the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) to Ms. Phillips. I guess it was alright for her to be complicit in the receipt of this sensitive document from her source which in and of itself is not only unethical but criminal. I wonder if she will report that person to the FBI’s OPR for investigation. That’s one story that all FBI employees would welcome but will not hold their breath in anticipation.
What did the report really cite? It showed first, an organization that is fearless in the protection of its standards and its vow to live by its core values and its motto of Fidelity, Bravery and Integrity. It also showed statistically that over 99% of all FBI employees take those words to heart and live by them each and every day.
Yes, we are an organization of human beings; human beings that put their lives on the line each and every day in every corner of the globe, work endless hours to find that missing child or dangerous terrorists amongst us, human beings that skip soccer games, events and holidays with their families to get the job done. But it also showed that sometimes FBI employees slip into that human trap and make mistakes and some of them are stupid and embarrassing. I witnessed it in my career; good agents sometimes make mistakes and ultimately, suffer the consequences.
But those agents and support people who make those mistakes represent less than 1% of FBI employees and less than 10% of that group or a total of less than 0.01% are actually terminated from employment because of their actions. The disciplinary process in the FBI is swift and merciless and no organization is more demanding and more unforgiving of bad behavior than the FBI.
The FBI can put its personnel and its record up against any other law-enforcement agency or organization, public or private, in the world. FBI employees are chosen from the top of the professional ranks of law, accounting, the sciences, languages and the military. Their work ethic is without comparison and their personal sacrifice in the face of adversity is unmatched. So many could walk out the door and make twice the salary in the private sector but they don’t. One might call it loyalty, a vocation, a calling; many just call it Patriotism.
We have not had one terror attack on U.S. soil since 2001 and it is due, in large part, to the round the clock work of the men and women of the FBI; men and women who work seamlessly with their police and intelligence counterparts not only in the U.S. but in war zones and in every corner of the globe. FBI Director, Robert Mueller, has publicly stated, time and again, that terrorism is the FBI’s number one priority and that the FBI has short-circuited numerous attacks on American soil since 9/11 and have taken many terrorists off the streets of America. Americans read accounts of many of these cases in newspapers around the country every day but many more are part of a larger threat and they never make the press while the silent war goes on.
While FBI agents are covering the global terror threat, they are also tasked by our lawmakers and policy-makers in Washington to investigate, collect evidence and capture those that are victimizing children, those that are smuggling drugs, counterfeit software and pirated goods into the U.S., those that are fraudulently causing our insurance rates to skyrocket, those that are committing espionage against our government and our corporation’s secrets and on and on. All of these crimes and threats to the American people fall under the umbrella of more than 375 federal laws that the FBI is required by the President and Congress to enforce in its service to the American people.
Give the FBI a break and look at the positive. Yes, we have slipped and shown our human side at times but we don’t sweep our mistakes under the rug. We confront them and deal with them, promptly, fairly and justly.
We have to. The American people expect it and deserve it.
This article was written by a 25 year veteran of the FBI.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Judicial Crisis
The U.S./Mexico border, a region notorious for the most murders and violence on the face of the earth during the past five years, was front and center again in the news this past week. In a syndicated article by Gary Martin of the San Antonio Express, a new dimension was brought to light outlining the intersection of two issues and how they are mutually creating an impending crisis along the U.S. Border.
The two issues are the significant jump in federal cases within the Federal Districts along the U.S border in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California and the lack of judges sitting on the federal bench to hear those cases. The jump in cases is directly linked to the drug violence on the border; murders, kidnappings, extortion, gang violence, human smuggling and the like coupled with a rapidly growing immigration docket as border security folks attempt to arrest and stem the flow of illegal entry into the U.S.
While we as a nation should be stepping up to vigorously address the growing crime and security issues at the border, we find ourselves instead in the midst of crisis with empty federal benches all along our southern border and no one to hear those case and grind those wheels of justice forward.
The situation is grave and has national security implications.
The lack of federal judges is the bottleneck. Without the jurists in place to hear the cases, the entire system backs up, the bad guys win and we, the American people lose. Under the Speedy Trial Act of 1974, the federal government must be prepared to present their case within seventy days of the filing of formal charges. Many serious criminals and their attorneys play the “poker game” with federal law-enforcement. They know the system is backed up and their cases will never realistically be presented within the seventy day parameters of the Speed Trial Act and they walk. Ultimately what happens is Federal prosecutors take less cases and/or they raise the thresholds for prosecutions for federal offenses, letting many serious criminals escape the consequences of their malevolence. The ripple back is that federal law-enforcement agencies like the FBI, DEA, U.S. Secret Service, and ICE, then open less cases because the hope of a long term investigation seeing the inside of a federal courtroom continues to dwindle with a lack of judges. Moreover, the indirect affect on morale with the federal law-enforcement community can be deleterious.
In the State of Texas alone there are seven vacant judgeships, four of them in border areas. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has called the filling of these vacancies an “urgent need” and it was reported that Chief Judge John Roll of Arizona who was to visit with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the day he was murdered, specifically planned to discuss the dire situation at the border and to ask for her intervention and assistance in filling those empty seats on the federal bench.
So why are these seats languishing empty while crime soars on our southern flank? Political partisanship is to blame for the most part; Democrats don’t like or want to confirm Republican appointee recommendations and Republicans don’t want to confirm those recommended by the Democrats and, again, we, the American people lose. It seems as though we as a nation have never recovered from the “bloody partisan battles” of the Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas hearings twenty years ago and that the contentious partisanship has persistently loomed over us. Is it possible more conciliation and less partisanship will emerge in the wake of the Tucson massacre?
We are not talking about appointments to the Supreme Court or even to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals; these are sitting federal judgeships, critical to the day-to-day administration of jurisprudence on the federal level as well as to the public safety and national security of our nation. The American people really don't care if a Federal judge votes Democratic or Republican when he or she goes to the polls; if there is something egregious in their personal or legal history it will come to light during the background investigation and prior to the approval by the judiciary committee. Let’s just get good sensible people in place; people willing to assume the responsibilities of a federal judgeship, those who are willing to leave much more lucrative legal practices, are willing to step up to the plate, be true patriots and take on the most critically important role in any democracy, that of maintaining law and order.
How can we ask our neighbors to the south in Mexico, Colombia and throughout the globe for that matter to work bi-lateral operations with us, to maximize their limited resources and share intelligence and evidence with us, if the realization of a federal prosecution is minimal at best. How can we ask our counterparts in Mexico to move more quickly on judicial reform, moving their system to one more similar to that of ours with oral instead of written arguments presented in a court of law, when we can’t eliminate the self-imposed bottleneck choking our own federal judiciary.
Let’s hope the congressional “date night” last week on the evening of the President’s State of the Union address, mollifies some of the partisanship in the appointment of federal judgeships; our democracy and our national security are at stake.
The two issues are the significant jump in federal cases within the Federal Districts along the U.S border in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California and the lack of judges sitting on the federal bench to hear those cases. The jump in cases is directly linked to the drug violence on the border; murders, kidnappings, extortion, gang violence, human smuggling and the like coupled with a rapidly growing immigration docket as border security folks attempt to arrest and stem the flow of illegal entry into the U.S.
While we as a nation should be stepping up to vigorously address the growing crime and security issues at the border, we find ourselves instead in the midst of crisis with empty federal benches all along our southern border and no one to hear those case and grind those wheels of justice forward.
The situation is grave and has national security implications.
The lack of federal judges is the bottleneck. Without the jurists in place to hear the cases, the entire system backs up, the bad guys win and we, the American people lose. Under the Speedy Trial Act of 1974, the federal government must be prepared to present their case within seventy days of the filing of formal charges. Many serious criminals and their attorneys play the “poker game” with federal law-enforcement. They know the system is backed up and their cases will never realistically be presented within the seventy day parameters of the Speed Trial Act and they walk. Ultimately what happens is Federal prosecutors take less cases and/or they raise the thresholds for prosecutions for federal offenses, letting many serious criminals escape the consequences of their malevolence. The ripple back is that federal law-enforcement agencies like the FBI, DEA, U.S. Secret Service, and ICE, then open less cases because the hope of a long term investigation seeing the inside of a federal courtroom continues to dwindle with a lack of judges. Moreover, the indirect affect on morale with the federal law-enforcement community can be deleterious.
In the State of Texas alone there are seven vacant judgeships, four of them in border areas. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has called the filling of these vacancies an “urgent need” and it was reported that Chief Judge John Roll of Arizona who was to visit with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the day he was murdered, specifically planned to discuss the dire situation at the border and to ask for her intervention and assistance in filling those empty seats on the federal bench.
So why are these seats languishing empty while crime soars on our southern flank? Political partisanship is to blame for the most part; Democrats don’t like or want to confirm Republican appointee recommendations and Republicans don’t want to confirm those recommended by the Democrats and, again, we, the American people lose. It seems as though we as a nation have never recovered from the “bloody partisan battles” of the Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas hearings twenty years ago and that the contentious partisanship has persistently loomed over us. Is it possible more conciliation and less partisanship will emerge in the wake of the Tucson massacre?
We are not talking about appointments to the Supreme Court or even to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals; these are sitting federal judgeships, critical to the day-to-day administration of jurisprudence on the federal level as well as to the public safety and national security of our nation. The American people really don't care if a Federal judge votes Democratic or Republican when he or she goes to the polls; if there is something egregious in their personal or legal history it will come to light during the background investigation and prior to the approval by the judiciary committee. Let’s just get good sensible people in place; people willing to assume the responsibilities of a federal judgeship, those who are willing to leave much more lucrative legal practices, are willing to step up to the plate, be true patriots and take on the most critically important role in any democracy, that of maintaining law and order.
How can we ask our neighbors to the south in Mexico, Colombia and throughout the globe for that matter to work bi-lateral operations with us, to maximize their limited resources and share intelligence and evidence with us, if the realization of a federal prosecution is minimal at best. How can we ask our counterparts in Mexico to move more quickly on judicial reform, moving their system to one more similar to that of ours with oral instead of written arguments presented in a court of law, when we can’t eliminate the self-imposed bottleneck choking our own federal judiciary.
Let’s hope the congressional “date night” last week on the evening of the President’s State of the Union address, mollifies some of the partisanship in the appointment of federal judgeships; our democracy and our national security are at stake.
Friday, January 7, 2011
The Silence is Deafening.
The Christmas season for Christians around the world officially ends today, January 6, with the Feast of the Three Kings or the Epiphany. But a quick look in the rear view mirror over the past few weeks depicts a violent and bloody holiday season for Christians commemorating their most holy and celebrated holiday. The Christmas death toll was global and it was significant. Accounts were carried by the world media but, ostensibly, it was anecdotal and little editorial comment was offered. In each of the attacks and various episodes, a common denominator was evident: Christians, worshipping and celebrating Christmas, were targeted and killed by radical Islamic fundamentalists.
A synopsis provides us with the breadth and depth and total senselessness of it all.
In Bagdad, Iraq, 10 bombs rattled throughout the city on the eve of Christmas Eve, killing 2 and wounding 20. Bombs were strategically placed near the homes of 14 different Christian families and, fortunately, 4 of the bombs were diffused before they had time to reap their carnage. An Al-Qaeda affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq, claimed responsibility and promised more to come on its web-site. The Iraqi Christmas bombings followed the October siege and bombing of a Catholic church that left 60 dead, including 2 clergy, and many more wounded, both physically and, undoubtedly, psychologically. For many Christians in Iraq, despite the urgings of the church to remain and stay strong, this will be the last straw. Iraq has seen, through persecution and attacks, its Christian population drop from 1.4 million, under the regime of Saddam Hussein, to just fewer than 500,000 today. Most Christian families are fleeing for the safety of the Kurdistan area of northern Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Turkey.
In Alexandria, Egypt, 21 Coptic Christians were killed at the Church of Two Saints while attending midnight New Year’s Eve services by either a, yet to be determined, IED car bomb or a suicide bomber. The heightened fears among Christians resulted in violent protests by the normally quiescent Christian population against the lack of action by government officials in Egypt. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights has documented 52 anti-Christian incidents over the past 2 years in which the perpetrators were not punished. As is the practice in Egypt, police and local officials resolve “sectarian disputes”, as they are called, by organizing informal reconciliation between victims and oppressors, reinforcing the notion that Christians can be attacked with impunity.
In the weeks leading up to the terrorist murders at the Church of Two Saints, Al-Qaeda websites were calling for war against the Christian population in Egypt and laying out the framework for a bombing at the church. Even more incredulous, homegrown Al-Qaeda-inspired extremists in Egypt, known as Salafists, were actually handing out flyers on the streets of Alexandria just days before the bombing calling for the violence against Christians.
People in the intelligence business see the attack against Christian targets in Egypt as a part of a larger move, by radical elements, to undermine the state and capitalize on the transitioning and somewhat unstable political environment as the 82 year old Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak struggles to find a political successor who can maintain stability and political secular continuity.
In Nigeria, 3 bombs rocked through the city of Jos on Christmas Eve killing 80 according to Nigerian officials. Many were killed in post-bomb reprisal attacks as they climbed through the post-bomb carnage to rescue survivors and save any of the wounded. Reprisal or secondary explosions are classic of Al-Qaeda cells aimed at killing the respondents. In the Tanzania, Kenya, U.S. Embassy bombing, in the summer of 1998, most of the bombing victims were killed by the secondary explosion. This past year alone over 500 people have died at the hands of Islamic terrorists in Nigeria, a country divided by Muslim and Christian populations. A radical Muslim sect located in the Muslim-dominated north of the country, Boko Harum, claimed responsibility for the bombings on its web-site. Boko Harum also attacked 2 churches in the northern city of Maiduguri on Christmas Eve killing at least 6 people. Nigerian police blamed the radical Muslim sect for the bombing of a third church in Maiduguri on Christmas Eve but no one was killed.
In the Philippines, a bomb exploded during Christmas Mass in a Catholic chapel on the island of Jolo injuring 11 worshipers. Six more people were wounded at a bombing at a Christmas day Mass in the largely Muslim province of Sulu. Just south of the Philippines, in Indonesia, Christians have been targeted for years. During the Christmas Holidays, many Catholics were forced to celebrate Christmas services in parking lots in a country where Christians cannot get permits to build churches, a problem endemic throughout Muslim countries. The government deployed 8,000 police near churches in the capital of Jakarta alone to short-circuit any violence against Christians on Christmas day.
Undoubtedly, it was a sad and bloody Christmas for Christians throughout the world. Statistics show that Christians are the most persecuted group on earth and it is recognized that symbolism plays a large part in target selection by radical Islam; symbolic targets of commerce, like the World Trade Center, symbolic targets of government, democracy and the military, like Washington, D.C. and the Pentagon, and, finally, what is a more symbolic day for Christianity than the celebration of the birth of Christ.
What is most bothersome to Americans is the lack of a global uproar and the deafening silent response to these attacks. Yes, the attacks were reported in the world press along with the condemnation of the attacks by Pope Benedict XVI as “absurd violence”, but painfully little was editorialized or discussed regarding the outrageousness and senselessness of it all. As Americans living in a society, founded on the constitutional freedom of religion, it is nearly inconceivable to imagine living in a world where one is not free to express their right to worship in the religion or manner which they choose. So, why the silence? Has political correctness or the fear that we may “insult” someone by screaming out over this madness? Moreover, as was the case with the attacks of 9/11 which killed nearly 3,000 Americas on American soil, where was the voice of condemnation by Islamic leadership around the world? Why is there not a strong condemnation of these profane and irreverent attacks on the most holy of Christian holidays? Why is there not a call for accountability within mainstream Islam and substantive steps taken to purge Islam of the evil, senseless, radical elements within its ranks? For a religion that has 1.5 billion followers around the globe, why is there not a reaching out and an extension of the olive branch by the leadership within Islam to the rest of the world? Why, when Islam speaks of peace, does it not refer to the destruction perpetrated against innocents by those who have hijacked Islam under the banner of Jihad?
The silence is deafening.
A synopsis provides us with the breadth and depth and total senselessness of it all.
In Bagdad, Iraq, 10 bombs rattled throughout the city on the eve of Christmas Eve, killing 2 and wounding 20. Bombs were strategically placed near the homes of 14 different Christian families and, fortunately, 4 of the bombs were diffused before they had time to reap their carnage. An Al-Qaeda affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq, claimed responsibility and promised more to come on its web-site. The Iraqi Christmas bombings followed the October siege and bombing of a Catholic church that left 60 dead, including 2 clergy, and many more wounded, both physically and, undoubtedly, psychologically. For many Christians in Iraq, despite the urgings of the church to remain and stay strong, this will be the last straw. Iraq has seen, through persecution and attacks, its Christian population drop from 1.4 million, under the regime of Saddam Hussein, to just fewer than 500,000 today. Most Christian families are fleeing for the safety of the Kurdistan area of northern Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Turkey.
In Alexandria, Egypt, 21 Coptic Christians were killed at the Church of Two Saints while attending midnight New Year’s Eve services by either a, yet to be determined, IED car bomb or a suicide bomber. The heightened fears among Christians resulted in violent protests by the normally quiescent Christian population against the lack of action by government officials in Egypt. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights has documented 52 anti-Christian incidents over the past 2 years in which the perpetrators were not punished. As is the practice in Egypt, police and local officials resolve “sectarian disputes”, as they are called, by organizing informal reconciliation between victims and oppressors, reinforcing the notion that Christians can be attacked with impunity.
In the weeks leading up to the terrorist murders at the Church of Two Saints, Al-Qaeda websites were calling for war against the Christian population in Egypt and laying out the framework for a bombing at the church. Even more incredulous, homegrown Al-Qaeda-inspired extremists in Egypt, known as Salafists, were actually handing out flyers on the streets of Alexandria just days before the bombing calling for the violence against Christians.
People in the intelligence business see the attack against Christian targets in Egypt as a part of a larger move, by radical elements, to undermine the state and capitalize on the transitioning and somewhat unstable political environment as the 82 year old Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak struggles to find a political successor who can maintain stability and political secular continuity.
In Nigeria, 3 bombs rocked through the city of Jos on Christmas Eve killing 80 according to Nigerian officials. Many were killed in post-bomb reprisal attacks as they climbed through the post-bomb carnage to rescue survivors and save any of the wounded. Reprisal or secondary explosions are classic of Al-Qaeda cells aimed at killing the respondents. In the Tanzania, Kenya, U.S. Embassy bombing, in the summer of 1998, most of the bombing victims were killed by the secondary explosion. This past year alone over 500 people have died at the hands of Islamic terrorists in Nigeria, a country divided by Muslim and Christian populations. A radical Muslim sect located in the Muslim-dominated north of the country, Boko Harum, claimed responsibility for the bombings on its web-site. Boko Harum also attacked 2 churches in the northern city of Maiduguri on Christmas Eve killing at least 6 people. Nigerian police blamed the radical Muslim sect for the bombing of a third church in Maiduguri on Christmas Eve but no one was killed.
In the Philippines, a bomb exploded during Christmas Mass in a Catholic chapel on the island of Jolo injuring 11 worshipers. Six more people were wounded at a bombing at a Christmas day Mass in the largely Muslim province of Sulu. Just south of the Philippines, in Indonesia, Christians have been targeted for years. During the Christmas Holidays, many Catholics were forced to celebrate Christmas services in parking lots in a country where Christians cannot get permits to build churches, a problem endemic throughout Muslim countries. The government deployed 8,000 police near churches in the capital of Jakarta alone to short-circuit any violence against Christians on Christmas day.
Undoubtedly, it was a sad and bloody Christmas for Christians throughout the world. Statistics show that Christians are the most persecuted group on earth and it is recognized that symbolism plays a large part in target selection by radical Islam; symbolic targets of commerce, like the World Trade Center, symbolic targets of government, democracy and the military, like Washington, D.C. and the Pentagon, and, finally, what is a more symbolic day for Christianity than the celebration of the birth of Christ.
What is most bothersome to Americans is the lack of a global uproar and the deafening silent response to these attacks. Yes, the attacks were reported in the world press along with the condemnation of the attacks by Pope Benedict XVI as “absurd violence”, but painfully little was editorialized or discussed regarding the outrageousness and senselessness of it all. As Americans living in a society, founded on the constitutional freedom of religion, it is nearly inconceivable to imagine living in a world where one is not free to express their right to worship in the religion or manner which they choose. So, why the silence? Has political correctness or the fear that we may “insult” someone by screaming out over this madness? Moreover, as was the case with the attacks of 9/11 which killed nearly 3,000 Americas on American soil, where was the voice of condemnation by Islamic leadership around the world? Why is there not a strong condemnation of these profane and irreverent attacks on the most holy of Christian holidays? Why is there not a call for accountability within mainstream Islam and substantive steps taken to purge Islam of the evil, senseless, radical elements within its ranks? For a religion that has 1.5 billion followers around the globe, why is there not a reaching out and an extension of the olive branch by the leadership within Islam to the rest of the world? Why, when Islam speaks of peace, does it not refer to the destruction perpetrated against innocents by those who have hijacked Islam under the banner of Jihad?
The silence is deafening.
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