AUSTIN, TX – In light of the recent controversy over stickers placed on business walls and windows that read “Exclusively for white people,” community leaders in East Austin are pushing to narrow the gap between those that “have” and those that “have not.” Change has occurred over the past 20 years, but that change has benefited some while leaving others on the fringe. According to Nelson Linder with the Austin NAACP, change must include increased job training, job openings, and affordable housing for everyone. “What we call affordable housing in… Read More
Article originally published at The Dallas Morning News. You can read the original story here. Number of civil jury trials declines to new lows in Texas by MARK CURRIDEN Judge Patrick Higginbotham of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in 1997 that civil jury trials were headed to extinction. “There are certain elites in this country who don’t trust juries,” Higginbotham, a Reagan appointee from Dallas, said at the time. “The future of our jury system is very much in danger.” Most lawyers and judges scoffed at the suggestion. After all, no state in the… Read More
1. A criminal trial date has been set for April 20, 2015. Former APD Detective Charles Kleinert has been indicted on charges of Manslaughter. At his arraignment last Friday, December 5, Kleinert pled Not Guilty to the charges. We don’t believe there will be a plea. The trial date is preferential so, barring a plea deal, the trial will take place as scheduled. 2. This criminal trial is historic because it is the first of twenty-five Travis County police shooting cases that has ended with an indictment. An Austin American-Statesman article contends that… Read More
This morning at the Travis County Courthouse, Charles Kleinert appeared in court for the first time since his historic indictment. He has been charged with manslaughter and could face 2 – 20 years in prison for the shooting of Larry Jackson, Jr. Today, he pled not guilty. Judge David Wahlberg scheduled an April 20th trial with preferential setting, meaning it cannot be rescheduled. Our firm represents Larry’s parents, who were interviewed after this morning’s proceedings along with Attorney Adam Loewy. Austin News stations including Fox News covered the interview, during which Billie Mercer, Larry’s mother, said… Read More
NPR recently published a thought-provoking piece about the rising death toll on Texas highways. In the past few years, 18-wheelers and tractor-trailers—hauling huge loads and driven by newly licensed drivers—have been an increased and often deadly presence on the highways. Why? The Texas oil boom. This boom, and the thousands of jobs created by it, was made possible by fracking. Fracking is a controversial process that unlocks oil and gas in shale formations. Texas has certainly seen an economic boost, but, as this article points out, it is not without a price. The… Read More
