Category Archives: Scandalized!

I was pretty sure that this would be the ultimate outcome. Houston Community College Trustee Jay Aiyer pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of tampering with a governmental record Thursday and received a year of probation. Aiyer, one-time candidate for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s the basic reasoning behind the Court of Criminal Appeals’ refusal to reinstate the conspiracy charge against Tom DeLay and two of his co-defendants. In Wednesday’s decision, the Court of Criminal Appeals had to decide whether a conspiracy charge could … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Court of Criminal Appeals, which is not known for being friendly to defendants, has refused to reinstate the conspiracy charge against Tom DeLay. DeLay, R-Sugar Land, and political consultants Jim Ellis and John Colyandro were accused of conspiring to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It pains me greatly to see stories like this. Houston Community College Trustee and one-time City Council candidate Jay Aiyer is facing a charge of tampering with a governmental record, a felony that could cost him his law license, authorities … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Poor Tom DeLay. He’s just a little ol’ citizen-journalist now, but those nasty ol’ Feds won’t leave him alone. DeLay said he has given the FBI documents exonerating his wife, but an associate of the former lawmaker said that agents … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve not been keeping up with the latest developments at the Texas Youth Commission these days, but fortunately Grits for Breakfast has been. To sum up: – The TYC is losing lots of staff members in the wake of the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Another chapter in the book of Tom DeLay has come to a close. The political action committee for former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) was quietly closed last week after a decade-long run as one of the most influential … Continue reading → Continue reading →

With Jack Abramoff back in the news, here’s one more item to file away. The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Livingston has settled a lawsuit with the former employer of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff for an undisclosed amount of money. The lawsuit … Continue reading → Continue reading →

When you see a headline that says DeLay associate tied to Abramoff probe, you kind of expect the story to be all about an associate of Tom DeLay’s and his alleged ties to Jack Abramoff. That’s not quite what we … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Last month, a grand jury heard evidence against accused former TYC employees Ray Brookins and John Paul Hernandez, who were accused of sexual assault against minor inmates at the Pyote facility, but did not take any action against them. Today … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s a strange twist in the TYC saga: Petitions to remove do-nothing District Attorney Randall Reynolds and County Attorney Kevin Acker were filed yesterday, with the latter being filed by Reynolds himself. A three-page petition to remove Ward County District … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Jay Kimbrough has been named conservator of the Texas Youth Commission, nearly a month after the Lege urged Governor Perry to name someone to that post. Mr. Kimbrough took the reins with ease, vowing to force all superintendents and many … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The plan by TYC Special Master Jay Kimbrough to review the sentences of youth offenders who had their sentences extended by TYC authorities to see who might now be locked up for purposes of retaliation or intimidation has run into … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Awesome! [O]n February 6th, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the administration intended to nominate (and have the Senate confirm) replacements for all the ousted prosecutors. But as the emails make clear, Alberto Gonzales’ chief … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The House tried to pass some Texas Youth Commission reforms last week but ran into some technical difficulties (I’m trying to put a nice face on it here). Tomorrow, the Senate will take a crack at it. The first wide-ranging … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Poor Tom. Poor, poor Tom. As Tom DeLay pursues a return to the public stage, he’s meeting resistance from an unexpected source: conservatives who say that he betrayed the movement as a congressional leader. Four board members of the American … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Vince is reporting that Alfonso Royal, the aide to Governor Perry who knew about what was happening at Pyote in March of 2005, was supposed to become the head of the TYC later this year. I’m guessing that’s not going … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Nothing to do with Pyote, just more bad news from somewhere else in this wretched system. The superintendent of the Texas Youth Commission’s Marlin intake center was arrested this morning for allegedly fibbing to Texas Rangers investigating sexual-assault reports at … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Patricia Kilday Hart, on March 5: When Sen. Juan Hinojosa held hearings last summer about a riot at a TYC facility in the Rio Grande Valley, he learned enough about the agency’s operations to recognize “a recipe for disaster.” Guards … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The idea of Sen. John Cornyn on an ethics committee is ludicrous on its face, since Cornyn has shown no willingness or ability to use any criteria besides partisan considerations for making a decision. Asking him to judge Sen. Pete … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You know, after all the outrage and demonization of the accused offenders at the Pyote TYC facility, it would be…the word “bizarre” comes to mind…if the Attorney General were ultimately unable to get any indictments against them. After one day … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The story may have been on yesterday’s front page (obviously, a slow news day), but nobody cared. Seems only fitting to me. One point to make: The verdict is out on whether he can remain a power broker, particularly with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

One of the many questions regarding the Texas Youth Commission scandal is about what Governor Perry knew and when he knew it. The Chron advances that story today. Gov. Rick Perry’s staff knew as early as June 2005 that two … Continue reading → Continue reading →

One of the themes of the TYC scandal is that for whatever the reason, the local prosecutor never bothered to take the evidence from Texas Ranger Brian Burzynski and charge the alleged wrongdoers with crimes. It turns out that this … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The TYC board may have resigned on Friday, but that may not mean anything just yet: Mark Brown, a lawyer with the Texas Legislative Council, told state lawmakers today that despite their resignation letters, the Texas Youth Commission governing board … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Meet Ed Owens. Ed Owens effectively became the Texas Youth Commission czar Friday, vested with total power to rebuild an agency in administrative disarray and unable to guarantee the safety of youth in its custody. Owens, the TYC’s acting executive … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Juanita points to this review of Tom DeLay’s new book, which judging from the excerpts should be subtitled something like “All Republicans Stink But Me”. For no particular reason, I’m reminded of something Tommy Lasorda said when his former player … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Have I mentioned that the TYC scandal is not going away? It’s still expanding in scope. A South Texas juvenile corrections facility run by the Texas Youth Commission is so “chaotic and dangerous” that it violates the constitutional rights of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Good riddance. The entire Texas Youth Commission board will resign on Friday after approving a rehabilitation plan for the agency, a spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry said today. The rehabilitation plan is to be presented by Ed Owens, the acting … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There continues to be an awful lot going on with the Texas Youth Commission and what we’ve learned about what was and was not done about the allegations of sexual assault against its teenage inmates. Here’s a few links to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You may have heard this story by now. Presidential advisor Karl Rove and at least one other member of the White House political team were urged by the New Mexico Republican party chairman to fire the state’s U.S. attorney because … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Yesterday, I speculated about the reasons why the TYC had a policy in place to allow for people with felony convictions or felony charges pending against them to be hired. In today’s story on the roots of the TYC crisis, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I suppose given all that’s gone on with the TYC, we should consider this a small victory and move on. The Texas Youth Commission, reeling from a systemwide sex abuse scandal, is stopping a hiring practice that allowed convicted felons … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In case you think that the TYC scandal is as bad as it’s going to get, think again. Eighteen-year-old Erik Rodriguez was fighting off an assault from another inmate at the state juvenile prison in Corsicana when three other boys … Continue reading → Continue reading →