Recent Articles

Bad Question, Deceptive Video?

Mark Bennett
March 21, 2012 20:45

Mike Anderson: Is a small amount of cocaine, heroin, of methamphetamine against—is possession of it against the law, as written in Austin? Pat Lykos: No. Murray Newman, who published the snippet with no context, says the answer “seems to be in direct contrast to Sec. 481.115 under the...

You Don’t Always Get What You Pay For

Mark Bennett
March 20, 2012 00:03

The business of the criminal courts never stops. When Harris County criminal-court judges want to take a day off, if they don’t want to come back to a greater mess than they are leaving they have to get someone to sit in for them. If the time off is planned in advance (a vacation, say,...

John C. Osborne, Again

Mark Bennett
March 19, 2012 22:45

I wrote here about Houston lawyer John C. Osborne’s travails with the State Bar of Texas. He’s still serving a probated suspension until December 2013, but the Commission for Lawyer Discipline nonsuited the first disbarment petition. Now the Commission has filed a second disbarment...

Five Years

Mark Bennett
March 19, 2012 14:09

Defending People started five years ago today. In that five years, I’ve written some 700,000 words in 1,700+ posts and been told 643 times that people don’t understand me. In commemoration of the day, the traditional fish-related video: Copyright © 2010 Mark Bennett. This feed is...

Our Criminal-Defense Clinic in Havana

Mark Bennett
March 19, 2012 13:59

US News and World Report says of my alma mater, University of Houston Law Center: Students can get hands-on legal experience through the school’s clinics, which provide training in immigration law, criminal defense, and more. UH says: The Criminal Defense Clinic allows students actually represent...

The Harris County GOP and the PD

Mark Bennett
March 13, 2012 00:57

Harris County Republican Party Executive Committee resolution on the PD’s office, “the official Harris County Republican Party position on this issue” as of October 2009, announced by HCRP Chairman Jared Woodfill a few days ago: RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE PRESENT HARRIS COUNTY...

What the Hell is Ron Paul Thinking?

Mark Bennett
March 12, 2012 21:59

Nobody ever won a national election based on “love.” Fear or hope (which is just the sunny side of fear): these are the things on which presidential campaigns are built. Not “love.” Copyright © 2010 Mark Bennett. This feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. The...

TSA Thuggery: First-Amendment Edition

Mark Bennett
March 09, 2012 12:22

If I think that my friends in the media are about to report a story inaccurately, I don't caution them against reporting the story; I point them toward the facts. That's because I'm not TSA thug Sari Koshetz, who told journalists that they shouldn't cover blogger Jonathan...

Why Do We Oppose Mandatory Minimum Sentences?

Mark Bennett
March 09, 2012 04:12

Meanwhile, crime victim advocate Joe Wamback, a Newmarket resident and former federal Conservative candidate, supports the omnibus legislation. His son, Jonathan, was beaten into a coma in 1999. The Smickle ruling is “the reason we need minimum sentencing in our legislation”, he said. Defence...

On Innovation in the Practice of Law

Mark Bennett
March 09, 2012 04:00

I am, in case you didn’t know it, interested in innovation in the practice of law. I don’t believe that “because lawyers have always used yellow legal pads” is a good reason for using yellow legal pads. I went to the Trial Lawyers College, where I learned to use psychodrama...