• In two opinions handed down late Monday, the state Court of Criminal Appeals cleared the way for Texas executions to resume after an eight-month hiatus imposed by legal challenges to lethal injection as an inhumane method of execution. At press time Wednesday, the state was readying to execute its first inmate since September, Karl Chamberlain. In ruling on John Alba’s and Heliberto Chi’s challenges to the method of execution, a plurality of the court opined that Texas’ trichemical method of lethal injection is “materially indistinguishable” from that used by the state of Kentucky, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled constitutional earlier this year. The court also ruled that inmates have no right to challenge the method of execution using the state’s habeas corpus law. In one of two strong dissents, Judge Tom Price accused the plurality of “withholding the rudiments of due process” in “unseemly haste to crank the machine back up,” adding, “but we cannot fix the machine while the cogs are turning.” – J.S.
• Since 1887, an El Paso copper plant operated by the American Smelting and Refining Co. has left a legacy of toxic contamination from arsenic, lead, and other heavy metals. In February, state and national enviros unsuccessfully fought ASARCO’s state air-permit renewal application. Now groups including the Sierra Club, Environmental Integrity Project, Public Citizen, the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention, and Austin’s SEED Coalition are urging U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey to be wary of a deal in which Vedanta Resources, a UK-based metals and mining conglomerate accused of polluting populated areas and running roughshod over indigenous people in Zambia and India, would buy out many of ASARCO’s assets. The deal requires Mukasey’s approval, since ASARCO filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the summer of 2005. “ASARCO is notorious for playing shell games to avoid its cleanup liability,” said the Sierra Club’s Oliver Bernstein. They consolidated their cash-cow businesses into one company and moved liabilities into another company, which filed for bankruptcy, he explained. Vedanta would acquire ASARCO’s viable operations, conceivably leaving taxpayers holding the bag for up to $1 billion in environmental liabilities in 20 states. The Sierra Club estimates that cleanup at ASARCO’s El Paso site alone will cost between $100 million and $200 million. – Daniel Mottola
• The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department has an important lesson for budget-cutters: putting money into an underfunded agency makes it run better. Last legislative session, after hearing testimony about collapsing infrastructure, overstretched employees, and staff having to cannibalize old vehicles to keep their trucks on the road, lawmakers rejected calls from the Legislative Budget Board to slash the beleaguered agency’s already bare-bones budget. Instead, they added $25.6 million to the operating budget, and in November, voters approved another $69 million in bonds for vital infrastructure repairs. That investment is paying dividends: TPWD has already hired an additional 200 park employees and started repairs to trails and historic sites around the state. “Research shows this is a wise investment that pays returns in many ways,” said Executive Director Carter Smith. “State parks are economic engines that draw tourism dollars to host communities.” The department hopes that by making parks more appealing and accessible, Texans will stay in-state rather than racking up enormous gas bills. To encourage this endeavor, they are running a series of weekend workshops for novice campers. Visit www.tpwd.state.tx.us/outdoorfamily for more details. – Richard Whittaker
• The Democrats have had their state convention – now it’s the GOP’s turn. The Republican Party of Texas holds its convention June 12-14 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, and like the Democrats, they have some unity issues to address. The Texas GOP has just fought off a lawsuit from two prominent Ron Paul supporters over how and when it selects its convention chair. Wharton Co. GOP Chair Debra Medina and former Harris Co. party Chair Gary Polland claim that convention rules violate the Texas Election Code and suppress debate by not appointing a permanent chair until the convention’s third day. On June 9, Harris Co. Civil Court at Law Judge Roberta Lloyd threw their case out not on merit but because her court did not have jurisdiction. Now Polland and Medina are expected to go to the Court of Appeals. Polland is also widely expected to run to replace retiring Sen. Kyle Janek in Senate District 17. – R.W.
This article appears in June 13 • 2008.