Yesterday, we were at the Texas capitol from 9:30 to 1 AM meeting with legislators about HB 2267 to end the death penalty under the Law of Parties, talking to the media and testifying at the hearing on the Sharon Keller impeachment resolution.

We spoke with members of the Calendars Committee about the Law of Parties and were encouraged by what we heard from a couple of offices. We also ran into Terri Hodge in the hall and exchanged a few hugs and thank yous.

While we were there, we updated our friends and supporters online around the world by posting to our blog, using Twitter and uploading videos while we were still at the capitol to Facebook and YouTube, all good examples of using social media tools to affect change and build a movement, and a good reason we should win the Social Media Leadership Award. Vote for us at the link below.

Several Texas anti-death penalty groups are jointly entered in the Jenzabar Social Media Leadership Award contest for $3,000. The winner is the entry that gets the most people to comment on their entry by April 30. To “vote”, you leave a comment on the blog post at the link below.

http://thejenzabarfoundationblog.com/2009/04/24/texas-friends-and-allies-against-the-death-penalty

Our entry is called “Texas Friends and Allies Against the Death Penalty“

To vote for us to receive this award and the $3,000 prize, you just have to leave a comment on our nomination entry here:

http://thejenzabarfoundationblog.com/2009/04/24/texas-friends-and-allies-against-the-death-penalty

On that page scroll to the bottom, where you see “Leave a Comment”, then enter your name, your email address, a website (you can skip that one if you don’t have a website or you can enter any website you like), then enter your comment in the large box. Hit submit and that’s all. The entry with the most comments wins.

Our group at the capitol yesterday included Scott Cobb (whose birthday was yesterday), Gloria Rubac, Crystal Wilson, Terri Been (sister of Jeff Wood), Lawrence Foster (grandfather of Kenneth Foster,jr) and Kenneth Foster Sr (father of Kenneth). We were joined later at the hearing by Hooman Hedayati, who gave some great testimony to the committee on Sharon Keller.

Here is a video of a news report on Austin TV that includes a statement by Terri Been and shots of us in the press conference by Lon Burnam.

Other videos we took during the day are on YouTube, including this video of the press conference.

We took this video of Lon Burnam around 12:30 AM last night. His message to our friends and supporters is “Call your state representative” and urge them to support the impeachment proceedings against Keller. We got the impeachment ball rolling last Fall when we approached Lon with the idea of impeaching Keller.

The Texas House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence took testimony on April 27, 2009 on Lon Burnam’s resolution to impeach Sharon Keller.

Watch video of Hooman Hedayati testifying.

Democrat vows to push Keller impeachment
Burnam says state judge violated duty in death penalty case.

By Chuck Lindell
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Democratic Rep. Lon Burnam said Monday he will employ rarely used rules to try to force the Texas House to vote on impeaching the state’s highest criminal judge for her role in a 2007 death penalty case.

Burnam, of Fort Worth, said Sharon Keller, presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, is unfit to continue serving because of her pro-prosecution bias and because she turned away an after-hours appeal by lawyers for death row inmate Michael Richard, who was executed later that night.

“She’s an embarrassment to the state, she’s an embarrassment to the Republican Party, she’s an embarrassment to her profession,” Burnam said. “She needs to be off the bench.”

Keller already faces a special trial on charges, filed by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, that she violated her duty to protect Richard’s access to the legal system. The trial, to begin Aug. 17, could determine whether the Republican judge remains on the court she joined in 1995.

Keller’s lawyer said she did nothing to warrant removal from office.

“What she did is not a violation of the canons of judicial ethics or any state statute,” lawyer Chip Babcock said Monday. “Last election millions of Texans thought she was the superior candidate for office. I don’t think impeachment or the commission ought to override the will of the people.”

It has been 34 years since an elected Texas official, District Judge O.P. Carrillo of Duval County, was impeached and removed from office for a bogus rental scheme.

Burnam’s effort faces an uncertain future in a Republican-run House with heavy workload and less than five weeks remaining in the session. But the Fort Worth Democrat vowed to seek Keller’s ouster two ways:

• Via the traditional path — a resolution to create a seven-member House committee to study whether Keller committed “gross neglect of duty” and, if appropriate, refer articles of impeachment to the House. If the articles are accepted, a Senate trial will follow to determine whether Keller should be removed from office. If formed, the committee could work beyond the legislative session’s June 1 close, Burnam said.

The House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee was to consider House Resolution 480 in a hearing late Monday, but a vote was not expected.

• If that resolution fails, Burnam said, impeachment can bypass the normal requirement of committee approval before a bill goes to the House floor. The motion must be recognized by House Speaker Joe Straus to proceed, Burnam said.

Eric Opiela, executive director of the Republican Party of Texas, accused Burnam of trying to circumvent procedures established by the Legislature to investigate judges.

Burnam is trying “to make a political spectacle out of an investigation that is working its way through the Judicial Conduct Commission,” Opiela said.

clindell@statesman.com, 912-2569

Lawmaker vows to call for impeachment vote
By JIM VERTUNO Associated Press Writer © 2009 The Associated Press
April 27, 2009, 3:40PM

AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas House lawmaker vowed Monday to try to force an impeachment vote on Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller before the legislative session ends June 1.

Keller, a Republican, is already facing judicial misconduct charges for failing to keep court offices open late the night of Sept. 25, 2007 when Michael Wayne Richard was executed. His lawyers have said that prevented them from filing an appeal.

Her misconduct trial is scheduled for August and could lead to her removal from the bench. But Rep. Lon Burnam, a Fort Worth Democrat, is trying to impeach her before then, hoping lawmakers will force her out.

“This woman should not serve another day,” Burnam said.

The House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence committee is hearing testimony on Burnam’s impeachment resolution Monday night, but he pledged to call for the vote by the full House sometime in the next few weeks regardless of what the panel does.

Burnam’s resolution calls for the House to form a panel to investigate Keller for “gross neglect of duty and willing disregard for human life” and to ultimately send the charges to the Senate for a trial.

If the House accepts the articles of impeachment, Keller would be barred from serving on the bench until after her Senate trial, Burnam said.

Keller, who was not expected to testify before the House panel, has said the misconduct charges should be dismissed and that Richard’s lawyers are to blame for missing his appeal.

Richard was convicted of the rape and murder of a Houston woman in 1986. Hours before his execution, the U.S. Supreme Court had agreed to review the constitutionality of lethal injection in a Kentucky case. Richard’s lawyers hoped that would help them delay his case as well.

Although court offices were to close at 5 p.m., Richard’s attorneys asked for a 20-minute extension because computer problems were delaying efforts to file a late appeal. When contacted at home by the court’s general counsel, Keller said the office should remain closed.

Keller has said she was not told of the computer problem. She said Richard’s attorneys should have known how to file late appeals with the judge on duty that night, a process they had used in other cases.

Keller’s refusal to keep the court open outraged defense attorneys and civil rights activists. A group of lawyers, including a state lawmaker and a former appellate judge, filed complaints with the state Commission on Judicial Conduct, saying Keller had violated Richard’s civil rights.

Burnam filed his resolution of impeachment on Feb. 16 and the judicial conduct commission filed formal charges three days later.

Keller’s attorney, Chip Babcock, said the August trial is the proper venue for Keller’s case.

“It seems to me that the trial is the better place to get all the facts out,” Babcock said.

Time is running short for Burnam to get his resolution before the full House. Normal procedures require it first to be approved by the committee and have it scheduled for a floor vote.

Texas has not impeached a state judge since the 1970s when a series of judicial scandals led to ethics reforms. Burnam said his research shows that he can call for an impeachment vote from the entire House without prior committee approval.

Burnam said he’ll first wait to see if he’s got majority support in the 150-member chamber where Republicans hold a slim 76-74 majority. But he pledged to call a vote before the end of the session regardless of whether he thinks he can prevail.

“I’d rather lose the vote than not have the vote,” Burnam said.

Keller has been on the court since 1994. Her term expires in 2012.