Federal Involvement - a good thing?
According to the Associated Press, U.S. Representative Shelia Jackson Lee is calling for a congressional inquiry into the justice system in Harris. It appears that what triggered the request was the grand jury's failure to indict a homeowner who shot two people he thought were burglarizing a neighbor's home. With all the things coming out of Harris, you would think a refusal to bring charges would be a good thing. To be fair, she also lists other things, like the crime lab problem, and the District attorney's tasteless emails. But you have to wonder what the focus of such an inquiry would be.
I have no doubt there is plenty to investigate in Harris County. The crime lab has already been the subject of an investigation, and hopefully that has been addressed. There's also the issue of the disproportionate number of prisoner's on death row from Harris County. I'm sure there are numerous other issues I'm not even aware of. The problem I have is what could Congress do, other than make things worse.
Congressional inquiries are usually nothing more than a reason for politicians to get before the media. They rarely accomplish anything useful, and spend an awful lot of money doing it. I think there is even more of a problem when you mix criminal justice and politics - rarely do good things result. I'm sure there are deeper reasons, but you cannot deny that no politician wants to appear soft on crime . If you need proof, you only have to look at the continuing reluctance to deal with jail overcrowding.
I'm sure in a perfect world, good things could come out of such an inquiry. I'm afraid the opposite would be the case though, and we would be looking at more imaginative ways to lock people up. So let's hope this proposal stalls - I'm sure there are lots of other things to investigate!
