Post by pavel on Jan 21, 2016 12:13:30 GMT -6
Texans deserve an attorney general who can focus on his duties without fear of prison.
Here's the story coming out of the Texas attorney general's office last week that should have captured the headlines: Attorney General Ken Paxton has established a special unit that will target the $32 billion human trafficking industry, an odious criminal enterprise that has metastasized in Houston particularly and across the state.
Instead, news of that worthy endeavor was subsumed by the ongoing legal morass that only grows heavier and more entangling for the embattled attorney general. As Paxton begins his second year in office, he faces the real possibility of a criminal trial in the near future on securities fraud charges stemming from his work as a private attorney. He also faces new legal questions about a land deal that involved himself, the Collin County district attorney and eight others.
As attorney general Paxton has never known a sunshiny day free of personal legal problems. Even before his 2014 election, he paid a $1,000 fine for failing to register as a securities investment adviser representative. He also has had to recuse himself from some of his agency's work to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
It's only going to get worse. In fact, the attorney general could face prison time.
Like any other defendant, the state's chief legal and law-enforcement officer deserves the presumption of innocence. At the same time, the people of Texas deserve an agency head who can focus full-time on his duties. It's hard to see how an elected official fighting to avoid a long-term lease on a cell in Huntsville can run a major state agency responsible for representing the state of Texas in court, pursuing child-support payments and, yes, prosecuting white-collar crime of the sort he himself may have committed. It's also hard to see how his staff can enjoy going to work every morning when their boss is accused of violating the very laws they have sworn to uphold.
Read more: www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Paxton-should-step-down-6772949.php?t=45dc81af22&cmpid=twitter-premium
Here's the story coming out of the Texas attorney general's office last week that should have captured the headlines: Attorney General Ken Paxton has established a special unit that will target the $32 billion human trafficking industry, an odious criminal enterprise that has metastasized in Houston particularly and across the state.
Instead, news of that worthy endeavor was subsumed by the ongoing legal morass that only grows heavier and more entangling for the embattled attorney general. As Paxton begins his second year in office, he faces the real possibility of a criminal trial in the near future on securities fraud charges stemming from his work as a private attorney. He also faces new legal questions about a land deal that involved himself, the Collin County district attorney and eight others.
As attorney general Paxton has never known a sunshiny day free of personal legal problems. Even before his 2014 election, he paid a $1,000 fine for failing to register as a securities investment adviser representative. He also has had to recuse himself from some of his agency's work to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
It's only going to get worse. In fact, the attorney general could face prison time.
Like any other defendant, the state's chief legal and law-enforcement officer deserves the presumption of innocence. At the same time, the people of Texas deserve an agency head who can focus full-time on his duties. It's hard to see how an elected official fighting to avoid a long-term lease on a cell in Huntsville can run a major state agency responsible for representing the state of Texas in court, pursuing child-support payments and, yes, prosecuting white-collar crime of the sort he himself may have committed. It's also hard to see how his staff can enjoy going to work every morning when their boss is accused of violating the very laws they have sworn to uphold.
Read more: www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Paxton-should-step-down-6772949.php?t=45dc81af22&cmpid=twitter-premium