In This Information Age . . .

. . . this is just plain weird. There has been story after story about the visiting judge throwing out a search warrant for the Tarrant county judge's blood because of a "vague" affidavit. And story after story says that no one has seen the affidavit. Why not? It's public record: Article 18.01, Code of Criminal Procedure says, "(b) No search warrant shall issue for any purpose in this state unless sufficient facts are first presented to satisfy the issuing magistrate that probable cause does in fact exist for its issuance. A sworn affidavit setting forth substantial facts establishing probable cause shall be filed in every instance in which a search warrant is requested. Except as provided by Article 18.011, the affidavit is public information if executed, and the magistrate's clerk shall make a copy of the affidavit available for public inspection in the clerk's office during normal business hours. And art. 18.011 is inapplicable. (And that headline goes to Steve Blow's story in the Morning News which is always like Seinfeld: A column about nothing - but without the humor.)