Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• The new "letter grades" for Texas schools were released moments ago.
• This case is being tried in the Wise County District Court this week.
• Funny:
  
• The Wise County DA's office is getting another clerical position. 
• Ted Cruz has asked Trump to campaign for him in Texas against Beto O'Rourke. Here's a flashback from 2016:
  

  

  Trump on "Lyin' Ted"

• We currently live in Tattooed America. Irving PD had to change its policy by no longer requiring officers to cover up their tattoos. It's simple reality: As the population ages, we now have a ton of middle aged people all tattooed up. 
• Something seems a bit odd about the Pennsylvania "grand jury report" which "implicates" over 300 Catholic clergy in the sexual abuse of what they "believe [to be] ... in the thousands" of individuals. Hey, that kind of abuse certainly exists in the Catholic church, but putting together one case of sexual abuse is a daunting task for police and prosecutors. For a grand jury to just sit in a room and issue such a sweeping report seems to be fraught with peril. (Almost all of the priests names were redacted and will not face charges -- which makes it easier to throw allegations around.)
• I can't keep a bush alive for over three years and there's a tree growing out of the side of the third floor of the Wise County Courthouse. (I had someone take a photo two days ago but she hasn't sent it to me.) 
• Yesterday at the courthouse a young lady walked up to me and asked, "Are you a lawyer?" Me (with Slumped Shoulders), "Yep." Her: "What happens if a lawyer doesn't show up for court?" Me: "If you were in the courtroom just now when the judge called roll, you won't get in trouble . . . " Her (interrupting): "No. What happens to the lawyer?" Me: "I just first wanted to make sure you understood nothing bad was going to happen to you." Her: "Hey, thanks. You are a very good lawyer." Mercy. The standards these days are incredibly low if that's all it took.
• Sarah Huckabee Sanders was par for the course yesterday: (1) She looked like a deer in headlights when she said she couldn't "guarantee" that a tape of Trump using the n-word does not exist, (2) She had to come out late last night and apologize for lying about "President Trump [creating] three times as many jobs for black workers as President Barack Obama did."
  
• I always grip about prosecutors not understanding the intricacies of "recklessness" in Texas criminal law, and here is a "fantastic example." (This guy teaches younger prosecutors in seminars.) Below, in my opinion, is a faulty and simplistic explanation of the term "recklessness" and is certainly not a "fantastic example" of it. Heck, it might not even qualify as criminal negligence if that were part of the Agg Assault statute.
  
• There are new apartments being built in Decatur by Lowe's and some kind of "super tractor supply" type store going in where the old drive-in theater used to be. (That's code for "across the street" for you youngsters.)
• Messenger: Above The Fold