Grits for Breakfast ranks best and worst local legislators on justice policies

by Scott Henson of Grits For Breakfast

AUSTIN — I thought about posting my own Best/Worst list today on criminal justice topics to complement the release of Texas Monthly's venerable biennial listing of legislative darts and laurels, but procrastination reduced me to commenting on Paul Burka and Patricia Hart's just-released list of the Best and Worst in the 80th Texas Legislature. See the free media preview including an email discussion about how they made their choices. Here's the list; my comments following the names are an off the cuff evaluation of the choices from the perspective of criminal justice policy:

The best

Rafael Anchia, Democrat, Dallas - Maybe in somebody's book. I agree with him on many things, but Anchia has disappointed me this session with his aggressive promotion of penalty enhancements and engaging in ineffably harsh tuff on crime rhetoric that I found unbecoming.

Sen. John Carona, Republican, Dallas - Might have gone on the other list for this blogger. He surely proved able at working the process, which the TM folks like in a senator, but his promotion of nine figures in unaccountable border security pork and the unnecessary expansion of wiretapping and law enforcement powers in his border security bills soured his session for me.

Sen. Bob Deuell, Republican, Mesquite He definitely would have made it onto any Grits best list. Deuell added a wise, calm voice on the Criminal Justice Committee and courageously backed a bill to allow needle exchange that resulted in a pilot in San Antonio. I was disappointed to see him promoting Jessica's Law, but that was really the Lt. Governor's baby.

Jerry Madden, Republican, Plano - Would have topped my best list in the House. He came in with an aggressive plan to revamp the adult probation and prison system, had the TYC scandal dumped in his lap in midstream (and was the coolest head in the room throughout the TYC brouhaha), and still accomplished most of his legislative agenda in a low-key, bipartisan way. Also, the way he led his committee IMO was a participatory model, particularly compared to some of the other criminal justice-related panels.

The worst

Lon Burnam, Democrat, Fort Worth - From my perspective Lon had his best session in years, which admittedly is damning with faint praise, but I wish he'd taken the opportunity to kill SB 11 when he had it.

What do you think of Texas Monthly's picks, and who should have been on the schedule of best or worst legislators who didn't make TM's cut? Let me know your opinions in the comments.