On April 24, 1997, the crime victims of Texas, and crime victims throughout the entire United States were recognized and vindicated by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals concerning the Court's reversal and strong condemnation of the infamous ruling by the lower court in the potentially devastating Daniel Johnson v. Rodriguez case. Texans for Equal Justice (TEJ) played a major part in this victory.
Before going into the "why" TEJ, and all the crime victim groups deserve to give themselves a well deserved pat on the back, it is important to examine this travesty and its history. Daniel Johnson, a convicted rapist and escape "attempter", originally filed a complaint in Federal Court in 1985. It eventually was classified as a "Class Action". After four amendments, the trial was held in 1992 to address Johnson's claims of: 1). That for the Parole Board to consider protest letters from crime victims, survivors, concerned citizens, and trial officials without allowing the inmate a chance to examine the letters and form a rebuttal, violated the inmates constitutional rights to Equal Protection. 2). The second claim that survived was that inmates who were classified as "Writ Writers" were being wrongly (?) denied parole by the Parole Board members, therefore effectively denying the litigious inmates Equal Access to the Courts, regardless of how many frivolous lawsuits the inmate had filed or helped less gifted inmates to file. In the fall of 1995, U.S. Magistrate - Judge Capelle, issued several opinions that basically agreed with Johnson's claims, which, if the order had not been appealed in a timely fashion, would have not only allowed inmates the right to examine protest letters, (which T.D.C.J. officials stated would be effectively redacted to insure confidentiality - right), but to further allow the inmates the new rights to have an additional hearing to attack the concerns and allegations presented in the protest letters! The Magistrate went further to state that "protests are often motivated by personal dislike(?) and local political considerations" and that "The Board has based its parole decisions upon protests containing wrong information, that are vindictive, or that are the result of political pressure". RIGHT ON FOR POLITICAL PRESSURE!
As it can easily be seen, Capelle's ruling would have not only given a new set of rights to convicted felons, but more significantly, would have stripped crime victims and concerned citizens in Texas of their opportunity to let the State officials consider the effects that the convicts actions have had or will have on their lives. The phrase that kept coming up was that a "CAPE FEAR" argument needed to be made, as it isn't hard to foresee a vindictive convict being released, as they all eventually seem to be, and being focused on revenge against the person's whose input may have kept the convict in prison for a longer period of time. If allowed to stand, the ruling would have perhaps intimidated people into silence, thus denying the citizens of Texas the right to protest, or to have their rightful part in the parole process.
At the time of the ruling, a suggestion was made at the November 1995 TDCJ-Victim Services Advisory Council meeting that the various crime victims groups file an "Amicus Curiae" brief to let the Appellate Court know how strongly the victims of Texas felt about this. When the request was made to TEJ, they agreed completely that it was necessary to participate prominently, as it was immediately recognized the threat that Capelle's ruling represented towards the crime victims' movement in Texas. TEJ was joined by almost every victims group in not only Texas, but the entire United States in filing the Amicus brief. We were fortunate to be contacted by Robert Teir of the American Alliance for Rights and Responsibilities, who had found several attorneys who were constitutional experts. The brief was submitted in a timely fashion, and the case was heard before a three judge panel last year. Their ruling reversing Capelle's decision came down on April 24th.
It is necessary to state that we could not have enjoyed the success that we did if it were not for the competence and extreme effort of several attorneys in the Attorney General's office who made the actual argument for the State in this case. These brilliant lawyers, all of whom work in the Law Enforcement Defense Division of the A.G.'s office, did a magnificent job in preparing the actual Appellate brief. I take a special pride in their accomplishment, as I used to work with them many years ago and they taught me about litigation, as well as the expectation of aggressive excellence. The lawyers who prepared and argued the brief were Louis Carrillo, Adrian Young, Lee Haney, Daniel Maeso, and the Enforcement Division Chief, Ms. Ann Kraatz. I hope that Attorney General Morales appreciates their efforts as much as the crime victims of Texas do. They really did an outstanding job.
The Fifth Circuit, in a scathing opinion, reversed Capelle and further instructed that the issue of the protest letters be dismissed with prejudice, i.e., that it cannot be relitigated.
One of the greatest outcomes of this victory was that it showed what can happen if the various groups join together in a combined effort, and we can accomplish. The Fifth Circuit took heed of our concerns and ruled in a way that not only addressed the immediate problem, but also sent a signal that crime victims are a force to be recognized and reckoned with! At the TDCJ - Victim Services Advisory Council meeting held on May 9th, Adrian Young, the assistant A.G. who actually argued the case stated, "This ruling has as much effect on ongoing prison litigation as the Ruiz case". Texans for Equal Justice can be very proud of its participation in this great victory for crime victims not only in Texas, but throughout America.
The entire text of the Daniel Johnson v. Rodriguez is available here.