Houston Area Liberty Campaign

[From History.com calendar
See Miranda v. Arizona for "Miranda Rights" case preview or full text]

Clarence Gideon is arrested

Clarence Gideon is arrested and charged with breaking into a poolroom in Florida. The appeal of Gideon’s subsequent conviction leads to the establishment of one of the chief principles of American criminal justice. Due to Clarence Gideon’s perseverance, every criminal suspect is entitled to representation by a lawyer.

Gideon, claiming innocence, demanded a lawyer for his trial in 1961. But Florida did not provide lawyers to defendants who could not afford to pay them. He was forced to represent himself, and was convicted after a very short trial. In prison, Gideon wrote out his appeal with a pencil on pad of paper. He claimed that he was constitutionally entitled to a lawyer.

When the appeals court decided to hear Gideon’s claim, Abe Fortas, one of the country’s leading attorneys and later a Supreme Court justice himself, argued the case, which went all the way to the nation’s highest court. In Gideon v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court ruled that a fair trial “cannot be realized if the poor man charged with [the] crime has to face his accusers without a lawyer to assist him.” [Case preview here.]

Gideon not only got his own conviction overturned, but he also established a principle that is at the heart of the criminal justice system today. Now part of what are known as our Miranda rights, -”You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you can’t afford one, one will be provided for you”-this information must be announced by every officer when making an arrest.

When Florida decided to retry Gideon for the poolroom burglary in 1963, he had an experienced lawyer at his trial. The attorney easily poked holes in the prosecution’s flimsy case and Gideon was acquitted. New York Times writer Anthony Lewis wrote the stirring account of how one poor man changed the entire system in his 1964 book, Gideon’s Trumpet, which later became a movie starring Henry Fonda.

In the midst of economic depression, the for-profit trade-school industry is booming. Enrollment has grown 20% annually over the past two years, and some experts predict that revenue may increase as much as eightfold over the next decade. Entrepreneurs and economists alike would usually commend such a herculean performance and credit the basic laws of supply and demand at work; however, this growth has not been earned by free-market means such as innovation, efficiency, and accurate forecasting.

Instead, the giants of for-profit education have grown fat on a steady diet of government credit by cleverly maneuvering their way through a vast field of regulatory landmines to take advantage of federal-aid programs aimed at helping those they ultimately hurt — students. As expected, many have ignorantly aimed their weaponry at the profit motive, instead of unleashing their fury on the root cause: government interference in the market.

For-profit trade schools have long been marred by controversy stemming from questionable business practices and accusations of sub-par education. For example, only 16% of University of Phoenix students without prior college experience graduate within six years, compared to nearly 50% at traditional schools; moreover, Corinthian Colleges Inc., which owns Everest College, agreed to pay $6.5 million in 2007 to settle a lawsuit that claimed they engaged in false advertising by overstating starting-salary information. Unimpressive outcomes and multimillion dollar lawsuits have become synonymous with the for-profit trade school industry. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the most important reasons for becoming a precinct chair is to serve as an election judge. If a party has a vacancy for the precinct chair and election judge in a precinct, that election judge is appointed. This has resulted in liberal precincts holding elections with NO CONSERVATIVE JUDGES OR CLERKS AT ALL! And when there is no opposing-party judge to challenge any attempts at voter fraud, the potential for fraud is greatly increased. Election integrity depends upon this balance of judges from opposing parties.

Please attend one of the following  Houston Patriotic Resistance’s (along with several other groups) presentations on becoming a precinct chair and achieving better election integrity:

What: Be a direct influence on your party and become a Precinct Chair (Harris County residents).  (Each of these training sessions is self-contained.  You would only attend ONE of them, as they are not a “series” of training sessions.)

When: Monday, October 26, 2009, 7:00 PM
Where: I-Hop, 2515 Southwest Fwy., Houston, TX 77098, (713) 520-9908.
Learn more & RSVP here: http://www.meetup.com/houston-The-Patriotic-Resistance/calendar/11684165/

When: Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 6:15 PM
Where: Aldine Library, 11331 Airline Dr., Houston, TX
Learn more & RSVP here: http://www.meetup.com/houston-The-Patriotic-Resistance/calendar/11684180/

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From The Texas Insider: http://www.texasinsider.org/?p=15578

Carter, Conaway: If approved by Senate, federal takeover of student loan industry allowed

(WASHINGTON, DC) – College students will no longer have a choice on where to obtain their student loans if a bill passed today by the House of Representatives becomes law.  Democrats voted overwhelming to approve the bill. The legislation elminates the private lender option by June of next year.The House today voted down party lines to approve H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 sponsored by Rep. George Miller (D-CA), which strips students of the ability to choose private lenders under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) over the Federal Direct Lending Program (FDLP).

“The public-private student loan program that has been in place since 1965 has provided funding for over 60 million Americans to attend college,” says Congressman John Carter (R-TX).  “To answer success like that by voting to destroy the system makes no sense for students or higher education.”

The Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) last year alone provided college loans for 6.4 million students at 5,000 schools, and has been the overwhelming student loan program of choice for colleges and students, especially among Texas schools and students.

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