Rosales & Respect for Workers

There are definitely no supply-chain issues when it comes to the number of excuses that fly out of the District Attorney's Office when they have their almost weekly bad news stories lately. 

There are so many excuses it would make a classroom of irresponsible third graders blush about why they didn't do their home work. 

My dog ate my indictment. I couldn't bring the case to trial because La Llorona stole my case files. I couldn't come to court because I caught piojos and the judge said I couldn't be next to the other lawyers until my hair was clean.

The latest negative press Rosales has had to deal with is the number of cases that have had to be dismissed because he office hasn't moved on them. Rosales has a slew of excuses as to why these cases are just sitting there and not being charged but most of the excuses are - to use legal parlance - absolute bullshit. 

And by a slew I mean hundreds of cases. 

Its not a funding issue. 

Personnel is the reason - but that is a problem Rosales is 100% responsible for. She went in with the idea of "cleaning house" and the result is that really important middle and upper-management from critical departments were no longer part of the DA's office. 

Whether they were forced out, chose to leave, or tried to stick it out and then left - it doesn't matter. Rosales can't keep staff for whatever reason. And the practical impact for El Pasoans is years and years of institutional knowledge was lost. 

And the result is bad no matter how you slice it. 

If you're a back-the-blue kind of person, the reality is that while officers are out doing their jobs, making arrests and presenting cases - they aren't going anywhere. So alleged criminals are escaping justice. 

But if you're a civil liberties kind of person, the reality is that poor people from El Paso - who are predominantly Latino - are sitting in jail for ridiculously long amounts of time awaiting their proverbial day in court. The economic impact on families malingering in jail is huge. The hole people have to dig themselves out of because of a prolonged jail stay is devastating to families. 

Creating more poverty and desperation. Circumstances that lead to a vicious cycle. 

But also - its just simply unjust to have people stay in jail for long periods of time unnecessarily. Think about the holistic impact on families Rosales has created. 

And incredibly - she intends on refiling charges on a lot of these people? 

So El Paso tax payers have to pay twice because she couldn't get it right the first time? 

Are these people going to be re-arrested and have to go through this entire process again? She's going to hit their families with ANOTHER economic impact because she can't get her shit together? 

El Paso tax payers are going to have to pay to feed and house them again? 

Oh - and let me pull over for those of you that are upset that I'm focusing on the poor here. Well there's an obvious reason. We have two judicial systems in this country. One for the people that can pay to get out of jail and pay for their own attorney - and one for those that can't. 

Most of these people are being jailed for small-time misdemeanors and the fact that so many people spent a ridiculous amount of time sitting around in jail - at your expense - for no reason other than her office can't get their shit together is a budgetary and systemic injustice. 

And we are talking about people who have not yet been convicted of anything being unnecessarily detained for extended periods of time because the DA's office is being poorly managed. 

That is not what justice looks like. 

Will Work for Donuts

File this particular part under What-in-the-Marie-Antionette-Let-Them-Eat-Cake kind of bullshit is going on here?

According to this article in El Paso Matters the DA's office came up with a solution to the problem of case backlog.

Apparently that solution is donuts. 

An email was sent out to attorneys in the DA's office asking lawyers to work a couple of extra hours on Saturday for a "screening party". The incentive the DA's office is offering to lawyers to come in and work for free on their day off?

Donuts. 

No, I'm serious. That is what they are offering.

Maybe its the union man in me, but the not-so-subtle reference to the DA being in the office and how appreciative she would be for people coming in reminds me of the double-speak you hear from mafia members. 

Its like a mafioso telling a small businessman, this is a nice place you have here - sure would be a shame if something happened to it. 

This can be taken a subtle reminder that the boss will know who doesn't come in to work on their day off. Literally asking people who went to fucking law school to work for food. 

She should just pay her workers to come in on their day off. 

Instead, she's offering donuts. Not even a full breakfast - just donuts. 

And lets me honest. I know what you're thinking...She's probably gonna figure out how to have her office logo and name printed on the donuts. 

She apparently hasn't figured out that pan dulce would give her more surface area for her logo. 

But the greater point is why she wants to treat her staff like the homeless carrying a sign by the freeway?

You wanna fix your backlog? Pay your staff extra to come in and work on it. Don't offer cheap food expecting workers to come in just so they can turn around a prosecute poor people who couldn't afford to bail themselves out the first time. 

Be a decent human being. Or better yet, focus on prosecuting the Walmart Shooting!