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Editorial: Court's integrity proposal

01:44 PM CDT on Sunday, June 8, 2008

The weaknesses of Texas' much-maligned criminal justice system will be getting an examination from the very court that has endured – and deserved – much of the maligning: the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

The court was right last week to announce its own "integrity unit." Breakdowns in justice have been documented at an embarrassing level in Texas, highlighted by Dallas County's nation-leading parade of 17 DNA exonerations. One appeals court judge, Barbara Hervey, was on hand in the state Capitol last month to hear heart-rending stories from nine former state prisoners who proved their innocence after years behind bars.

Failures in justice were many, resulting from faulty witness identification, shoddy or bogus crime forensics, prosecutorial misconduct and weak legal representation. The list goes on – so much so that Judge Hervey said last week that it's "time to act and move for reform."

Of course it is, and Texans who care about justice should appreciate Judge Hervey's leadership. The experts she has assembled – including Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins – are capable of analyzing problems and suggesting solutions.

Lasting reform, though, requires legislative action, and that's why an effort by Sen. Rodney Ellis should continue to muster political support. Mr. Ellis, a Houston Democrat who organized the Capitol conference, wants to create an innocence commission that could help set criminal justice standards by re-examining wrongful convictions.

The appeals court, meanwhile, regains some credibility in stopping an execution last week to examine an appeal of Texas' lethal injection procedure. The court made a mockery of justice in September when Presiding Judge Sharon Keller issued her infamous "we close at 5" edict, refusing to consider a similar appeal from a Houston killer that came in minutes late. The ensuing execution appeared to flaunt the U.S. Supreme Court's move to halt capital punishment nationwide because of the injection question.

With states now cleared to start up again, Texas' highest criminal court has decided that Huntsville's death chamber should not cut short due process before resuming its lethal work. Nothing less should be expected from a court that sets the tone for the nation's leading capital punishment state.