Issue Position: Platform

Issue Position

As a Board Certified criminal defense lawyer, I have seen firsthand the injustices of government power and abuse. As a result of my experiences fighting the state and federal government, I bring a healthy skepticism to those in positions of authority. I am disgusted with politicians who use hate and fear to collect and keep power.

"I believe the government should protect individual freedom and be a platform for justice."

I am opposed to the government's invasion into our private affairs and will fight to keep the government in its place. I have seen the voracious appetite of the prison industrial complex and am dedicated to reducing over criminalization and mass incarceration.

I am opposed to Citizens United v. FEC and oppose its application in Texas.

Discrimination against any of our people due to race, religion, sex, age or sexual orientation must be prohibited.

Women deserve to have complete control and decision making power over medical care that effects their bodies. This includes the unfettered right to terminate pregnancy. This can be one of the most difficult decisions a woman and her family can make, but it is a personal choice and the government has absolute no business being involve in the decision, none.

Our priorities in Texas are straight forward. The government should be limited to providing those essential services that cannot be left to the whim of the private markets.

The State should prioritize a high quality public education to all, no matter the economic circumstances of the neighborhood in which the schools are located. Public school books must be historically accurate and scientifically sound.

Our public infrastructure, such as roads, bridges and mass-transportation, should be updated and maintained.

Our law enforcement agencies must be supported, monitored and trained in community policing. They must recommit to the proposition that their duty is to protect and serve. The trend towards preemptive use of deadly force and militarization of the police in our communities must be reversed. Law enforcement officers should be held accountable for their actions and in cases of criminal conduct must be stripped of their peace officers certification and prosecuted.

Corporate welfare and subsidies to big business must stop, unless companies make written, long term commitments to residents of this state to provide good working conditions and high paying jobs.

Complete access to the courts by both civil litigants and criminal defendants must be guaranteed. The courts are often our last recourse to correct a personal wrong or prevent wrongful conviction. Laws that prevent access to the courts by individuals that have been legitimately injured are designed to protect corporate profits at the expense of the welfare of the individual. They do not serve the public interest and arguments to the contrary are not intellectually honest.

Reports of wrongful convictions and incarceration are becoming more and more commonplace. The criminal justice system needs to be reformed from top to bottom. Laws that reduce the burden on the state and make it easier to obtain convictions must be repealed. All defendants without prior criminal records should be presumed to be entitle to a personal recognizance bond, with no money as security. The selection of members of the grand juries should be random, statewide. Prosecutors that intentionally commit misconduct to obtain a conviction should be disbarred and, in cases that result in incarceration, should be prosecuted and incarcerated themselves.

All barriers to voting by citizens must be removed. We must make it easier for eligible voters to vote, not more difficult. The gerrymandered system that is currently in place indirectly suppresses voter participation and turnout. Voting districts should be drawn considering demographics of the districts, not political party.

The State of Texas must fully participate in federal programs that bring our tax money back to the state. While some may use political jargon to argue it is principled to reject federal funds, it is financially foolish to reject funds to which we are entitled.

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