JUSTICE FOR ALL
Or perhaps only for a some? It comes as no surprise that Texas Appellate Judge Sharon Keller was simply "slapped on the wrist" for not leaving the courts open after it's normal closing time on September 25, 2007 so Michael Wayne Richards (a Texas Death Row Inmate) could have filed a last minute appeal, one that could have possibly saved his life. A judge presiding over her ethics trial said that "Sharon Killer" as her detractors have named her "should not lose her job or receive any further punishment beyond the public humiliation she faced". But isn't her humiliation of her own doing? Couldn't it have been prevented if getting home to cook dinner was not deemed more important than possibly saving a life? Because Mrs. Keller made a fool of herself is not grounds for leniency. If this is the case, then when a man or woman is being put on trial for a particular crime, what aren't the sentences handed down alot less severe if the destruction of one's image is a factor?
The contradictions within this ordeal are extensive. There is and will be no justice for Michael Wayne Richard solely due to the fact he is a convicted killer. Texas is the kill them all state. If you are no convinced of this, then just ask Governor Rick Perry who received a suggestion from the board of pardons and paroles to convert Michael Lee Thompson’s death sentence to life, who he ordered to be executed anyway. Or how he blatantly fought with the truth that Texas could have possibly executed an innocent man (Cameron Todd Willingham).
Judge Keller’s actions are being taken lightly because she made a "sagacious" decision in the eyes of her peers. To them it's seen as "no harm, no foul. One less death row inmate we have to worry about". The very judges that reside over her fate in this matter are the same ones when the courts are closed she will not receive what she should have for her inattentive deed. Justice no longer resides within these lands. Only who you know is what makes decisions in this state today. Convicted killer or not, what's right is what's right, so just as Michael Wayne Richard was sentenced to die for his wrongdoings, Sharon Keller must be properly punished for hers. Keller still faces five misconduct charges before the state commission on Judicial Conduct for refusing to keep her court open past 5PM, and I am fully convinced by this present ruling that if she does not lose her job, Michael Wayne Richard will not be the last person to experience the wrath of a pitiless judge.
Paul Storey 2010