Lipscomb expects to get back in the game

The Dallas Morning News ^ | July 14, 2002 | By JEFFREY WEISS / The Dallas Morning News

[Tickle Me Pank]

LOL, mike! Nope, no Sonny days lately! :) Good to see you.

A panel of three (3) 5th Circuit Judges reversed, vacated, and remanded the case. All agreed that the lower court erred in changing the venue, but 2 of the 3 disagreed on whether or not the statute that Lipscomb was charged under 18 U.S.C. § 666, interestingly enough) even applied to the situation. The 3rd judge chose not to address that issue since the change of venue mooted the issue.

Prosecution's choice now is to appeal to the same panel, or take it directly to the full 5th Circuit. Your mention of the IRS was a red herring, that's not what he was charged with.

My guess is that it's very doubtful that Lipscomb would be convicted in Dallas, so I'm surmising that the DOJ will decline to retry if their appeals fail.

Mike, some of your comments re: this case could leave one to believe that you think Dallas would be better off with the previous at-large council positions, with the white folks allowing 1 black & 1 brown seat each. Is this indeed your belief?

[DallasMike]

Your mention of the IRS was a red herring, that's not what he was charged with.

True, that's not what he was charged with. However, he did manage to forget to report the bribes and the IRS could have charged him with that if they had chosen to do so. You know the tax forms better than I do, but I don't think there's a line for "bribes received" on the 1040. Maybe on the 1040EZ, for EZ-Money.

Mike, some of your comments re: this case could leave one to believe that you think Dallas would be better off with the previous at-large council positions, with the white folks allowing 1 black & 1 brown seat each. Is this indeed your belief?

Good old-fashioned honest elections would be my first choice. Lipscomb stands for corruption, not for any particular color. If I remember correctly, the guy who bribed him (in the case at hand) is whiter than I am.

Good point about 666!

[07055]

Mike, some of your comments re: this case could leave one to believe that you think Dallas would be better off with the previous at-large council positions, with the white folks allowing 1 black & 1 brown seat each. Is this indeed your belief?

I see your point. It would be virtually impossible for a black man to ever get elected mayor of Dallas on an at large basis during our lifetime.

[Tickle Me Pank]

We were speaking specifically of City Council positions, of course.

Ron Kirk's 2 Dallas mayoral election wins would appear to belie your comment.

07055 sayeth profoundly:

I see your point. It would be virtually impossible for a black man to ever get elected mayor of Dallas on an at large basis during our lifetime.

[07055]

I am not a huge fan of "at large" council districts either. I think that fairly drawn single member districts allow all races to have representation. In Memphis, I wonder if any whites could get elected to the city council without single member districts.