Judge Marc Carter Wins William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence

Tremendous congratulations to 228th District Court Judge Marc Carter, whose longstanding dedication and hard work with veterans charged with crime has earned him the prestigious William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence.  The award is given to only one judge a year, and is presented by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, during a dinner ceremony at the Supreme Court in November.

Judge Carter was selected by the National Center for State Courts who awards it to a judge "who demonstrates the outstanding qualities of judicial excellence, including integrity, fairness, open-mindedness, knowledge of the law, professional ethics, creativity, sound judgment, intellectual courage, and decisiveness."

They made a great choice, because Judge Carter is the embodiment of that description.

Judge Carter, who as most of you know, is an Army veteran himself, has been helping lead Harris County's Veterans' Court for years now.  His temperament and background has made him the perfect leader for the program.  He follows the law, but he is truly guided by compassion and a sincere desire to help.  Veterans struggling with mental health or addiction issues are given second (and sometimes more) chances to readapt to society.

Judge Carter's compassion doesn't extend solely to veterans, however.  He has shown time and time again a willingness to save those people who appear before him who have a chance to be saved.  He has the unenviable task of balancing between protecting society and not throwing away people who can still be productive members of that society.  He does so with kindness, compassion, and intelligence on a daily basis.  

With his standard humility, Judge Carter has passed all of the credit for this prestigious award to the staff of both the 228th District Court (and coordinator extraordinaire Vanessa Guerrero) as well as Mary Covington and the staff of Veterans' Court.

The attorneys who practice in the 228th could not be happier nor prouder of Judge Carter.  It is hard to imagine a more deserving recipient.

Veterans' Court on 60 Minutes

Congratulations to Judge Marc Carter and the Veterans' Court who were profiled last Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes.  I completely meant to post about it in advance, but got distracted by activities with my kiddo.

Luckily, you can still catch it online by clicking here.

Judge Carter and Pat McCann and all of those involved in the Veterans' Court continue to make Harris County proud.

. . . And Now You Don't

The turnout for the Veterans Court graduation today was outstanding, as a packed courtroom filled the 228th.  Here are a couple of photos from the big event.

Judge Carter hosted the ceremony.

Deputy Walker keeps his pants up like the Good Lord intended . . . 

Connie Williams gave a very moving speech.

Craig Still and I spend our last moments with Greg Allman.

Halfway through Pat McCann honoring his deal.

Brothers in baldness.

Like I said in my last post . . .

With all the fun of Pat McCann honoring his bet, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that today's ceremony was a very important and moving moment in the CJC.  A big congratulations goes out to Judge Carter, Pat, Shannon Davis, Staci Biggar, and (most importantly) the graduates of Veterans Court for a great day today.

Now You See It . . .

There will be a ceremony in the 228th District Court today at 2:00 p.m. as Judge Marc Carter and the dedicated attorneys who have donated their time to the Veterans' Court celebrate the successful completion of pre-trial diversions by fifteen members of its starting class.  As part of the Veteran's Court, defense attorney Pat "Sumo Jesus" McCann challenged the Veterans by swearing he would allow his head to be shaved should they successfully complete their pre-trial diversions.

And they did.

So, a big congratulations to the Veterans who helped make this project a big success, as well as to Judge Carter, Pat, Shannon Davis of the D.A.'s Office and all the other attorneys who have made this project possible.

And on a sad note, we bid a fond farewell to the flowing locks of hair that belong to Mr. McCann for only a few hours more.  As a veteran of hair loss, I will be there to support you in the days to come, my friend.

I, for one, will remember you like this:

Even though, when this is all over, I'm pretty sure you will more closely resemble this.

The Veterans' Court

Due to the hard work of some very dedicated Defense Attorneys and Public Servants in the Texas Legislature and the CJC, this past week Harris County proudly held the first docket of its newly established Veterans' Court.

The Veterans' Court was the product of bipartisan work from the State Legislature, most notably Senator Rodney Ellis and Representative Alan Vaught. Representative Vaught is the Vice Chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and my understanding is that his staffer, Jo Cuevas, was instrumental in keeping the bill from dying along the way. Also along the way, the project was assisted by Defense Attorneys Pat McCann and Jack and Terri Zimmerman. According to Pat, the Harris County District Attorney's Office was also instrumental in helping to redraft the bill into a workable form.

To use Pat's quote, the effort to get the creation of the Veterans' Court, literally "took a village."
Also instrumental in the administration of the Veterans' Court are Mary Covington (who also is the heart and soul of the Success Through Addication Recovery (STAR Court) Program), and, of course, Judge Marc Carter. Attorney Staci Biggar (who already spends a significant amount of time already working in the Mental Health Courts) is also dedicating time to assist in the project.

What the Veterans' Court provides is alternative options for the men and women who are active or honorably discharged members of the United States Military (including the Reserves and National Guard) with a "service connected disability" that is linked to their criminal problems. The offense that the veteran is charged with can't be a 3G Offense (that's an aggravated offense for you guys not familiar with the lingo).

NOTE: My understanding is that the correllation to the "service connected disability" to the related criminal behavior could be, for example, a veteran suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that exhibits itself through alcohol abuse picking up a DWI charge.

Eligible candidates will be screened by Mary Covington for admission into the court and the hope is for these men and women who have served their country will ultimately receive pre-trial diversions that will allow them to ultimately have their case expunged from their record (if successfully completed). The District Attorney's Office will also be instrumental in the administration of the program and have been very active in the effort thus far.

It's a great cause that took a tremendous effort, and everyone involved deserves our thanks and a congratulations.

Editor's Note: Any information written here from the HCCLA List Serve is used with permission from Pat McCann.