Daily Archives: January 12, 2007

Rabinowitz on the mob in the Duke lacrosse team case

Posted on by
Reply

mob.jpgI’ve written frequently about how a mob mentality took hold in a case familiar to Houstonians and led to a grave injustice for a large number of businesspersons, particularly two men and their families (examples here, here and here). The Wall Street Journal’s Dorothy Rabinowitz examines in this OpinionJournal op-ed how a similar dynamic resulted in the demonization of several young men in what will now forever be known as the Duke lacrosse team case. Rabinowitz analogizes the Duke students’ case to that of the phony child-abuse cases that she has previously exposed, but the dynamic is the same in many high-profile cases in which certain elements of the government, media and the public jump to a conclusion about guilt when a reasoned, objective and deliberate examination of the facts of the case would result in a far different and more nuanced conclusion. Larry Ribstein and the WSJ’s ($) Holman Jenkins have masterfully presented how the same dynamic has led to the unnecessary destruction of careers and lives in connection with the media-inspired scandal regarding the widespread policy of backdating options as a means of compensating corporate personnel (Larry analyzes today’s news of the newly-reported criminal investigation of Apple here). In the Duke lacrosse team case, it is particularly ironic that many in the media and on Duke’s faculty were enablers of abusive, dishonest law enforcement and prosecution tactics that are far more often used in cases against minorities that those enablers would decry. They now share responsibility for the continued use of such tactics long after the spotlight on the Duke lacrosse team case has moved on to the next fixation of the mob.

The myth of healthy marathoners

Posted on by
1

chevronmarathon.jpgThe Chevron Houston Marathon takes place Sunday morning, and this Dale Robertson/Chronicle article tells the story of Dolph Tillotson, the Galveston Daily News publisher who almost died of a heart attack while training at Memorial Park in preparation for the 2004 marathon. Tillotson has now recovered to the extent that he is going to try and complete the marathon on Sunday, which is certainly a remarkable comeback.
But is Tillotson’s long-distance running making him healthier? Art DeVany argues that it does not and, in this recent post, notes a study from the Annals of New York Academy of Sciences that indicates that long-distance running is more dangerous to one’s health than conventional wisdom suggests:

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1977;301:593-619.
Related Articles, Links
Coronary heart disease in marathon runners.
Noakes T, Opie L, Beck W, McKechnie J, Benchimol A, Desser K.
Six highly trained marathon runners developed myocardial infarction. One of the two cases of clinically diagnosed myocardial infarction was fatal, and there were four cases of angiographically-proven infarction. Two athletes had significant arterial disease of two major coronary arteries, a third had stenosis of the anterior descending and the fourth of the right coronary artery. All these athletes had warning symptoms. Three of them completed marathon races despite symptoms, one athlete running more than 20 miles after the onset of exertional discomfort to complete the 56 mile Comrades Marathon. In spite of developing chest pain, another athlete who died had continued training for three weeks, including a 40 mile run. Two other athletes also continued to train with chest pain. We conclude that the marathon runners studied were not immune to coronary heart disease, nor to coronary atherosclerosis and that high levels of physical fitness did not guarantee the absence of significant cardiovascular disease. In addition, the relationship of exercise and myocardial infarction was complex because two athletes developed myocardial infarction during marathon running in the absence of complete coronary artery occlusion. We stress that marathon runners, like other sportsmen, should be warned of the serious significance of the development of exertional symptoms. Our conclusions do not reflect on the possible value of exercise in the prevention of coronary heart disease. Rather we refute exaggerated claims that marathon running provides complete immunity from coronary heart disease.

DeVany — who has been studying physiology and exercise protocols for years — has accumulated a series of posts regarding the unhealthy nature and outright dangers of endurance training. The reality is that many endurance runners are not particularly healthy people, suffering from lack of muscle mass, overuse injuries, dangerous inflammation and dubious nutrition.
Tillotson obviously has great desire and discipline to be able to return to marathon running after almost dying of a heart attack. But his judgment in doing so is open to serious question.

Rocket docket

Posted on by
Reply

gavel.JPGAwhile back, this post noted a Harris County criminal district judge who contributes to the chronically over-crowded Harris County jail by requiring jail time for any defendant convicted of a drug offense, no matter how inconsequential.
Now, another Harris County criminal judge is being called on carpet for his rather odd manner of administering justice. This Chronicle article reports that Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 3 Judge Donald Jackson ordered more than a dozen criminal defendants who were late to court earlier this week to enter a guilty plea or spend the night in jail:

Jackson, who presides over County Criminal Court No. 3, ordered 16 people accused of misdemeanor crimes to sit in the jury box, told them that they were in custody and that their bonds were being revoked and raised, according to several Houston attorneys.
Jackson also told the defendants they would have to stay in jail overnight unless they agreed to plea bargain รณ essentially to enter guilty pleas, the attorneys said. [. . .]
Houston attorney Kyle Vance, whose client was about 20 minutes late to court, said the man was “trying to get out of jail” Wednesday afternoon.
Vance said his client is facing a first-time charge of driving while intoxicated and had posted a $500 bond. Jackson raised his client’s bail to $2,500, Vance said.
“I was out of the courtroom for just a minute, and I asked the clerk, ‘Is their bond being revoked?’ And she said, ‘Both. It has been revoked and raised, unless you plea bargain.’ ”
Right after that, Vance said, another defendant entered a plea bargain. “And the judge said the revocation has been withdrawn since he pled.”

To make matters worse, the Harris County Criminal Justice building is a tough slog most mornings, with long lines at the x-ray machines slowing down traffic. The ACLU and the Harris County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association are looking into Judge Jackson’s behavior. Sounds as if it’s about time that the State Board of Judicial Conduct and Harris County voters did, too.