The criminal justice system humiliates, maims and destroys some people. For a sick grandmother dependent on Social Security, traffic tickets can result in repeat trips to jail. A homeless, transgender woman accused of shoplifting from a department store can spend several days in solitary confinement. A great-grandmother jailed because of a psychiatric crisis can waste away behind bars — “ignored to death,” as her family alleges.
However, these are largely hazards for poor people, not Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, someone with the kind of wealth and power that can bend the system in his favor. Paxton was charged with three felonies shortly after taking office in 2015. But his legal woes have since largely faded into oblivion, thanks to a gaggle of wealthy supporters and North Texas GOP allies who have waged a yearslong legal war to defang the prosecution. A decision by the state’s highest criminal court on Wednesday could be the coup de grâce that finally ends the case.
