Extortion: Blogged

Scott Henson put this on his weblog Grits for Breakfast. Henson is a former journalist turned opposition researcher/political consultant, according to his profile. His blog is based around the courts and criminal justice system here in Texas. The piece that Henson is bloging about is on the Dallas County’s position in vehicle towing. Basically, Henson found the article that was reported by Kevin Krause surrounding allegations of a former Dallas Precinct Constable, Jaime Cortes, who has since left office last summer.

It's corruption in the police department, as Henson reiterates the tale of how Cortes allegedly abused his position of authority by racially profiling Hispanics in the Dallas area and stole their vehicles by using his towing contractor to impound them. The blog goes on to say how owners of the vehicles that were impounded and robbed, were never contacted with the whereabouts of the vehicles and by the time some had found out, the towing fees were too high for them to claim them. Unfortunately, neither the blog or the article by Krause, fail to give a detailed account of how Cortes actually pulled this scam off. What was the basis of getting the vehicles towed in the first place?

Henson rehashes the story somewhat verbatim from the original article by Kevin Krause, of which I posted above. Reading Henson's work, the story goes and can be summed up with a class-action lawsuit being threatened against the Dallas County on behalf of the vehicle owners by Accion America, a small Dallas based group formed to protest restrictive laws. The ordeal has since become a battle over towing contracts with Dallas Constables. The Dallas County officials have since agreed not to auction vehicles impounded by Cortes. The article states that the new Precinct 5 Constable, Beth Villarreal, who defeated Cortes last year and is now responsible for the vehicles, has halted auctions until she has seen and reviewed paperwork on all of more then 5,000 vehicles impounded under Cortes.

That is about the jest of it in terms of summarizing. I find it very disturbing that Cortes was able to impound over 5,000 vehicles illegally. That number is staggering. Henson's blog here is obviously dependent on the information posted in Kraus's article, which leaves me actually asking many questions, like how much money is Cortes estimated to have earned from those 5,000 vehicles impounded?

The intended audience for the information presented should be anyone and everyone. This is just astounding and sad, how ordinary citizens can be targeted and robbed of their own property, in scams orchestrated by those abusing positions of power. It's the corrupted preying on the weak. This crime has another name besides the obvious fraud committed; it's Grand Theft Auto in my book. Cortes my not have been out there at night breaking car windows and hot wiring them but his subtle tactics were the same means to the end in my opinion.

I like this blog that Henson has made and I think anyone can take something away from it. It's a good read on the topic of justice and victimization here in Texas. These are things everyone should and would be concerned about, I would think. The allegations are very serious and criminal and I would be shocked if charges weren't brought to the accused. The situation is definitely a little more then frustrating and probably feels more like a bad dream. For the people whose cars were impounded, it's not like they would be able to claim insurance on the vehicles for being stolen. I like when Henson says how disgraceful this situation is for a law enforcement agency. He does an excellent job commending the reporter Krause and hails him as a hero for breaking the story.

In reading and reviewing the blog, I feel it does well in dispersing the information. I found the commentary and quotes were handled well. It is written well and what I would call an easy read with no real complaints. I find myself agreeing with Henson's points and I like how he makes the positive stand for the people with sound logic. He posts a grand tale of good vs. evil, of which theses citizens are being treated not unlike those in a third world country and certainly not like citizens of the United States of America or this great state of Texas.

Henson's credibility is solid enough based on the information from his profile, as well as the blog site being regularly updated and having information with valid sources on it. His point that this type of behavior needs to be screened to make sure this isn't happening else where is simply a no brainer. He says Dallas Constable investigations of illegal towing should be replicated elsewhere in state. I would be mortified to find more corruption in our system along these lines and others. I personally feel that the weight of crimes committed by those in positions of authority and power should be much heavier and stricter then those of a common citizen, to discourage such behavior. My grade for his blog is an A.