Keystone Cops and Judges

Judge orders early prison release for hacksaw taco guard By Craig Kapitan A judge Friday reduced the prison term for a former Bexar County jailer previously ordered to serve two years for smuggling tacos garnished with hacksaw blades to a violent inmate planning an elaborate escape. Alfred Casas, 33, was taken into custody in July 2011, immediately after jurors reached the sentence of second-degree felony bribery. But he soon was released on house arrest while he appealed. Casas has since dropped the appeal, spending 79 days in county jail and 100 days in prison. He will be released in the next few days but will serve four years' probation. South San schools' cops being probed By Francisco Vara-Orta South San Independent School District officials are investigating a third of the officers in its Police Department about allegations that include sexual harassment of an employee, theft of district fuel and falsifying police reports. Ninth Circuit judges defend Hawaii conference paid for by taxpayers Judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals are defending their plans for a million dollar conference in Hawaii in August in the face of questions posed by two Republican senators.... Sen. Sessions is not convinced by the court’s statement. In an email sent to reporters, Sessions’ spokesman Steven Miller wrote, “This fact [that taxpayers are only paying for travel and lodging] … of course misses the entire point: why are taxpayers in the middle of a fiscal crisis subsidizing a million-dollar conference at a beach resort so that attendees can indulge in tropical recreation?” Northside investigating alleged police coverup By Francisco Vara-Orta A high-ranking officer in the Northside Independent School District was recently placed on administrative leave amid allegations he covered up the accidental discharge of another officer's weapon. It's the department's third investigation in the past two years questioning the use of its weapons.