The Oldest Republican Pander in the Book: “Do It for Our Children and Grandchildren”

NEIL H. BUCHANAN

UF Levin College of Law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan reacts to a comment by Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick that older people should be “willing to take a chance on [their] survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for [their] children and grandchildren.” Buchanan points out that Patrick’s suggestion has been rightly mocked but that it is not usual for Republicans to claim, hypocritically, that older people should make sacrifices for younger generations.

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Metcalf v. Texas

Docket: PD-1246-18

Opinion Date: April 1, 2020

Judge: Barbara Hervey

Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

Appellant, Lydia Metcalf, was convicted as a party of second-degree felony sexualassault based on her husband's anal rape of their then 16-year-old daughter. Metcalf was sentenced to three years in prison, but no fine. On appeal, she argued the evidence presented at trial was legally insufficient to convict because it did not show she had intent to promote or assist her husband's sexual assault. The court of appeals agreed, and rendered an acquittal. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted the State's petition for review, but the acquittal was affirmed. "Under the hypothetically correct jury charge, the State had to prove that Metcalf, at the time of the offense, intended to promote or assist the commission of the anal penetration alleged in the indictment. But because the evidence does not show that it was Metcalf’s conscious objective or desire for Allen to sexually assault Amber, the evidence is insufficient to show that she intended to promote or assist commission of that offense."

Tracy v. Texas

Docket: AP-77,076

Opinion Date: April 1, 2020

Judge: Sharon Keller

Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

In 2015, while incarcerated in a penal institution, Appellant Billy Joel Tracy killed a correctional officer, for which he was convicted by jury of capital murder and sentenced to death. On automatic appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, appellant raised fourteen points of error. Finding none of merit, the Court affirmed conviction and appellant's death sentence.