Criminalization of politics now targets Jane Nelson

"For they do not speak peace,
But they devise deceitful matters
Against the quiet ones in the land."
Psalm 35:20

Oh good grief:

Last year crony investors connected with the Texas horse-racing industry sought to undermine Texas’ constitution in an effort to line their own pockets. Now, this same group is working to criminalize the leadership of State Sen. Jane Nelson (R–Flower Mound) and her efforts to rein-in their illegal usurpation of power.

On Monday, Jan Haynes, President of the Texas Horsemen Association, filed a felony criminal complaint with the Texas Rangers against Nelson. He is asking the state to lock Nelson in a cage for the rest of her life for daring to do her job and stop the Texas Racing Commission’s abuse of power. The attacks are in response to efforts by Nelson to use the legislature’s power of the purse to rein-in illegal and unconstitutional activity by the rogue executive agency.

Last year the Racing Commission, in the face of a letter from the Senate Republican Caucus ordering them not to usurp legislative power, passed rules permitting Texas horse racing tracks to install slot machine-like devices called “historical racing terminals.” The rules were passed without any legislative authority and against constitutional restrictions. All segments of the horse gambling industry were expected to make millions from the new rules.

....

Instead of coming to heel under the legislature’s power, the horse-racing industry is using the new favorite weapon of the establishment class: phony criminal investigations where the process is the punishment. Like Tom Delay, Rick Perry, Wallace Hall, and, most recently Ken Paxton before her, Sen. Nelson will now be required to hire criminal defense attorneys to defend her innocent and entirely laudable behavior.

The gamblers want to use the threat of the criminal justice system to intimidate Nelson into releasing their funding. Unfortunately for them, a knot has already been tied in their gun barrel: the statute they are attempting to use against Nelson was declared unconstitutional this summer by the Austin-based Court of Appeals.

Read the whole thing here.