Lt. Col. Allen West, who is currently challenging Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in the state’s GOP gubernatorial primary, has called for the impeachment of Harris County, Texas judges who have been soft on criminals in the wake of spiking homicide rates, The Texan reported.
Harris County has seen a 91% spike in 9-1-1 calls since last year.
Judges in the county have practiced the release of violent criminal suspects on multiple bonds, filling the streets with criminals.
West named several judges in particular—including Chris Morton of the 230th District Court, DaSean Jones of the 180th District Court, Josh Hill of the 232nd District Court and Natalia Cornelio of the 351st District Court.
According to West, these judges have effectively undermined the rule of law.
“The realization that we have state district judges who are releasing violent criminals on the streets of Texas is unconscionable, these judges are no longer upholding the rule of law but are only advancing a dangerous progressive-socialist agenda,” West wrote.
“These judges must be held accountable and removed from their positions,” he added.
Complicating matters is the 37-day absconding of Democrats from the Texas Congress.
The radicals fled in order to block the state Congress from gathering for a special session to shore up voting systems in the state.
Chuck DeVore, vice president of national initiatives at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, has also called for the impeachment of several judges for violating the Texas Constitution because they attempted to block the arrests of the leftist lawmakers.
“The order is extraordinary for its breathtaking incomprehension of basic constitutional concepts,” DeVore said.
They have disregarded “‘political questions,’ ‘separation of power,’ and ‘co-equal branches of government’ as well as respect for longstanding practices,” he added.
According to DeVore, Morton and Urrutia—the offending judges—“clearly exceeded their authority by intruding into an internal matter of a separate branch of government.”
