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Saturday, October 25, 1997

Judge defends Drew Nixon's weekend jail duty

AUSTIN (AP) - A Travis County judge says there was nothing unusual about his decision to give fellow Republican Sen. Drew Nixon a weekends-only jail sentence.

Nixon, of Carthage, is serving a 180-day sentence for prostitution and illegally carrying a weapon. He was arrested in February in an Austin Police Department sting on men soliciting prostitutes for sex.

After a six-person jury recommended Nixon serve 180-days, Court-at-Law Judge David Puryear decided last week that the senator could serve weekends only. That allows Nixon to be available to constituents in East Texas and to continue his private accounting practice during the week.

If Nixon does everything possible to get time credits, he could serve as few as 15 weekends.

Nixon checks into a Travis County jail on Fridays by 6 p.m. and leaves Mondays after 6 a.m.

The Texas Democratic Party and labor union activists have complained about Nixon's weekend sentencing since it began last week. They have called it preferential treatment for a Republican lawmaker by a Republican judge.

Puryear, told the Austin American-Statesman that is not true.

"It's just unfortunate because the community comes away with a distorted view of the criminal justice system caused by misinformation as opposed to the facts," Puryear said. "It's unfortunate when something as fundamental as the criminal justice system is subject to political arrows."

The judge told the newspaper that he decided to allow Nixon to serve weekends only partly because of testimony from Travis County Sheriff Margo Frasier.

Puryear said Ms. Frasier made clear that while most weekend inmates are serving sentences of 30 days or less, weekend jail time is not prohibited for inmates with longer sentences.

"That established the fact, without question, that it is the policy of the Travis County sheriff to grant weekend time regardless" of the length of sentence, Puryear said.

Ms. Frasier she believes the judge is trying to pass the buck.

She also said Puryear read too much into her words. She said she doesn't have a rule against weekend jail sentences for inmates with longer sentences, but added that those sentenced to serve several weekends often do not complete their sentences successfully. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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