The Law On The Border - The Larger Problem

A State District Court from the Valley killed himself yesterday. 46 year old Judge Edward Aparicio was found with a gunshot to the head. He left behind 5 boys and his wife.

There are many rumors flying around as to why the Judge killed himself. What is known is that last year the FBI raided his home. The judge was the target of an investigation into allegations that he had taking bribes. It's a pretty interesting, but sad story.

This case reminds me of when I was a reporter in Laredo. I covered the corruption trial (i was a t.v. reporter, so no links to my stories) of several men with ties to the district attorney's father. Most of the men, including the DA's father, brother, cousins, and several assistant district attorneys were convicted.

I guess the question that comes to mind here is: Is there that much corruption along the border? Are only Mexican-Americans committing these crimes?

I don't know. I don't know if Raza in office go crazy or if it's that they're not as careful. I've seen cases like this in Dallas and other big cities, but not to this extent. We can make arguments for/against crooks everywhere. We can site Nixon, Clinton, and even Bush. (I threw Clinton in to the mix to please(sp?), my Republican friends)

Is it that gringo politicos are more careful or they just don't get caught? I don't know. Maybe, I pay more attention to cases like this because they are from home. Is it that the feds are all gringos and the politicos getting caught, mostly raza? (these allegations were raised many times during the laredo trial).

One person I talked to about this mentioned that he believes this is due to the the compadre system we seem to follow down there. We exchange favors - and nothing is thought of it. I think it's a beautiful thing in certain circumstances, but it can get out of hand. Who knows? I really don't know the answer to any of these questions. I just know this poor man felt he needed to end his life. That sucks.