This week Houston homebuilder Robert Perry, who gave more than $260,000 in cash to Texas Supreme Court judges, paid for a racist mailing in Pasadena attacking a candidate for the Texas House. The mailing shows a tree full of black crows and fuzzy, ominous pictures of Barack Obama and minority office holders surrounding candidate Joel Redmond, who happens to be white. “Birds of a feather flock together,” the mailing says.

This happened the same week a key ally of Robert Perry’s, the Texas Association of Business pleaded guilty to a campaign funding scheme hatched by Tom DeLay and benefiting House Speaker Tom Craddick.  The same week another Perry group, Texans for Lawsuit Reform, endorsed Texas Supreme Court incumbents  Wallace Jefferson, Dale Wainwright, and Phil Johnson.

Racism. Corruption. Ethics violations. These aren’t Texas values. But, sadly, they are part of the cloud of corruption that surrounds the Texas judiciary. The corruption is so widespread it can be hard to keep in perspective. That’s why we’ve put them together in one email for you, that’s why we’re detailing the “connections of the corrupt” at CourtsOnFire. You can find additional details at Texas Watch and Texans for Public Justice.

We are in a crisis in our courts. We hope you will remind friends, family, colleagues and neighbors of the importance of voting in judicial elections. We’re not going to tell you how to vote. We ask that you investigate the facts and make informed decisions.