And:Hard-nosed Texas prosecutor John “Marty” Bradley supports the death penalty. His mother, Shirley Bradley, remains a fervent opponent of it.
Her oldest son, John “David” Bradley, is an outspoken Republican leader among the social conservatives on the State Board of Education. His mom proudly keeps his campaign bumper sticker on her car — along with a bumper sticker promoting Democratic Party icon Hillary Clinton.
Not surprisingly, Shirley Bradley enforces a firm rule when the family gathers for holidays and other occasions: No talking politics or religion.
“It's my rule. ... Those are just forbidden subjects,” the Houston family matriarch says. “We all have heard each other's opinions enough. It was nonproductive. I want to have happy times with them. I respect their opinions. I don't agree with them, but I taught them to have opinions.”
And her two older sons certainly have strong opinions. Both are named John, although the oldest goes by David. Count him among the State Board of Education leaders who helped weaken the teaching of evolution in public school classrooms, pushed phone-tics and back-to-basics reading skills and led an effort to ditch a “fuzzy math” textbook for third-graders.
John Bradley, 50, known as “Marty” among family and friends, is 11 months younger than David. He has a law-and-order reputation as the district attorney in GOP-strong Williamson County just north of Austin. His profile recently was raised when Gov. Rick Perry, in a controversial move, named him the new chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission — replacing a chairman who had led the panel's investigation of disputed arson evidence in an execution case.
She recently attended John Bradley's hearing before the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee, where he faced some sharp questioning by senators concerned that Perry chose him so he would delay a probe into the arson science that led to the conviction and execution of Cameron Todd Willingham.
She sometimes clips newspaper articles and underscores her agreement with her sons — when she can. David Bradley said he knows they are on opposite sides when the note ends with a simple: “We love you.”
Their mother said she and her husband raised the boys to learn values, integrity and to always be honest, “because if you don't have honesty, you don't have much going for you,” she said. “We encouraged them to have an opinion, gather evidence and enough information to know what you are talking about. Don't just talk.”
Shirley Bradley is equally proud of her two younger sons: Tim Bradley, a commercial real estate broker in Wyoming, and Dan Bradley, a prosecutor-turned-defense lawyer in Houston.
Earlier coverage begins with the preceding post.
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