| Susan Criss continues to become a more and more interesting candidate. In a piece reprinted over at Edinburg Politics, the Criss family has a legacy of protecting workers rights and promoting civil rights.
District Judge Susan Criss of Galveston, a Democratic Party candidate for Texas Supreme Court, says a series of laws passed by the Texas Legislature in the 1980s help free Texas farm workers from "slavery." She credited her father, former Rep. Lloyd Criss, D-Galveston, Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, and former Rep. Alex Moreno, Jr., D-Edinburg, among others, for what she says was "landmark civil rights" legislation in Texas.
Lloyd Criss, Jr., was once the chair of the House Committee on Labor and Employment Relations and worked with the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) "to protect tens of thousands of Texas farm workers from economic exploitation, health hazards, stoop labor, and even poisoning."
"It is hard to believe, but it is true - farm workers, mostly Mexican Americans, were denied the basic protections that everyone else had back then because they had no political power, no one to fight for them," said Judge Susan Criss. She has served for almost a decade as the judge of the 212th District Court in Galveston County.
"It is astonishing to realize that for all practical purposes, slavery still existed in Texas as late as the 1980s," Judge Susan Criss said. "I am so proud that my father was able to play a key role in helping bring justice to thousands of our fellow Texans."
According to the Texas Insider, eventually, Lloyd Criss, Jr. also fought for a law that now requires that outdoor toilets for men and women be provided for farm workers at their work sites, Judge Susan Criss said. Lloyd Criss, Jr. also carried the legislation that provided unemployment insurance for farm workers, a goal that had been sought for about 50 years. That measure was so significant that César Estrada Chávez, the co-founder of the United Farmworkers of America and a national civil rights activist, came to Austin to support the Criss legislation.
Texas Democratic candidates each have their unique stories. It isn't often we get to share in such candor in a statewide race. |
