A celebration of the life of Scott Alan Ozmun will be held Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. at the Riverbend Church, 4214 North Capital of Texas Highway, with a reception to follow at St. Michael's Episcopal Church, 1500 North Capital of Texas Highway.
The family has requested that memorial contributions be made to Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas in honor of Judge Ozmun. VLS' address is 816 Congress Avenue, Suite 700, Austin 78701. Scott served as president of their board, as well as serving as president of the Austin Young Lawyers Association and the Legal Aid Society of Central Texas.
An obituary and online guestbook can be found at www.wcfish.com. Scott took the bench as the judge of the 353rd Judicial District this winter after a 21 year personal injury practice after a year of clerking for Justice Kilgarlin. He was passionate about politics and served two terms as head of the Travis County Democratic Party. Scott is survived by his wife of 20 years, Beth, and by their daughters Delaney and Kendall.
Terrible news to report this afternoon. Beloved Democratic Judge Scott Ozmun has passed away today dur to complicatoins from cancer. As many remember during the 2008 Democratic primary, Ozmun had be undergoing treament in battling cancer while simultanesiouly fending off a primary challenge from a former Republican candidate Madelaine Conner who was running in the Democratic primary against him.
Ozmun won that primary as well as the general election to the 353rd Court bench in 2008. From all of us at Burnt Orange Report, we wish we didn't have to report on this news and extend out greatest condolences to Ozmun's friends and family which includes his Democratic family to whom he was much beloved.
Austin Chronicle: A civil trial lawyer by training, Ozmun had served as a briefing attorney for the Texas Supreme Court, and served as president on a multitude of legal bodies, including Volunteer Legal Services, the Legal Aid Society of Central Texas, and the Austin Young Lawyers Association.
Rep. Donna Howard called Ozmun "one of the nicest people I ever knew." The former chair of the Travis County Democratic Party, he was "the first person to suggest I run for this seat," she added.
Gov. Rick Perry will appoint a replacement to Ozmun to the 353rd Court Bench. We can only hope Perry will have some modecrum of respect and appoint a Democratic replacement for Ozmun.
To view all of BOR's endorsed candidates, click here.
Scott Ozmun is the only Democrat in the race for 353rd District Judge. Actually, this is kind of true. Scott has an opponent in the Democratic Primary, but she has a Republican candidacy record among other things. Really, this should be enough, but Scott is also the most qualified candidate in the race.
Scott first entered into politics in 1984 as a volunteer for a State Representative race. He has since served as a precinct chair, been a member of the Finance Council of the TCDP, and served as our TCDP Chair from 2000-2004.
Professionally, Scott has practiced civil trial law for over 21 years and worked as a briefing attorney for the Texas Supreme court. He is Board Certified in bothe Personal Injury Trial Law and Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Scott is also the President-Elect of the Austin Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), and is on the Board of Directors of the Austin Bar Association and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.
Impressively, Scott served as President of the Boards of Volunteer Legal Services, the Legal Aid Society of Central Texas, and the Austin Young Lawyers Associaion.
Now before you get the idea that Scott's support within the legal community is of a partisaned nature, know this - Scott was voted "Best Qualified" by 90% of the voters in the Austin Bar Association Judicial Preference Poll, and his list of supports come from a diverse group of lawyers.
What it comes down to in this race, however, is that Scott is the only Democrat in this contested Primary. Madeleine Connor, Scott's opponent, ran as a Republican candidate against Charlie Baird in 2006 for a criminal district court seat. She voted in the Republican primary in 2004 and 2006 and she has never voted in the Democratic Primary in Travis County. Someone needs to remind Madeleine Conner that this is the Democratic primary. That someone would be the voters.
This one is easy, Burnt Orange Report endorses Scott Ozmun.
(I wanted to keep this above the post I just wrote. - promoted by Phillip Martin)
With most of Travis County solidly blue, Republicans seem to be infiltrating the Democratic primary.
Two last minute judicial filings against Scott Ozmun and Judge Jim Coronado seem to have a spotty Democratic background at best. This personally riled me up because I am a fan of both Ozmun and Coronado, but doing just a little digging made the primary races even more troubling.
Karyl Krug, a last minute challenger to Judge Jim Coronado, not only lacks the experience needed for the 427th District Court, she also lacks the Democratic credentials needed to win a primary.
A quick look at Krug's background shows a diverse voting history. She voted in every general election from 1990 - 2006 except 1998. She may have been a regular Democratic primary voter from 1990 - 1996, but all of a sudden something changed in 1998. Krug voted in the Republican primary in 1998, and decided she was done voting in the primaries after that. However she did find the time to sign the Strayhorn petition and pledge not to vote in the 2004 primary elections.
Madeleine Connor is running against Scott Ozmun for the 353rd District Court. However 2 years ago Connors friends had this to say about her history when she ran against Democrat and current judge Charlie Baird in the general election.
A former member of Pro-Life Cougars (PLC) is running for Travis County
District Court. Madeleine Connor was a very active member in PLC during her stay at the University where she was a law student. Being a law student and a mother are both daunting tasks but Madeleine managed to do both and be an active member of PLC. She is not only a supporter of life, but she also believes in seeing justice served for victims and their families. If you know of anyone who lives in the Austin area, please tell them to support her at the polls as well as thinking about supporting her financially. If you have further questions please feel free to contact us.
The bench is were Karl Rove built the Texas Republican Party. We have qualified Democratic candidates in Scott Ozmun and Jim Coronado, and it is painful to see two Republicans run in the Democratic primary. All they are doing is wasting tax payer money, stretch the resources Ozmun and Coronado have for their general elections, and causing more work for the Travis County Democratic Party. Every person has the right to run, and I don't begrudge them for that, but their history is in stark contrast to both Judge Coronado's and Ozmun's. These two life long Democrats deserve and need our support in Travis County, and too often we over look judicial races.
Update: I have just been informed that Ms. Connor voted in Republican primaries in 2004 and 2006, and she has never voted in a Travis County Democratic primary. Worse than I originally thought.
