We can now mark down one more office that Democrats are going to contest in 2010- a Texas Supreme Court seat. Familiar face and the 2006 ticket's highest vote getter Bill Moody is back for another run. Some may remember him for his "walk across Texas" campaign. Well, this time he's going to be getting around Texas a little differently.
He's going to campaign in an orange blimp. Awesome.
Moody challenged incumbent Republican Don Don Willett in 2006, getting 45 percent of the vote to Willett's 51 percent. He will be now be challenging Paul Green, a San Antonio appeals court judge who won election to the court in 2004. Moody's son, Joe Moody, was a TexBlog PAC endorsed candidate and is of course now a state representative from El Paso.
Eva Guzman, an associate justice on the 14th Court of Appeals, has been selected by Rick Perry to fill the vacant seat of Republican Scott Brister on the Texas Supreme Court.
Guzman, a 1989 graduate of South Texas College of Law, is the first Latina to serve on the high court. In 1999, then-Gov. George W. Bush appointed Guzman to the 309th District Court, a family law bench. In 2001, Perry appointed Guzman to the 14th Court. "Justice Guzman is known throughout legal circles as a strict constructionist with an unmatched work ethic, and has demonstrated a proven record of sound jurisprudence," Perry says in a prepared statement. "I am proud to appoint this principled, conservative judge as the first Hispanic woman on the Supreme Court of Texas."
Of note, 3rd Court of Appeals justice Republican Bob Pemberton had also sought the appointment.
On March, 23, 2005, the British Petroleum refinery in Texas City exploded, killing 15 contract workers and injuring hundreds of others. It was so bad that courthouse-closer Joe Nixon that very day pulled down his bill that would have granted immunity to BP and others like them.
Despite the fact that the Legislature had several times in the past refused to grant such immunity to premise owners, the Texas Supreme Court in 2007 (re-affirmed in April) wrote its own law, assuming an activist role as a kind of black-robed legislature. The case was called Entergy v. Summers. Beneath a lot of rather obscure legal language, the issue is simple: Can big business twist the state's workers compensation laws to avoid accountability for killing and maiming workers.
People that care about accountability and the integrity of the courts and the state constitution filed HB 1657 to make big corporations like British Petroleum accountable. Because when no one is accountable, no one is safe.
Now here comes the Texas Civil Justice League and their allies simply lying to legislators about HB 1657. In handouts, they say the bill hurts homeowners and local governments. Huh? It's got nothing to do with homeowners and local governments. The TCJL is just lying.
We're going to have to rewrite the part in civics textbooks about how a bill becomes law. If HB 1657 fails, this is how textbook authors will put it: Step 1: Big Business buys Texas Supreme Court; Step 2: Court writes new legislation, destroying constitutional balance of power; 3) Legislature asked to save state constitution, protect accountability; 4) British Petroleum sympathizers lie about it; 5) End of Accountabiliy.
According to our friends at Texas Watch, Justice Hecht has filed an appeal of his recent sanction by the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC), which resulted in a $29,000 fine. The appeal was filed on Tuesday, January 27th in Judge John Dietz's 250th Judicial District Court in Travis County.
In December 2008, the TEC ruled that Justice Hecht violated the law when he accepted and failed to report an in-kind contribution in the form of discounted legal fees from the Jackson Walker law firm. The TEC publicly sanctioned Justice Hecht and imposed a fine of $29,000.
The TEC's sanction stems from a complaint filed by Texas Watch in July 2007.
Jackson Walker represented Justice Hecht during his appeal of a 2006 admonishment by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. The TEC found that Hecht had racked up $476,970 in legal fees, but that he only paid $313,745. The Commission determined that the discount amounted to an in-kind contribution which is subject to the limits outlined in the Judicial Campaign Fairness Act. Under the law, law firms and its attorneys are only permitted to make contributions totaling $30,000.
A copy of Justice Hecht's appeal can be found here.
A copy of the TEC's ruling can be found here.
A copy of Texas Watch's original complaint to the TEC can be found here.
For more information about the controversial Justice, read the laundry list of articles here.
(Often overlooked, I think that the Supreme Court races are where we are most likely to see a Democratic pickup statewide on Tuesday. Not to say there couldn't be others, just that I've always held they are most likely. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
To give credit where credit is due, Paul Burka has some excellent analysis of the Texas Supreme Court races. Here are excerpts from Burka's analysis:
"The all-Republican Texas Supreme Court is an intellectually corrupt court. By this I mean that it is infused with the appearance of impropriety and inequity. Who you are matters more than the law and the facts. It has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Texans for Lawsuit Reform. It is also rife with judges who have committed ethical lapses, albeit mostly technical violations of campaign finance and reporting laws. The default choice for the average Court race ought to be the Democrat opposing the Republican, just to bring some balance and fairness back to the Court."
"Wainwright contributes about as much to the Court as an amoeba. He is a go-along judge. He did graduate from an outstanding law school (University of Chicago) and he worked for major law firms. But he is just another TLR vote on the Court. Sam Houston has his law degree from Baylor, and he was a litigator for one of the big Houston law firms. He is supported by a number of prominent defense counsel and has been endorsed by the Dallas Morning News and the American-Statesman. He is not one of those folks who runs for office because he has a famous name, but I'd vote for him even if he were. We have to get some balance on this Court."
"Yanez is the Senior Justice on the Court of Appeals in South Texas. Yanez has won the endorsement of the Express-News, the Chronicle, the American-Statesman, the Caller-Times, and the Bryan-College Station Eagle. The reason is the widespread perception that the Court is predisposed to rule against consumers and injured parties. Johnson has done little to nothing to bring balance to the Court. Yanez will. She has my vote."
"My approach to judicial races is that the Texas legal system is badly out of balance and has been corrupted by the money and power of Texans for Lawsuit Reform - Like so many reformers, TLR set out to do good, and did do good, but then became enamored of power and its ability to spread money around. It is time to restore balance and integrity to the Texas judicial system."
The Texas Democratic Party is aggressively working to capitalize on the momentum of this historic campaign.
The TDP has sent 2.7 million pieces of mail asking voters to vote early and vote straight Democratic. Additionally, during early voting and on Election Day, the TDP will make 1.8 million phone calls throughout Texas, including 2 rounds of live calls and 4 rounds of robo-calls from prominent Democrats encouraging voters to cast a Straight Democratic Ticket.
That's an incredible push from the TDP. A push that is only possible when the state party is infused with $3.5 million late dollars.
The most exciting part of the TDP push is the new campaign to make the Texas Supreme Court fair and balanced. The TDP has launched a new website www.FairAndBalanced.com along with a brand new TV spot advocating Jim Jordan, Linda Yanez, and Sam Houston for the Texas Supreme Court.
In a surge election this ad, these field actions, and a focused effort on our statewides will make difference.
It would have been nice to see in 2006, but it the resources weren't there. In 2008, resources are there and the climate favors Democrats, but who and how people are voting is far from certain. It is time for Democrats to be opportunistic and push to win back judicial seats and local races as well as statewide races. It is good to see the TDP put a full court press on the Republicans.
For all the past criticism of the local Democratic establishment for not investing in lower statewide races, it seems someone has listened. With about a week and a half to go, the Texas Democratic Party has decided to invest $800,000 into television advertisements for the small slate of Texas Supreme Court candidates.
The Texas Democratic Party has committed $800,000 to a statewide ad buy pushing the Democratic slate of candidates for the Texas Supreme Court, QR has learned.
The ad criticizes the Court, which doesn't have a single Democratic justice, for excessively favoring insurance companies in its decisions as well as overturning jury verdicts more than 80 percent of the time. They began airing yesterday and could be seen yesterday evening, for example, during local newscasts in Austin.
TDP spokesman Hector Nieto said that the intent is to run the ad in major markets across the state. "The TDP has purchased ad time to help promote our candidates," he said. "The buy is significant enough to be seen throughout the state of Texas."
The Daily Texan endorses Jim Jordan and Linda Yanez for Texas Supreme Court (and Susan Strawn for the Court of Crininal Appeals):
Supreme Court Chief Justice: Jim Jordan
Democratic candidate Jim Jordan, who is running for chief justice against incumbent Wallace Jefferson, is a highly experienced, competent candidate that would provide the court the diversity of perspective it currently lacks. Jordan, a practicing attorney with more than 20 years of experience, has actively served the community as a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and the Texas Association of Defense Counsel. Though Jordan is running as a Democrat, he believes that partisan politics should not interfere with the stance justices take on court cases. In a court that has been criticized for exceeding its Constitutional authority and ignoring the role of juries, we believe Jordan will use his legal knowledge and experience to bring the court back on track.
Supreme Court Justice, Place 8: Linda Yanez
While her opponent Phil Johnson is a respectable candidate, Linda Yanez is well-qualified to be part of the dissenting voice the court lacks. Yanez is a former Harvard Law School instructor and has been serving on the 13th Court of Appeals in Texas since Gov. Ann Richards appointed her in 1993. In her time on the court, she has authored more than 800 opinions and served on panel for more than 3,500. Yanez has the potential to bring a new perspective to the Supreme Court while moving quickly to help the court work through its backlog of cases.
The two high courts have nine members each. Currently, all 18 places are filled by Republicans....
Supreme Court of Texas -- Place 8
Justice Phil Johnson, Republican, vs. Justice Linda Yañez, Democrat ...
Yañez was the first woman on the 13th Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi when she was appointed by Gov. Ann Richards in 1993. She has been elected several times since.
She says the Supreme Court has been too eager to overturn jury verdicts, which, she said, Johnson has done six times.
She also criticizes his productivity, noting he has authored only 13 opinions in his three years on the court.
Yañez notes that 50 percent of the civil cases filed in Texas involve family law, but the high court takes no such cases on appeal. She said the court has a hostility to plaintiffs and is result-oriented.
Justice Johnson has done a good job, but we are convinced that Justice Yañez would add a vibrant, intelligent voice to the court, one that it badly needs. Candidates don't come much better.
The Eagle recommends a vote for Justice Linda Yañez to Place 8 on the Supreme Court of Texas.
Running tally of Texas Supreme Court newspaper endorsements below the jump:
Yañez, who is seeking the post now held by Justice Phil Johnson, is unusually well prepared to serve on the state's highest civil court.
Yañez was appointed to the 13th Court of Appeals in 1993 and has since been elected three times. She is making her second bid for the Texas Supreme Court.
During her 15 years on the appellate bench, the Edinburg resident has written 850 opinions. She is a serious, studious judge and a former Harvard Law School instructor. Along with her stellar credentials, Yañez is committed to fair application of the law for all sides. She would be a valuable asset to the high court.
