The Judicial Races

The nine-member Texas Supreme Court is the state's highest civil court. It has been plagued by a backlog in recent years, taking more than four years after oral arguments in some cases to issue an opinion. And what used to be regarded as a lopsidedly "plaintiff's court" has now become regarded as an unbalanced "pro-business" court, a perception fueled by a legal study conducted by University of Texas School of Law professor David Anderson. It found that the court sided with defendants 87 percent of the time in 2004-05. Furthermore, the unfair and unbalanced court is reflected that the three Republican incumbents’ major contributors included defense-oriented law firms, insurers and other businesses and tort reform groups, according to Texans for Public Justice. Texans for Public Justice did not attempt to link individual contributions to lawsuit outcomes. But other studies have shown that the Supreme Court, since the Republican takeover, has sided with doctors, insurance companies and other corporate defendants in the vast majority of lawsuits brought by consumers.

Justices serve six-year terms. This year, three places on the court are on the ballot. It is the Democrats’ most ambitious effort in several years to recapture some seats. We should select some Democrats in order to help start restoring the balance. Here is an editorial The Judicial Races which was written by Paul Burka, a senior executive editor, political columnist, and blogger for Texas Monthly. Burka received a National Magazine Award for reporting excellence in 1985 and the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award.

In his article, I agree with him on recommending Jefferson, Houston, and Yanez for Texas Supreme Court. Wallace Jefferson has done well enough to earn a second term, and I agree with Mr. Burka that Wainwright and Johnson have not done anything to merit a return trip to the bench. Someone may argues that the court left more cases pending than ever before, and Jefferson has done nothing about it. Of course, there are some bad judges on both of the State’s high courts, but it does not mean we should throw them all out. Besides, how much power does the Chief Justice have to make his fellow justices do work? A member of the court since 2001 and chief justice since 2004, Justice Jefferson has made the court more transparent by posting oral arguments, filings and opinions online. Democratic challenger Sam Houston has built solid reputation defending clients against lawsuits and would bring some new ideas to the court. However, the incumbent Republican Dale Wainwright wrote just four signed opinions in the last full year. Although there may be complex reasons for the delays, voters could not tolerate the long backlogs anymore. Yanez is the Democratic challenger who is active and well-respected in the state and national legal circles. She promises to bring a fresh perspective to the unanimous high court.