Eagle Editorial Board
Six Republicans are seeking the Place 3 seat on the Supreme Court of Texas, while Justice Eva Guzman faces a Republican challenger in the race for the Place 9 seat. Justice Harriett O'Neill, who currently sits in Place 3, has decided not to run again, much to the loss of the people of Texas.
A brief explanation of the state's judicial system is in order:
* The state has 822 justice of the peace courts that handle small claims and criminal misdemeanors punishable by fine only.
* There are 231 county courts-at-law that handle misdemeanors and civil matters involving less than $100,000.
* The state has 453 district courts that handle everything from felony matters, juvenile matters, divorce, disputes over land titles, contested elections, and civil cases involving at least $200 to $500. In larger counties, the district courts may be split into criminal courts and civil courts, which sometimes are broken down in such categories as probate, juvenile and family law. In Brazos County, all three district courts hear every type of case.
* The 14 courts of appeal -- Brazos County is in the district of the 10th Court of Appeals in Waco -- hear almost all cases appealed from lower trial courts. It must consider every case appealed from the lower courts. The only exception is death penalty cases, which are automatically appealed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
* The Court of Criminal Appeals is one of two "supreme" courts in Texas. The nine judges on this court hear all death penalty appeals from district courts and other criminal matters appealed from the 14 courts of appeal. It is a court of discretion, so, with the exception of death cases which they must consider, the judges decide which cases from the appeals courts to consider.
* The Supreme Court of Texas hears civil and juvenile appeals from the courts of appeal. Like the Court of Criminal Appeals, it is a court of discretion, with the nine justices deciding which appeals to consider.
Place 3
Seeking to replace O'Neill are Justice Jeff Brown of the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston; Dripping Springs attorney Rick Green; Fort Worth District Judge Debra Lehrmann; Justice Jim Moseley of the 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas; Justice Rebecca Simmons of the 4th Court of Appeals in San Antonio; and Justice Rick Strange of the 11th Court of Appeals in Midland.
Justices Brown, Moseley, Simmons and Strange, as well as Judge Lehrmann, met with the Editorial Board. Green did not.
Brown served six years as judge of a civil district court in Houston before being appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to the 14th Court of Appeals. He said it is critical that the Supreme Court decide cases in a timely manner. He has helped trim the backlog of cases in the 14th Court by more than half.
Lehrmann has served as a judge for 22 years, handling a variety of civil cases, especially those involving family law and child protection. If elected, she would be the only justice with as much experience in those two areas. She said she has seldom been reversed by higher courts.
Moseley was appointed to the appellate bench by Gov. George W. Bush in 1996. Since then, he said he has offered more than 1,000 opinions in all areas of the law. Moseley said his long experience on the bench would serve the people of Texas well if he is elected.
Simmons had 20 years in private practice before assuming the bench of a civil district court that heard numerous family law cases. Since May 2005, she has been on the 4th Court of Appeals, where she said she helped install procedures that have sped up the opinions process. She is critical of the length of time it takes the Supreme Court to issue its opinions. She would like to post all of the high court's documents online.
Strange is board certified in oil and gas law and civil trial law.
He says his expertise is needed on the court because sometimes the opinions issued on oil and gas matters are "head-scratchers." Some times, he said, the results are wrong; in other cases, the opinions are badly written. He said the Supreme Court takes too many cases.
All the candidates interviewed are good judges and most have the intermediate appellate court experience that can be helpful on the Supreme Court.
While it is good to have expertise in a particular area of civil law that comes before the court, justices on the high court must be able to consider every type of case they see and issue reasoned, carefully written opinions.
Now, too many cases take too long to be resolved in the Supreme Court. There is no reason for them to drag on so long.
That said, Rebecca Sim mons is, for want of better term, a procedures "wonk." She has shown she knows how to get cases through an appellate court and she would help the Supreme Court justices speed up their docket.
The Eagle recommends a vote for Justice Rebecca Simmons for Place 3 on the Supreme Court of Texas.
Place 9
Justice Guzman is being challenged by Justice Rose Vela, the first Republican elected to the 13th Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi. Guzman met with the Editorial Board, but Vela did not.
Guzman was named by Perry to the Supreme Court in October, replacing Justice Scott Brister, who resigned. She served on a family law district court before moving to the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston in 2001. She has been involved in more than 2,000 cases on the appellate court, issuing 460 signed opinions. She said she has strong docket-management skills. Guzman has been a member of the American Law Institute since 2005. She received the national Latina Judge of the Year award.
Vela served eight years as judge of a Corpus Christi district court, hearing civil, criminal and family law cases. She joined the
13th Court of Appeals in 2006 and, she says in campaign material that she has issued opinions in hundreds of criminal and civil cases. She says she has worked with her colleagues to reduce the court's backlog and improve its efficiency.
Guzman is typical of many of the judges appointed to appellate courts: She is bright, experienced and capable. It would not surprise us to see her on a federal court bench some day. While she is new to the Supreme Court bench, she has quickly gotten to work and has already written her first opinion on that court.
The Eagle recommends a vote for Justice Eva Guzman for a full term on the Supreme Court, Place 9.
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