Ethics Shmethics: The Texas Supreme Court

Texas Supreme Court judges Nathan Hecht, Paul Green, and David Medina all have serious ethical problems which should result in their ousting at the ballot box. But none of those judges are on the ballot.

Susan Criss is on the ballot, however, and her problems run much deeper. Here is an article that appeared in a Washington DC newspaper:

"A good example is the hundreds of thousands of dollars plaintiffs' lawyers are stuffing into the campaign coffers of Galveston District Judge Susan Criss, who is running for the Texas Supreme Court. The bulk of Criss' campaign contributions come from plaintiffs' lawyers who have business before her court, namely personal injury lawsuits against BP stemming from a 2005 refinery explosion. Draw your own conclusions."

Here is a similar complaint from a South East Texas newspaper:

"We only can speculate why a horde of plaintiff's lawyers with cases currently pending before Criss, who is running for Texas' Supreme Court, felt compelled to stuff tens of thousands of dollars into her campaign.

But thanks to the wonders of electronic campaign finance disclosure and the Internet, we now know that it is so. Voters can draw their own conclusions.

At issue is what Criss does when she isn't on the campaign trail. In her day job seated on the District Court in Galveston, currently she is presiding over hundreds of potentially lucrative personal injury lawsuits against oil giant BP stemming from the 2005 explosion at its Texas City refinery.

Of the more than $260,000 Criss reported raised for the campaign in the last six months of 2007, almost all came from South Texas plaintiff's lawyers. Many of them are the same ones who have been aggressively courting and cultivating those BP cases assigned to her Galveston court.

Among Judge Criss' most loyal supporters are BP-focused plaintiff's outfits including Williams Kherker ($25,000), Burwell Burwell & Nebout ($10,750), the Krist Law Firm ($10,000), Bailey Perrin Bailey ($7,500), and the Alexander Law Firm ($5,000).

All of the above have filed more than a few cases against the company. If we believe their marketing rhetoric, they remain on the hunt for Texas City plaintiffs.

Here's the rub: more than any other member of the Texas bench, Judge Criss' management of her BP cases promises to have a serious impact on the eventual 'value' of all BP explosion lawsuits against the company."

A virtual spokesman for the Criss Campaign has also outlined Linda Yanez's use of campaign funds to pay for meals for campaign volunteers. This has been documented, and it is an ethical issue (or at least a judgment issue).

It is simply inaccurate to imply that Republican judicial candidates have ethical problems while the Democratic candidates do not. No one has alleged any scandal about Phil Johnson, who is a Republican but a fair minded judge.