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Tuesday, February 25, 1997

Chief justice says election reforms needed

By MICHAEL HOLMES Associated Press Writer

AUSTIN (AP) - High-dollar, partisan races for Texas judgeships are lowering Texans' confidence in their courts and damaging the state's reputation, Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Phillips said Monday.

Delivering his State of the Judiciary Address to lawmakers, Phillips said the Legislature needs to consider comprehensive reforms in the judicial selection system.

"Although serious reforms have been mounted for more than 100 years, the need for change has become more urgent with the increased size of the judiciary and the advent of two-party politics," Phillips said.

Speaking to the three House and Senate committees that deal with judicial affairs, the chief justice said the nation's second-largest state has outgrown its old system of direct, partisan election of judges.

"Our current system may have been acceptable in 1876. At that time, there were six appellate and 26 trial judges in the entire state," he said.

But in 1994, he noted, Harris County voters alone had to make 45 judicial decisions in primary elections, eight in runoffs and 59 in the general elections.

"It could have been worse, 16 more judicial races were unopposed," he said. "Sadly, the results of these races are determined far more by party strength than by individual merit."

In 1994, 31 of 40 opposed Democratic district and appeals court judges in Texas were defeated, while all Republican incumbents won. In 1996, Democrats lost only three of 18 opposed judgeships, while Republicans lost eight of 28.

"Thus, the shifting tides of party fortune, which have almost nothing to do with judicial performance, have caused the defeat of almost 10 percent of the state judiciary in the last two years," Phillips said.

Phillips said campaign contributions also raise questions about the impartiality of Texas courts.

"Another major problem with the current system is the perception of unequal justice that inevitably arises when judges and judicial candidates accept campaign contributions from lawyers and litigants who have a stake in current or future court decisions," he said.

"With such a large electorate and with so many contested elections, the sums raised and spent are enormous."

Phillips said that candidates for Texas' appeals courts alone raised more than $50 million from 1988 to 1994.

The judge noted that national experts have pointed to Texas' wide-open campaign financing and said such races "discourage out-of-state investment and job creation here."

Another problem, Phillips said, is a continuing lack of racial diversity among Texas judges.

"Although more than 40 percent of all Texans are minorities, only one-ninth of the state judiciary is Hispanic or African American. ... A successful system must encourage more minority lawyers to seek judicial positions, and once in office, afford them a more reasonable prospect of remaining there."

Lawmakers and others have been debating for several years whether to change Texas' judicial election system. Some proposals have called for various forms of gubernatorial appointment; retention elections in which voters say "yes" or "no" to incumbent judges; and elections from single-member judicial districts. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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