Early voting on 17 proposed Texas constitutional amendments continues by means of Friday of this week. One of many proposed amendments would grant the governor vital new powers relating to disciplining and even dismissing elected judges.
The State Fee on Judicial Conduct is an impartial company run by a mixture of 13 members — six judges appointed by the Supreme Courtroom of Texas, two attorneys appointed by the State Bar of Texas, and 5 residents appointed by the governor. Proposition 12 would let the governor title a majority of the fee’s members.
Gov. Greg Abbott stated the change is important to make sure transparency and accountability. However John Domino, a professor of political science and authorized research at Sam Houston State College, warned such a change would threat compromising judicial independence.
“I consider that any try at so-called accountability and transparency is simply an try to have the ability to push and stress judges indirectly and intrude upon independence,” Domino stated. “The argument towards all of that is that despite the fact that it’s simply tweaking the scale and nature of this fee, it’s intervening in choices that needs to be made by authorized professionals.”
Domino notes that, in 2019, Abbott eliminated two of the fee members who acted towards Abbott’s needs by voting to self-discipline a Waco justice of the peace who refused to carry out same-sex marriages, in defiance of the U.S. Supreme Courtroom’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.
“That’s what voters ought to know,” Domino stated. “The institutional adjustments appear minor, but when individuals are reminded of the origin of all of this, they’ll higher perceive that it’s actually there’s partisan politics concerned.”
