The Legislature’s Shameless and Unconstitutional Court-Packing Plan
20th March 2023
As any Texas voter knows, we elect our judges—and, except for our highest courts (the Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeals), we elect them locally. That’s true not just for trial courts, but for our fourteen intermediate appellate courts, too. For instance, the “Third” Court of Appeals here in Austin, which hears appeals from district courts in Travis County and 23 surrounding counties, is staffed by six Justices chosen by voters across those 24 jurisdictions.
Three bills recently introduced in the Texas Legislature would take some of the most important cases away from locally elected judges. Between them, SB1045, HB3166 and HJR139 would create a new “Fifteenth” Court of Appeals to hear appeals in most lawsuits against the state or its officers. And although the new court would also sit in Austin, its judges would be elected on a statewide basis. The bills would thus take state-involved appeals away from judges elected in more Democratic parts of the state in favor of judges elected by all Texas voters—who haven’t chosen a Democratic candidate for statewide office since 1994.
Like most big-city media, even in Texas, the Austin American-Statesman is a hotbed of Wokery. Hence their objection to anything that would decrease the influence of Democrats and increase the influence of Republicans. Imagine, if you will, their attitude if the party affiliations were reversed: Would they not be wearing out their fingers about Respecting State-Wide Democracy Versus Local Partisan Prejudice?
You can tell who are the pigs by who are doing the squealing.