Texas Supreme Court
Encyclopedia
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
for non-criminal matters (including juvenile delinquency
Juvenile delinquency
Juvenile delinquency is participation in illegal behavior by minors who fall under a statutory age limit. Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centers. There are a multitude of different theories on the causes of crime, most if not...
which the law considers to be a civil matter
Civil procedure
Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits...
and not criminal
Criminal procedure
Criminal procedure refers to the legal process for adjudicating claims that someone has violated criminal law.-Basic rights:Currently, in many countries with a democratic system and the rule of law, criminal procedure puts the burden of proof on the prosecution – that is, it is up to the...
) in the state of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. A different court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in the State of Texas, United States. The Court, which is based in the Supreme Court Building in Downtown Austin, is composed of a Presiding Judge and eight judges....
, is the court of last resort for criminal matters.
The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices. The Court meets in Downtown
Downtown Austin
Downtown Austin is the central business district of Austin, Texas. Downtown is located on the north bank of the Colorado River. The approximate borders of Downtown include Lamar Boulevard to the west, 11th Street and sometimes Martin Luther King, Jr...
Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
in a building located on the state Capitol grounds, behind the Texas capitol.
Regulation of the legal profession in Texas
By statute, the Texas Supreme Court has administrative control over the State Bar of TexasState Bar of Texas
The State Bar of Texas is an agency of the judiciary under the administrative control of the Texas Supreme Court. The Texas Bar is responsible for assisting the Texas Supreme Court in overseeing all attorneys licensed to practice law in Texas...
, an agency of the judiciary. The Texas Supreme Court has the sole authority to license attorneys in Texas, and also appoints the members of the Board of Law Examiners which, under instructions of the Supreme Court, administers the Texas bar examination.
Justices of the Court
The Court has a Chief JusticeChief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
and eight associate justices. Each member of the Court must be at least 35
35
Year 35 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gallus and Nonianus...
years of age, a citizen
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
of Texas, licensed to practice law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
in Texas, and must have practiced law (or have been a lawyer and a judge of a court of record together) for at least ten years. The Clerk of the Court
Court clerk
A court clerk is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining the records of a court. Another duty is to administer oaths to witnesses, jurors, and grand jurors...
is appointed by the Justices and serves a four year term.
Election of members of the Court
The Chief Justice and the associate justices are elected to staggered six-year terms in state-wide partisan electionsElections in Texas
From 1836 to 1845 Republic of Texas elected Presidents. In 1845, it was admitted as the state of Texas.On March 4, 2008 Texas had Democratic and Republican primaries for President.-External links:* at the Texas Secretary of State official website...
. When a vacancy arises the Governor of Texas
Governor of Texas
The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature...
may appoint Justices, subject to Senate confirmation, to serve out the remainder of an unexpired term until the next general election. , six of the current Justices, a majority, were originally appointed by Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
Rick Perry
Rick Perry
James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...
. The current Justices, like all the Judges of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in the State of Texas, United States. The Court, which is based in the Supreme Court Building in Downtown Austin, is composed of a Presiding Judge and eight judges....
, are all Republican.
The place numbers have no special meaning as all justices are elected state-wide, except that the Chief Justice position is considered "Place 1".
Women on the Court
Hortense Sparks WardHortense Sparks Ward
Hortense Sparks Ward was a pioneering Texas lawyer and women's rights activist.Born Hortense Sparks in Matagorda County, Texas, Ward grew up in Edna, Texas and attended Nazareth Academy, a convent school. Ward taught school in Edna starting in 1890 and married her first husband Albert Malsch a...
, who became the first woman to pass the Texas Bar Exam
Bar examination
A bar examination is an examination conducted at regular intervals to determine whether a candidate is qualified to practice law in a given jurisdiction.-Brazil:...
in 1910, was appointed Special Chief Justice of an all-female Texas Supreme Court 15 years later. All of the court's male justices recused themselves from a case involving the Woodmen of the World
Woodmen of the World
Woodmen of the World is a fraternal organization based in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that operates a large privately held insurance company for its members....
fraternal organization, and, since nearly every member of the Texas Bar was a member of that organization and received insurance benefits from it, no male judges or attorneys could be found to hear the case. After ten months of searching for suitable male replacements, Governor Pat Neff decided to appoint a special court composed of three women to decide the case. This court, consisting of Ward, Hattie Leah Henenberg, and Ruth Virginia Brazzil, met for five months and ultimately ruled in favor of Woodmen of the World
Woodmen of the World
Woodmen of the World is a fraternal organization based in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that operates a large privately held insurance company for its members....
.
On July 25th, 1982, Ruby Kless Sondock
Ruby Kless Sondock
Justice Ruby Kless Sondock was the first woman to serve on the Texas Supreme Court. Sondock initially attended the University of Houston Law Center in order to become a legal secretary, but she was admitted to the state bar a year before her graduation as valedictorian of her class...
became the court's first regular female justice, when she was appointed to replace the Associate Justice James G. Denton who had died of a heart attack. Sondock served the remainder of Denton's term, which ended on December 31st, 1982, but did not seek election to the Supreme Court in her own right. Rose Spector became the first woman elected to the court in 1992 and served until 1998 when she was defeated by Harriet O'Neill
Harriet O'Neill
Harriet Smith O'Neill is a retired associate justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. A Republican, O'Neill represented Place 3 of the nine positions on the court. O'Neill's term was to expire on December 31, 2010, and she declined to seek re-election to a third full six-year term...
.
Current Justices
| Justice | Party Affiliation | Place | Date Service Began | Term Ends |
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| Wallace B. Jefferson Wallace Bernard Jefferson is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. His current term ends on December 31, 2014.- Historic judicial appointments and election :Jefferson has three times made Texas judicial history... |
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| Debra Lehrmann Debra Ann H. Lehrmann is one of the eight associate justices of the Texas Supreme Court, a civil and juvenile tribunal, and a former 360th Judicial District Court judge from Fort Worth, Texas.... |
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| David M. Medina David Michael Medina is a Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. He serves in the Place 4 position. He was elected to a full-term in 2006; his term will expire in January 2013, with elections during 2012.... |
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| Paul W. Green Paul W. Green is a Justice on the Supreme Court of Texas. He was elected to that court in November 2004 and began his term on January 1, 2005. His current term ends on December 31, 2010.- Background :... |
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| Nathan Hecht Nathan L. Hecht is a Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. Hecht, a Republican, was elected to the Texas Supreme Court in 1988 and reelected in 1994, 2000, and 2006. With over 18 years of service, Hecht is currently the most senior Justice of the Court. He was re-elected to a fourth six-year term... |
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| Dale Wainwright Dale Wainwright is an Associate Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. He was first elected to a six-year term on the Court in November 2002, and he was reelected in 2008 to a term that will end in 2014. He replaced Deborah Hankinson on the Court.... |
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| Phil Johnson (judge) Phil Johnson is a Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. He occupies Place 8.Johnson was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court by Governor Rick Perry on March 15, 2005 to fill a vacancy left by Michael H. Schneider, who was appointed to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of... |
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| Eva Guzman Eva Guzman is a member of the Texas Supreme Court, the body of final appeal in civil and juvenile law in Texas. She was appointed to Place 9 on the court by Governor Rick Perry in the fall of 2009 to fill the seat vacated by Justice Scott Brister, who resigned with more than a year left in his... |
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Succession of seats
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