Proposed Reforms to Texas Judicial Selection [2019 Texas Chapters Conference]

On September 14, 2019, The Federalist Society held a panel on Proposed Reforms to Texas Judicial Selection during its Annual Texas Chapters Conference.

Texas has held judicial elections continuously since 1876, with the last major amendments to the judicial selection process occurring in 1891 when the legislature created the state’s intermediate appellate courts. Currently, partisan elections select more than 3,000 judges across the state, including 80 appellate court judges, covering Texas’s population of more than 28 million. And notably, the appellate court covering Austin and its surrounding 24 counties routinely decides questions of statewide importance because many actions relating to state government must be initiated in Austin.

The election of November 2018 resulted in some of the most sweeping changes to the Texas bench in generations, when voters defeated a number of incumbent judges. These sweeping results have led to the first serious discussions in decades on methods of reform as the repercussions of these changes affect the justice system across the state and impact voters regardless of political affiliation.

Proposals being discussed include gubernatorial appointment in retention elections, chancery district courts to focus on business disputes, and a statewide elected court of appeals to decide appeals in cases of statewide importance. This panel examined these issues and the changes considered by the Legislature while also considering other developments with the intermediate appellate and lower courts since the monumental 2018 election.

Featuring:
- Prof. Chris W. Bonneau, Professor of Political Science, University of Pittsburgh
- Prof. Brian T. Fitzpatrick, Professor of Law, Vanderbilt Law School
- Lee Parsley, General Counsel, Texans for Lawsuit Reform
- Hon. Thomas R. Phillips, Partner, Baker Botts; Former Chief Justice, Texas Supreme Court
- Hon. Jeff Brown, Texas Supreme Court (moderator)

As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.