Justice Jecht Faces Allegations He Violated Judicial Canons…Again
Vince Leibowitz | Aug 15, 2007 | Comments 0
Capitol Annex has heard for several months that this was on the horizon. Evidently it’s now a reality:
A consumer advocacy group filed an additional complaint against Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht on Tuesday. Texas Watch alleges that Hecht violated judicial canons when soliciting campaign contributions for a legal defense fund established to fight charges of abuse of office.
The complaint filed with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct states that soliciting funds from attorneys and other parties with business before the court is a violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct.
Texas Watch’s previous complaint, filed July 24, centered on the $340,000 in discounts that Hecht received to successfully fight charges that he abused his office in promoting Harriet Miers, a one-time girlfriend, for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.
A copy of the complaint and its associated supporting materials may be found here.
It looks as though Hecht could be on the hook for a serious admonishment once again. This time, however, there is precedent for Hecht being admonished, as cited in Texas Watch’s complaint:
One June 8, 1987, the Commission publicly admonished then-Supreme Court Justice William Kilgarlin for improperly soliciting funds from attorneys and other parties with business pending before the court to defray the costs of a personal defamation suit. The admonishment recognizes a difference between using and soliciting funds for such a matter. Furthermore, Justice Kilgarlin’s admonishment arises out of his attempt to clear his name through a defamation suit against a former briefing attorney who testified before a committee of the House of Representatives about Kilgarlin’s conduct.
In the admonition, the Commission says in part that “It is the Commission’s consclusion that the solicitation of funds by the judge toprosecute this sute…is violative[...].
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. If he’s admonished, Hecht will probably challenge it on the grounds that it inhibits his right of free speech not to be able to solicit the contributions in spite of the ethical questions that arise from the donations.
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Justice Jecht Faces Allegations He Violated Judicial Canons…AgainSubmitted by: CapitolAnnex on 8/15/07 via feed from Capitol Annex Capitol Annex has heard for several months that this was on the horizon. Evidently it’s now a reality: A consumer advocacy group filed an additional complaint against Texas -
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