Yanez Says Judges Shouldn’t Bring An Agenda To The Bench, But Does She?

On the campaign trail this week, Appeals Court Justice Linda Yanez told the San Antonio Express-News that judges shouldn’t bring an agenda to the bench and practice judicial restraint:

“I believe in judicial restraint. I believe a judge cannot bring an agenda to the bench,” Yanez said.

This is particularly interesting in light of recent statements Yanez made to the Editorial Board of the Dallas Morning News involving the case against British Petroleum that her opponent for Place 8 on the Texas Supreme Court, State District Judge Susan Criss (D-Galveston), had in her court.

Yanez told the DMN’s editorial board that she had read the entire record in the BP case and that Criss was wrong to order the deposition of BP head Lord Brown. Yanez claimed there was no evidence that BP committed any fraud! Needless to say, that’s a different story than what she told the Texas AFL-CIO a few weeks ago when she essentially said she believed the same things about labor that Criss did. That is particularly interesting given that the Texas AFL-CIO recently condemned the Texas Supreme Court’s ruling on the deposition issue:

“Lord John Browne should have to answer any and all questions about the decisions he made that led to the tragic deaths of 15 Texans. Instead, the families of those injured and killed only get one hour to question the CEO. The victims and the public have a right to the full story.

“But, today’s decision is about much more than one man having to answer a few questions. This is about CEO accountability and the importance of full and open disclosure by corporate CEOs who make decisions that threaten the safety of workers and communities.

Very, very interesting.

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