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Complaint filed against state court justice
A consumer advocacy group filed complaints with three state agencies Tuesday concerning discounted legal services that Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht received to fight charges that he abused his judicial office to promote Harriet Miers, a onetime girl friend, to the U.S. Supreme Court.Texas Watch filed complaints with Public Integrity Unit of the Travis County District Attorney's office, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct and the Texas Ethics Commission claiming that the 25 percent discount he received was worth at least $100,000, exceeding the limit for gifts and contributions.
Complaint filed against state court justice
A consumer advocacy group filed complaints with three state agencies Tuesday concerning discounted legal services that Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht received to fight charges that he abused his judicial office to promote Harriet Miers, a onetime girl friend, to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Texas Watch filed complaints with Public Integrity Unit of the Travis County District Attorney's office, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct and the Texas Ethics Commission claiming that the 25 percent discount he received was worth at least $100,000, exceeding the limit for gifts and contributions.
The complaints were filed about a week after Hecht filed campaign contribution reports with the ethics commission showing that he raised about $447,000 from the state's top law firms to pay for his legal defense. In those reports, Hecht showed that he had payed his attorneys $314,000.
In a contribution report filed in January, Hecht reported that he had paid the firm about $29,000.
"We believe Justice Hecht's actions warrant a full and complete investigation," said Alex Winslow, executive director of Texas Watch. "All we're trying to do is to raise the question, it's up to the authorities to review the case and for them to determine if any wrongdoing has occurred."
Earlier this year, the Star-Telegram wrote about how the discounted legal help Hecht received might have violated campaign contribution limits and a prohibition against public servants accepting gifts.
Hecht's legal bill was slashed by about 25 percent by Chip Babcock, a prominent First Amendment attorney in Dallas. Babcock successfully defended Hecht last year against a public admonition issued against the justice by the judicial conduct commission in 2006.
Judges can solicit campaign cash for a legal defense fund, but they can't take more than $5,000 from an individual or $30,000 from a political action committee. The discount was worth more than $100,000, Texas Watch contends.
Judges and their families are also not allowed to accept gifts from anyone who might appear in their court unless it is part of a testimonial or an ordinary social situation, such as a birthday, wedding or graduation, according to the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct canons.
Babcock told the Star-Telegram in April that if he violated any rules by discounting Hecht's bill, it was unintentional.
"I've said all along that I want to do the right thing, and if the right thing is that I've got to be paid more money, then so be it," Babcock said. "I wouldn't have done it that way if I thought it was going to cause a problem, especially not to Justice Hecht."
After filing his campaign financial reports this month, Hecht said he did not hear cases involving Jackson Walker's attorneys during the time he was being represented by the firm.
Hecht also denied that any contribution would influence any of his decisions from the bench.
In the complaints filed today by Texas Watch with the Travis County District Attorney, they contend the Texas Penal Code prohibits judges from accepting a gift from a party who is likely to appear in their court. Jackson Walker, a prominent law firm in Texas, routinely handles cases before the Supreme Court.
A violation of this statute is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of $4,000.
In the complaints before the judicial conduct commmission and the ethic commission, the public advocacy group states the discount reflects adversely on Hecht's impartiality and that it exceeds the limit on in-kind contributions that a judge is allowed to receive.
"I think there is a cloud hanging over Justice Hecht and it is threatening to effect his colleagues on the court," Winslow said. "I think in the public's mind it's raised questions about the impartiality of the Supreme Court and their ability to rule in a fair and unbiased way."
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