The grievance and the narrative explanation filed by the Texas Civil Rights Project are available in Adobe .pdf format.
This morning's San Antonio Express-News reports, "Rights group wants judge’s law license yanked." It's written by Guillermo Contreras.
A civil rights group is asking the state to revoke the law license of a judge who has been a lightning rod in debates over the death penalty.
The Austin-based Texas Civil Rights Project filed a grievance Wednesday with the State Bar of Texas against Justice Sharon Keller, the presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals, saying she is unfit to retain her license to practice law. Records show Keller has been licensed since graduating from SMU's law school in 1978.
The group alleges she is untrustworthy and dishonest, citing:
• A review by the Texas Ethics Commission that found she failed to disclose several sources of income, as required by law.
• Her refusal in 2007 to keep the court open after 5 p.m. at the request of lawyers drafting an appeal on behalf of death row inmate Michael Richard, who was executed that evening.
• Statements she made in a federal lawsuit filed by Richard's widow that purportedly contradict what she told the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
Keller, who recently said she'd seek reelection in 2012, had no comment. Her lawyer, Chip Babcock, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The state Commission on Judicial Conduct, which publicly warned her after investigating her actions on the day Richards was executed, also had no comment.
In April, the Texas Ethics Commission fined Keller a record $100,000 for failing to report stock, honoraria and more than $2.4 million in real estate holdings on her 2007 and 2008 personal financial disclosure statements. Keller filed amended reports with the commission in 2009 after news reports revealed her missing holdings.
And:
In 2009, the judicial conduct commission filed misconduct charges against Keller and issued her a “public warning.” The disciplinary body said she brought discredit to the judiciary by closing the court to Richard's appeals in 2007 just hours before he was executed.
In October, a special panel of three Republican judges said the commission issued her the wrong discipline, but the panel did not set aside the commission's misconduct findings.
Earlier coverage begins with the post, "Special Court of Review Rejects Keller Ruling Reconsideration."
The Special Court of Review's Order is here; its Final Opinion is in Adobe .pdf format. The Commission's Findings, Conclusions and Order of Public Warning is here.
Other key documents in the case include:
- Examiner's Objections and Responses filed by attorney John McKetta
- Objections filed by attorney Chip Babcock
- Findings.by Special Master David Berchelmann
- Charges brought by the Commission on Judicial Conduct
Some of the critical early reporting is noted in these posts:
- More on the CCA's Refusal to Consider Richard Stay Request
- Editorial Outrage at CCA Closed Door
- More on the CCA Closed Door
- Ethics Complaint Filed Against CCA Presiding Judge
- More on the Ethics Complaint Against Judge Keller
- Continued Criticism of Presiding Judge Sharon Keller
Keller was also issued a record fine by the Texas Ethics Commission over her financial disclosure filings, noted here.
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