From the Austin (TX) Statesman (5/24/06): Texas Supreme Court Justice Admonished

For a glimpse of what we might expect from the political operatives appointed to the US Supreme Court by Bush the First and Bush the Second, consider;

Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht crossed an ethical line last year when he quietly assured conservative leaders about high court nominee Harriet Miers’ views on religion and abortion, a judicial review panel concluded.

Hecht also erred in coordinating his advocacy of Miers, a controversial and ultimately unsuccessful nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, with the White House providing daily reports of his media contacts and allowing administration officials to send reporters his way, according to a public admonition by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

In more than 120 interviews Hecht used his solid credibility as a Christian-Republican politician to drum up support for Miers. The White House even recruited him to lobby James Dobson, of Focus on the Family, who infamously stated “When you know some of the things that I know, that I probably shouldn’t know, you will understand why… I believe Harriet Miers will be a good justice.”

As we work our way through the primary season and approach the general elections in November, be sure to research the candidates for judge in your area. Do we really need another former prosecutor running our criminal courts? If Christian-Republicans control the judiciary from municipal courts to the US Supreme Court, where will America find merciful justice?