Texas Supreme Court justice seeking reelection under fire for absenteeism, ethics concerns

As early voting is underway in the Republican primary, a Texas Supreme Court justice seeking reelection to a third term finds himself dogged by ethical concerns, chronic absenteeism and a self-admitted history of arrests for protests at abortion clinics.

Justice John Devine, 65, the fourth-most senior justice, having joined the high court in 2012 after ousting an incumbent, is taking heat from his GOP primary challenger, Judge Brian Walker of the 2nd Court of Appeals in Fort Worth.

Walker, 46, has spent his political campaign amplifying Devine's low attendance in court hearings — Devine has skipped 60% of oral arguments this term, while all but one of his colleagues have had perfect attendance, according to a Statesman analysis of video records — as well as other unflattering revelations about the incumbent.

Among them is Devine's failure to recuse himself from a 2022 sex abuse case against his former co-counsel Paul Pressler and longtime law partner Jared Woodfill, whose law firm, Woodfill & Pressler LLP, employed Devine for several years, according to a Feb. 13 report from The Texas Tribune.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/elections/state/2024/02/27/texas-election-supreme-court-justice-skips-most-hearings-seeks-reelection/72598679007/