What the Hecht?
July 24th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Several months ago Justice Nathan Hecht, the longest-serving member of the Texas Supreme Court, racked up some $450,000 in legal bills fighting a ruling by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which he paid through the kindness of campaign donors. Details are of that tawdry tale are here.
Now, as Texas Watch documented in a complaint filed today in Travis County, the problem is that Hecht didn’t actually pay that entire legal bill. Turns out he received a discount from his lawyers at the firm Jackson Walker worth about $100,000. While judges are allowed to collect contributions for legal defense funds, they are limited to $5,000 for individuals and $30,000 for PACs, including law firms. If considered the same as a campaign contribution, Hecht’s big discount could constitute one of several violations. Texas watch explains where the complaints were filed and why:
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Public Integrity Unit: The Texas Penal Code prohibits judges from accepting a gift from a party who the judge knows is likely to appear before him. As Jackson Walker is a prominent law firm with numerous clients with interests that are likely to come before the Texas Supreme Court, the discount the firm gave Justice Hecht was possibly an illegal gift. A violation of this statute is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of $4,000.
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State Commission on Judicial Conduct: The discount on his legal expenses is a gift that reflects adversely on his impartiality and is a possible exploitation of his position in apparent violation of the Canons of Judicial Ethics.
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Texas Ethics Commission: The $100,000 discount that Hecht received on his legal bills is an in-kind contribution in excess of the statutory $30,000 contribution limit that law firms are permitted to donate to judges and judicial candidates. A violation of this statute is punishable by a fine of three times the amount of the illegal contribution.
Alex Winslow, the watchdog’s executive director, is asking for a full investigation into the discount.
Hecht, for his part, has denied that any of the contributions to his defense fund would influence proceedings before his court.
Hecht’s lawyer, Chip Babcock, a high-profile First Amendment lawyer in Dallas, told Fort Worth Star-Telegram in April that any rules violations were 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,” he told the paper. “I wouldn’t have done it that way if I thought it was going to cause a problem, especially not to Justice Hecht.”
August 14th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
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