Letters to Lawyers, Lobbyists, and Litigants
July 30th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Texas Watch has been doing all the heavy lifting on this, but director Alex Winslow has dug up yet another interesting document on the fundraising efforts of the state’s senior Supreme Court Justice, Nathan Hecht. Last week Travis County D.A. Ronnie Earle announced his office was looking into one of three complaints filed by Judicial Watch against Justice Hecht for possible omissions on his campaign finance reports.
All of the trouble stems from Hecht’s efforts to get reimbursed for legal expenses he incurred while employing “Oprah’s lawyer” to appeal a reprimand from the state’s judicial ethics commission. The admonition was overturned on appeal, and Hecht eventually paid the bills by hitting up “attorneys, lobbyists, and litigants with business before the Court soliciting funds to cover his personal legal expenses.” Now Texas Watch has obtained a copy of the letter Hecht sent out, reproduced below. It’s a tiny bit of insight into how state officials conduct business:
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More importantly, as Texas Watch notes, the letter’s significance is that Justice Hecht says that “The firm [Jackson Walker] has also agreed to designate a large part of the fees as an in-kind contribution to my campaign.” Hecht’s campaign finance reports show no in-kind contributions from Jackson Walker, which could be a violation of the Election Code.
It’s worth noting Hecht’s explanation in the letter, as well. His letter makes it clear that he thinks he never should have been reprimanded in the first place and that he saw his case as a larger stand: “So I appealed — to clear my record, to ensure that other Texas judges would not be subjected to such abusive treatment by the Commission, and to uphold the rule of law. … Because of the public importance of my case, it could not be lost to misstep. Trial costs were high.”
For what it’s worth, Law.com has a good rundown of both sides from when Hecht was first admonished. For our views on Hecht’s conduct read the Observer editorial “Hecht of a Job.”
