It’s time voters heard the TRUTH about the race for Chief Justice, Fifth District Court of Appeals, and why change is needed on this important appellate court.
First, let’s talk about what’s happening with the court right now. According to statistics from the Office of Court Administration (OCA), the Fifth District Court of Appeals has a backlog, particularly in criminal cases, that it is not addressing. New leadership is needed to ensure the effective administration of justice.
+ The Fifth District Court of Appeals has the highest number of backlogged pending criminal cases over a 24-month period of ANY intermediate appellate court in Texas as of the end of the 2023 Fiscal Year. WHY? Is it because all of the justices aren’t carrying their weight on the court? Perhaps. Consider the below.
+ Denise Garcia, who claims to be the most qualified candidate in this race, is actually the poorest performing of all of the justices on the Fifth District Court of Appeals. For example, for the same time period, she wrote the lowest number of Original Opinions on Merit of any justice. She further was the worst performer when it came to total opinions. Garcia’s total opinions rendered were well under the average for the entire court.
Second, consider who you really want in the role of chief justice. Do you want someone who is literally handing Gregg Abbott the opportunity to appoint a REPUBLICAN justice to this court? Because that’s what will happen if Garcia wins this race.
Finally, look at who is attacking Judge Staci Williams and WHY.
All of the candidates put up for this court, and who have ever won a seat on this court as Democrats are clients of ONE POLITICAL CONSULTANT, who believes he owns the Fifth District Court of Appeals and uses the same as his personal political playground. He doesn’t care WHO is elected to this court as long as he is getting paid by that candidate. He has NO INCENTIVE to run the best candidates. He doesn’t care about the litigants, or the issues at stake. To him, it’s about combining the greatest number of candidates as clients into one group so he can make as much money as possible off of all of those clients–period.
Every attack that has come against Judge Staci, including from sitting justices, is because they don’t want the consultant-led cabal that has given them almost total control of this court disrupted. They are happy with the status quo and the fact that the Fifth District COA is the worst-performing appeals court in Texas when it comes to criminal appeals–where real people’s lives are on the line.
We are fortunate, as Democrats, that this race will essentially be won and lost in the primary thanks to tremendous Democratic turnout from Dallas County in general elections. However, as Democrats, we CANNOT become complacent and simply elect candidates in the primary because they are on a single consultant’s slate. This is machine politics at its worst.
Look at the FACTS in this race, and consider that the only people who benefit if Denise Garcia is elected Chief Justice are her political consultants and Governor Abbott because he gets to appoint someone to her position if she wins.
Staci Williams is the most qualified candidate for this position. Denise Garcia can’t even handle the job she has, according to the statistics from the Office of Court Administration.
The choice is clear: Staci Williams.