2010 was a difficult year for Democrats across the country, and especially for us here in Texas. Our hopes for taking back the Texas House and electing a Democratic governor fell short. Since starting my campaign for Presiding Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals, I am frequently asked, “Keith, why are you running for a statewide office? It is nearly impossible to win.”
My response is always, “I love those odds. If we don’t run Democrats for statewide office because we are scared, when will we ever win an election? Time and again, our candidates have won impossible elections because Democrats embraced those impossibilities.”
For that reason, I am challenging an ultra-conservative Republican, whose “deformed moral compass” caused her to close the doors of justice on a meritorious death row appeal. Under Judge Sharon Keller’s administration, she approved such things as sleeping lawyers for indigent people and experts who justified death sentence recommendations on the basis of race, all the while disapproving judicial relief for undisputed innocent people in prison. As for her behavior in a more recent death penalty case, the Special Master of the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct concluded in a masterpiece of understatement, “[T]here is a valid reason why many in the legal community are not proud of Judge Keller’s actions.
Of course, I am not just running because the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals deserves better than Judge Keller. I will also bring twenty years of experience fighting for and defending the rights of Texans. During these 20 years, I have accrued more legal experience dealing with the death penalty than the 9 Presiding Judges combined.
In addition to a career of fighting for justice and Texans’ rights, I have fought for meaningful legal reform. Some examples of issues and reforms I have tackled are:
Support for Veterans and for the Mentally Disabled. I worked to ensure Texas created special courts to steer our veterans away from prison and help them to reintegrate into American life. As a strong advocate of protecting the rights of the mentally disabled, I helped establish the first Mental Health Public Defender Office in the nation. A recent success on both those fronts is detailed in Texas Failure to Fund Mental Health Treatment Leaves Hundreds Stranded in Jails around the State (San Antonio Current, January 3, 2012).
Marriage Equality – Just a few years into my practice, the Texas Human Rights Foundation approached me to provide legal support to two LGBT couples fighting a law that criminalized same sex marriage. I wrote a supporting argument that helped convince the Third Court of Appeals to declare the law unconstitutional. (Unfortunately the ruling was later overturned by the Republican Supreme Court.) I was proud to have supported this fight that in 1992 would have paved the way for marriage equality. It was one of my first battles for civil rights.
Innocence – I successfully worked to pass a law providing DNA testing for prisoners so they could prove their innocence. I also helped establish clinics in law schools throughout Texas to continuously work for the justice of all innocent people in the future.
Life Sentences – Texas jurors once had a bad choice: death or release from prison for capital defendants. Over strong opposition, I successfully worked to include the option of life without parole for our juries and for our district attorneys.
I know this is an uphill battle, but I refuse to allow our judicial system and constitutional rights to be held hostage by Republican judges who have threatened justice at every level. The Republicans took over Texas government by starting with the judiciary. Let’s show them two can play that game.
If you find yourself in the same situation wondering if we will ever take back Texas, just remember, “If not now, then when?”
