AUSTIN, TX – Another former Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals endorsed Keith Hampton for Presiding Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals today. Baird joins former colleague of the Court, Judge Morris Overstreet, and Texas Supreme Court Justice Hightower in their endorsements of Keith Hampton.
“Keith will make an outstanding judge,” said Baird. “And I think judges across Texas share that view, though most can’t endorse him if they are subject to assignment.” Texas judges who are in active judicial service are ethically prohibited from endorsing other judges and judicial candidates.
“We need a fresh voice on the Court, and Keith is that voice,” said Baird. “While Keller escaped removal by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct and impeachment by the Legislature, she will not be and should not be rewarded with re-election by Texas voters.”
Judge Charlie Baird is a former judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals from 1990-1998. He also served as a visiting justice on the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Texas Courts of Appeals, and later as the presiding judge of the 299th District Court. In addition, he was a visiting professor at Texas Tech University School of Law, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, and South Texas College of Law.
Hampton is running against Judge Sharon Keller, the incumbent judge who was condemned by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct and punished with the largest fine in Texas history by the Texas Ethics Commission for her actions in a death penalty case.