Appeals Courts Matter

Too often we voters only pay attention to the most high profile races, in part it’s because of the allure of a race for President or Senate but our media also tends to focus on those races to the detriment of  other races both closer to home and in some ways more likely to impact us as individuals. It’s rare that we hear about judicial races even for appellate courts that cover large parts of the state like the Fourth Court of Appeal which covers 32 counties west and south of Guadalupe County. There’s plenty of news about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and that should be a reminder to us all just how important our judiciary is.

Mid-level appellate courts like the Fourth Court of Appeal are where big questions of justice are most often answered as most of their decisions are not appealed further. Those decisions can impact you on issues like medical malpractice, compensation for injury in an auto or workplace accident, or responsibility for shoddy workmanship by a homebuilder. The same appeals courts also handle issues related to family law like child custody and child support as well as criminal cases.

You probably know someone who has been involved in one or more of those kinds of cases and even if their case wasn’t appealed the result of that case was affected by prior decisions made by those justices. When an appeals court judge issues a decision it includes an opinion stating the rationale and those decisions are frequently cited in trial courts when there is a controversy over the application of law and the trial judge is expected to act consistent with those prior decisions. This makes it important for appellate court justices to have trial court experience.

The upcoming elections in Guadalupe County will include five Fourth Court of Appeals races. Many of the Republican challengers are men who have had no experience in a civilian trial court other than submitting filings and perhaps taking notes. They haven’t so much as picked a jury let alone argued a case. Some have lists of purported accomplishments like staff attorney in the court or Judge Advocate in the Marine Corps. One of the Republicans seems to expect to win just because he has an R behind his name on the ballot as he isn’t out campaigning and raising money to get his message out.

All five Democrats are women with many years of experience in trial courts, three have also had 6 years of experience on the Fourth Court of Appeals. There is a clear difference between the candidates for each of the five positions up for election on the court and the Democrats running have the experience hands down.

Judge Rebeca Martinez spoke at a meeting I attended earlier this week and told us that she was inspired to become a lawyer when she was 12 years old when she watched the Al Pacino movie “And Justice for All”. I’ve also heard Judge Patricia Alvarez speak about her inspiration for becoming an attorney and then a judge. That kind of passion for justice is what I want to see in every judge and you should too.

Early voting starts October 22 and election day is November 6, you have plenty of time to get to the polls so remember how important it is to elect qualified appeals court judges. Vote for Rebeca Martinez, Patricia Alvarez, Luz Elena Chapa, Beth Watkins, and Liza Rodriguez and you’ll get the best appellate judges available anywhere.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - September 21, 2018