Justifying their duties, the State Commission on Judicial
Conduct states many of the cases are dismissed because they have no merit, there
is insufficient evidence, or they are unrelated to the agency's oversight.
Additionally, other factors cited include a shortage of staff, working long
hours investigating the caseloads, and having a limited travel budget to
properly interview witnesses, which are problematic issues for thoroughly
assessing an investigation and reaching an appropriate reprimand or punishment.
While the article states that most reprimands are kept
private in accordance with the Texas Constitution to prohibit public
retaliation, advocates say these are necessary protections to guard judges.
However, there must be equal division between the public’s knowledge on which
judges have received sanctions and a voter’s right to make an informed decision
whether or not to elect that judge again. In my opinion, the Public Information
Act, which makes all government information available to the public with
certain exceptions, should be extended to include the State Commission on
Judicial Conduct since it is a governmental body enacted by the Texas
Legislature. Additionally, the Sunset Advisory Commission is mandated by the
legislature to determine if SCJC is performing its intended function. After a
recent audit of proposed recommendations to SCJC in March of this year, this
agency will now allow Sunset Advisory Commission to sit in the judicial
misconduct hearings to fully evaluate whether it is performing their duties impartially.
Due to the private rules held by the State Commission on
Judicial Conduct, there have been numerous instances of unfairly sanctioning
judges with similar offenses. The decision to reprimand or punish judges has
been largely applied on a case-by-case basis which varies because the
thirteen-member commission changes commissioners every six years and this may
account for some of their inconsistent judgments. This agency seems to be
loosely regulated and has unique protection by the Texas Constitution which
created its existence, yet it is unable to be restrained by the legislature to
be fully accountable in its decision-making process.
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