Texas voters should oust Justice Keller

When one of Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller's Republican colleagues said she had made the court a ?national laughingstock,? he was being generous.

Keller's controversial judicial actions are no laughing matter.

And that's why we urge Texans to cast ballots in the general election for her opponent, Democrat KeithHampton.

Keller, a Republican, generated national attention in 2007 when she refused to keep the court clerk's office open after 5 p.m. so that lawyers for death row inmate Michael Richard could file an appeal shortly before his scheduled execution.

The inmate's lawyers had informed the court that they were rushing to file an appeal because on that same day the U.S. Supreme Court had agreed to hear a case involving the constitutionality of certain lethal injections.

Later, the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a public warning, saying her actions ?cast public discredit on the judiciary or administration of justice.?

Keller appealed the decision to a special three-judge panel, which dismissed the warning on a technicality ? it was not one of the legal options the commission had available.

But the commission's criticism was legitimate.

As the San Antonio Express-News reported, fellow Justice Tom Price said Keller had turned the court into a ?national laughingstock? years earlier when she ?wrote an opinion saying DNA evidence did not prove convicted rapist Roy Criner was innocent even though the semen in his alleged victim was not his. Keller said Criner could have worn a condom during the rape, a theory that was not raised by the prosecution during his trial.?

Gov. George W. Bush pardoned Criner in 2000.

In addition to questions about her judicial rulings, the Express-News reported that in 2010 the Texas Ethics Commission fined Keller $100,000, finding that she failed to report income and stock holdings in 2007 and 2008 financial filings required by the state. Keller appealed the decision.

Hampton, who has been practicing law since 1989, is board certified in criminal law. The Austin-based lawyer is a member of the Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas.

Hampton has handled all phases of death penalty cases and has ample experience in trial and appellate work.

Hampton would a bring a refreshing and much-needed change to the state's highest criminal court.

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Justices Barbara Parker Hervey and Elsa Alcala, both Republicans, face minor party opposition on the ballot. We recommend that voters return Hervey and Alcala to the court.

Source: http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/article/Texas-voters-should-oust-Justice-Keller-3943550.php

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