Burnt Orange Report

Priscilla Owen Rated Worst Justice by the Houston Bar Association

By Byron LaMasters

The Houston Bar Association rated the six (all Republican) Texas Supreme Court Justices (along with many other judges) that have served on the court since July 31, 2004. The Houston Chronicle reports (via Kuff):

The poll, which is completed every two years, asked HBA members to rate judges "outstanding," "acceptable" or "poor" in seven categories, including following the law, demonstrating impartiality, paying attention in court and using attorneys' time efficiently. It also assigned them an overall rating. The poll included federal, state, county and municipal judges.

About 1,200 lawyers, 11 percent of the association's membership, responded to the poll. Most judges were not rated by every attorney participating in the poll because lawyers were asked only to consider judges they have worked with directly.

"It doesn't necessarily mean that a judge is good or bad," said Rocky Robinson, a civil attorney and HBA president. "It is an indication of the attorneys' perceptions of the judges' performance in those categories based on their experience in front of the judges." [...]

Supreme Court of Texas

Judge	Outstanding	Acceptable	Poor
Scott A. Brister (422)	36.9	20.7	42.4
Nathan L. Hecht (327)	40.3	17.4	42.3
Wallace B. Jefferson (270)	53.4	29.7	16.9
Harriet O'Neill (334)	55	30.5	14.5
Priscilla R. Owen (350)	39.5	15.2	45.3
Dale Wainwright (316)	48.7	25.7	25.7

Of the six Texas Supreme Court Justices rated, Priscilla Owen had the highest "poor" rating, and the second lowest "outstanding" rating. Furthermore, Owen has the largest negative difference between respondents ranking her "poor" over "outstanding" with 5.8% more "poor" ratings than "outstanding".

The results are even more telling when the details are examined:

SUPREME COURT OF TEXAS PRISCILLA R. OWEN

Number of Attorneys Rating This Judge: 350

Question	Outstanding	Acceptable	Poor
Is attentive to oral argument?	45.8	20.3	33.9
Interacts constructively with counsel during oral arguments?	42.6	19.5	37.9
Opinions demonstrate well reasoned, clearly - written disposition of the case based on proper application of the law to the record?	38.4	15.3	46.3
Is impartial and open-minded with respect to determining the legal issues?	34.6	16.6	48.8
Overall rating?	39.5	15.2	45.3

Are these ratings from a non-partisan organization of lawyers who have worked directly with Justice Owen reflective of someone who deserves a promotion? I don't think so...

More at Kuff.

Posted by Byron LaMasters at May 21, 2005 09:46 PM | TrackBack