SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

By Sherry Sylvester

Texans for Lawsuit Reform annually honors Abraham Lincoln on Presidents’ Day for his strong stand against frivolous lawsuits and his expressed belief that such suits waste time and money and are rooted in greed. Over 150 years ago, Lincoln urged us all to “discourage litigation.” 

In his “Notes on a Law Lecture”, written on July 1, 1850, Lincoln said: “Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this. Who can be more nearly a fiend than he who habitually overhauls the register of deeds in search of defects in titles, whereon to stir up strife, and put money in his pocket?”

Lincoln’s message is especially important for Republican primary voters this year because a small group of personal injury trial lawyers – the kind of lawyers Lincoln referred to who “stir up litigation” – are bankrolling a slate of challengers to the Texas Supreme Court.

Most of these personal injury trial lawyers are liberal Democrats who are trying to infiltrate the Party of Lincoln and the GOP primary in an effort to remove three principled conservative jurists who have helped make the Texas Supreme Court one of the most admired appellate courts in the country.

Chief Justice Nathan Hecht and Justices Phil Johnson and Jeff Brown do not legislate from the bench.  They follow the plain words of the Constitution and Texas law.  They should be re-elected.

Chief Justice Hecht’s opponent, Robert Talton is a personal injury trial lawyer and a politician, not a judge.  His only experience was as a traffic judge two decades ago.

Johnson’s opponent, Sharon McCally, has been bankrolled by personal injury trial lawyers throughout her career and Brown’s opponent, Joe Pool not only has no judicial experience, he has received a public reprimand from the State Bar of Texas. He also has been sanctioned by both a trial court and an appellate court for pursuing groundless claims.  As Lincoln said, “a worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this.”

TLRPAC urges Republican Primary voters to remember the words of Lincoln when voting for the Supreme Court and choose Chief Justice Nathan Hecht and Justices Phil Johnson and Jeff Brown. 

For more information on the Supreme Court candidates, click here.http://www.tlrpac.com/press-release/re-election-texas-supreme-court-justices-2014-critically-important

Election Day is March 4.

 

Sherry Sylvester is a spokesperson for Texans for Lawsuit Reform. TLRPAC is the political arm of Texans for Lawsuit Reform, the state's largest civil justice reform organization. For TLRPAC’s entire list of endorsements, click here.  http://www.tlrpac.com/press-release/tlr-pac-republican-primary-endorsements.