http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/10/06/4316884/hampton-change-needed-atop-criminal.html

I’ve stopped overestimating the intelligence of some voters, so I won’t dare to predict how this campaign will turn out.

But Texans have a chance to make a serious statement about the nature of their criminal court system. They ought to back the election of Keith Hampton as the next presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Hampton is a Democrat running against Republican incumbent Judge Sharon “Killer” Keller. He’s drawn the endorsement of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (see link), among other papers. The S-T makes a compelling case that Keller has embarrassed the state long enough. The paper makes an equally compelling argument in favor of Keith Hampton.

As the editorial points out, the nadir of Keller’s time as presiding judge was when the court’s office closed at 5 p.m. and wouldn’t hear the last-minute of a death row inmate. She’s been hit with ethics charges and has generally been seen as an ardent friend of police and prosecutors. Let me be clear, I too have great respect for cops and prosecutors – but I haven’t taken an oath to administer justice without bias.

I hate the fact that we elect judges on partisan ballots in Texas. Back when the state was heavily Democratic, many good Republican judicial candidates were swept aside in the partisan tide. The state has turned Republican and the same fate has fallen on many qualified Democratic judicial candidates.

In this case, a true injustice will be done if Texas voters return Sharon Keller to the state’s highest criminal appellate court simply because she has an “R” next to her name.