Texas Supreme Court Justice Has Missed Majority of Oral Arguments to Campaign

Texas Supreme Court Justice John Devine has skipped the majority of the court’s oral arguments for the current term that started in September, drawing the attention of his opponent.

On Feb. 1, the other justices traveled from Austin to the University of Texas at El Paso to hear oral arguments for two El Paso-based cases while Justice Devine stayed back to attend a campaign event.

In addition to the Feb. 1 oral arguments, the court also heard arguments on three days in September, six days in October, three days in November, and five days in January, for a total of 18 days this term. The justices can hear multiple cases in one day.

Justice Devine, who is seeking a third term on the Texas Supreme Court, has missed 10 of those days. He was first elected in November 2012.

His campaign did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment before press time.

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“It’s really a nonissue,” he told Bloomberg Law. “The fact is we’re elected, and part of our job is to run for reelection. It doesn’t do you any good if you don’t get reelected.”

Justice Devine is not violating the state’s election codes when he misses oral arguments for campaign activities, campaign law attorney Andrew Cates told Bloomberg Law. However, it could be a matter of importance to those who elected him.

“If he’s only listening passively and not interacting or engaging, then I would think the public would take issue with that,” Mr. Cates said.

But Justice Devine argues that he is still able to do his job without having to attend oral arguments. He reportedly reviews case briefs and watches the archived videos of proceedings for the cases he misses.

“My work ethic hasn’t suffered,” he said.

Opponent Speaks Out

His primary challenger is Justice Brian Walker, who was elected to Texas’ 2nd District Court of Appeals in November 2020.

Justice Walker, 46, told The Epoch Times that choosing campaign activities over attending oral arguments is at odds with the Judicial Code of Conduct.

“Justice Devine counters that [campaigning] is a necessary part of politics. … He claims that campaigning is a part of his judicial duties,” Justice Walker said.

“That’s just silliness to me. You know, all you have to do to determine if it’s really a judicial activity is ask yourself who’s doing the judging in the campaign process,” he continued. “Is he judging the voters, or are the voters judging him?”

Justice Walker said he began his campaign nearly a year ago but that it has never kept him from his work.

In July 2020, Justice Walker defeated Elizabeth Beach in a Republican primary runoff, garnering 64 percent of the vote. He later ran unopposed in the general election and took office in January 2021.

This past January, the Texas Supreme Court denied Justice Walker’s bid to remove Justice Devine from the primary ballot.

Justice Walker filed an emergency petition over allegations that the incumbent opponent had failed to secure the required number of valid petition signatures for his candidate application.

On Jan. 11, the Texas Supreme Court said Justice Walker had not filed his petition in a timely manner despite his claims that the Republican Party chair did not provide copies of Justice Devine’s petitions until after the candidates were certified.

“The facts here fit within the scope of this longstanding cure remedy that Devine can cure the defects Walker identifies,” read the opinion.

The Republican primary will be held on March 5.