Paxton’s picks appear on track to cement Republicans’ hold on Texas’ highest criminal court
Three new faces will join the bench, but the political balance of power is likely to remain the same on the Court of Criminal Appeals. Full Story
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![The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Jan. 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Three court of criminal appeal judges up for reelection targeted by Ken Paxton’s political revenge machine
Paxton promised to go after the Republican judges over their 2021 ruling that struck down the attorney general’s ability to unilaterally prosecute voter fraud. Full Story
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![From left: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Michelle Slaughter, Judge Barbara Hervey and Presiding Judge Sharon Keller.]()
Credit: The Texas Tribune -
Texas' highest criminal court strikes down a key provision of the Open Meetings Act
The ruling only pertains to a slice of the law, but open government advocates say the decision “removes a powerful disincentive” put in place to keep public officials from hiding public business. Full Story
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![Judges of the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals Court at the state Capitol. Jan. 11, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
In race against Keller, Republican highlighting infamous death row call
Sharon Keller, the longtime presiding judge of Texas' Court of Criminal Appeals, has tried to move on from several past ethical controversies — including blocking the last-minute appeal of a 2007 execution. A primary challenger hopes voters will reconsider them. Full Story
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![Sharon Keller and David Bridges are both running in the 2018 Republican primary for presiding judge of the state's Court of Criminal Appeals.]()
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Dem Judge Candidate Seeking GOP Votes
Democrat Keith Hampton is focusing his campaign to lead the state’s top criminal court on winning over Republicans. That is the key, he says, to defeating controversial long-time Judge Sharon Keller. Full Story
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![Texas Court of Criminal Appeals presiding Judge Sharon Keller and Democratic challenger, lawyer Keith Hampton]()
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Campaign Roundup: The Week's Political News
Cain quits, James files, the Williamses go for it, and other state campaign news, candidate announcements, retirements and rumors from the past week. Full Story
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![Erwin Cain]()
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Updated: The 2012 Holdouts List
Some are waiting to see what the courts will do. Others want to see if any opponents surface. Regardless, with six days to go until the filing deadline, how many incumbents haven't filed yet? A whole bunch. Full Story
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![Former state Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, shown in 2011, took the reins as chancellor of the Texas Tech University System in 2014.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
TribBlog: Keller Case Not Over Yet
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct isn't giving up on its attempt to reprimand Sharon Keller — in an unexpected move today, it appealed a court's dismissal of its sanction against Keller, the presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Full Story
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![Sharon Keller at the 2010 Texas Republican Convention.]()
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An Interview with Sharon Keller
The soft-spoken and — until now — media-shy presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals sat down with The Texas Tribune last week to talk about capital punishment in Texas, what she was doing on the afternoon she closed her office at 5 p.m. to a last-minute death row appeal, the flaws in the way the state sanctions judges, what it's like to be known as Sharon “Killer” Keller and the "ridiculous" idea that she doesn't care about defendants or indigent defense. Full Story
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Sharon Keller: The TT Interview
The soft-spoken and — until now — media-shy presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals sat down with The Texas Tribune last week to talk about capital punishment in Texas, what she was doing on the afternoon she closed her office at 5 p.m. to a last-minute death row appeal, the flaws in the way the state sanctions judges, what it's like to be known as Sharon “Killer” Keller and the "ridiculous" idea that she doesn't care about defendants or indigent defense. Full Story
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TribBlog: Keller Cleared
A specially appointed court of review vacated the State Commission on Judicial Conduct's sanction of Sharon Keller today, saying the state board acted unconstitutionally in reprimanding the presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Full Story
![Sharon Keller at the 2010 Texas Republican Convention.]()
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TribBlog: Supreme Court Says No to Keller
On the same day the Texas Supreme Court denied Judge Sharon Keller's request for intervention in her sanction from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, she has filed a second request to appeal the commission's decision. Full Story
![Sharon Keller at the 2010 Texas Republican Convention.]()
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TribBlog: Keller's Appeal Invalid, SCJC Says
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct is taking on Judge Sharon Keller's appeal of its sanction. Full Story
![Sharon Keller at the 2010 Texas Republican Convention.]()
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TribBlog: Keller Appeals
Judge Sharon Keller says that in sanctioning her, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct “acted in a lawless, unconstitutional manner.” Full Story
![Sharon Keller at the 2010 Texas Republican Convention.]()
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TribBlog: A "Public Warning" For Keller [Updated]
Sharon Keller got a "public warning" from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for refusing to keep her office open past 5 pm on the day a Texas death row inmate was scheduled to die. Full Story
![Sharon Keller at the 2010 Texas Republican Convention.]()
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Keller for the Defense
Judge Sharon Keller has been pilloried as the villain of the Texas criminal justice system, but supporters credit the chief of the state's highest criminal court with working to ensure fair trials for impoverished defendants. Full Story
![Sharon Keller at the 2010 Texas Republican Convention.]()
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Keller's Lawyer: Lies Led to Accusations
The investigation into Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Chief Justice Sharron Keller is closer to a conclusion today. Earlier this year a judge recommended that Keller should not be sanctioned after she was accused of closing the clerk's office and blocking a final appeal for death row inmate Michael Wayne Richard. Ben Philpott, who reports for KUT News and the Tribune, has more on today’s judicial oversight panel hearing. Full Story
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![Sharon Keller, presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.]()
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Defenseless
Before adopting the Fair Defense Act in 2001, Texas was considered abysmal in legal circles when it came to providing representation for the poor. Proponents and critics of the current system agree the situation has improved since lawmakers started requiring counties to implement minimum representation standards. But has it improved enough? Full Story
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![State Share of Indigent Defense Costs 2001-2009]()
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TribBlog: Keller Gets Record Ethics Fine
Sharon Keller isn’t as meticulous on her personal finance reports as she is particular about court closing time, the Texas Ethics Commission found today. Full Story
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Sharon Keller Might Walk
The Chief Justice of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals should not be reprimanded for actions that led to the execution of a death row inmate in 2007: That's the opinion of the judge who presided over her ethics trial last year. Ben Philpott, reporting for KUT News and the Tribune, filed this story. Full Story
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