Chief Justice Nathan Hecht delivers the State of the Judiciary speech at the Texas Supreme Court building in Austin on April 5, 2023., The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
“I grow concerned that political divisions among us threaten the judicial independence essential to the rule of law,” Hecht, a Republican, said in the Texas Supreme Court courtroom in Austin. “The left and right, and leaders in both the executive and legislative branches, are in agreement: Judges are not independent, and shouldn’t be; they should take sides — my side.”
Both the Texas Supreme Court and Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest court for criminal matters in the state, are made up of all Republicans. “We cannot expect to recruit top-notch lawyers to be judges when they not only must take a substantial pay cut to leave practice, they are faced with no reasonable hope for dependable raises,” he said.