Delivered October 19, 2007
Thank you for the invitation to speak to this distinguished organization. I have a few thoughts to share with you this evening – inspired in part by a visit last year to Yorktown and Jamestown. It is a story that, I am sure, merits not more than a footnote in history, but it illustrates for me why we celebrate our American heritage and our fidelity to the rule of law exactly 400 years after the first English expeditions landed at those old Virginia settlements.
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Delivered February 20, 2007
I am honored to appear before you for my biennial “State of the Judiciary” address, one of the unique privileges afforded the Chief Justice of Texas. It provides an occasion for an independent branch of government to speak directly to the Legislative and Executive branches about ideas for improving the administration of justice in our great State. The presence this morning of Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst, Speaker Craddick, and Governor Perry is testament to the respect that the Legislature and the Executive bestow on our Judiciary.
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Delivered February 23, 2005
I am honored to appear before you for my inaugural “State of the Judiciary” address, one of the unique privileges afforded to me as Chief Justice. As you know, I was appointed by Governor Rick Perry to fill the vacancy left when Chief Justice Tom Phillips retired. Tom Phillips devoted his life to the Court, and to the judiciary, and has received much-deserved praise for his service to Texas. I am sure I have the authority to order yet another plaque for this giant Texan. I choose instead to honor his example by speaking passionately about how the judiciary can best meet its responsibility to the people of Texas, to litigants in our courts, and to all who expect our halls of justice to be fair and impartial.
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Delivered January 01, 2003
Sometime in the mid 1850’s a district judge from McLennan County, Texas ruled that a free man, even a free black man could not be bound by contract to sell himself into slavery. That was a fairly remarkable holding in the context of those times. That ruling was eventually reviewed and affirmed by the Supreme Court of Texas. The court’s opinion is contained in this volume of the Texas Reports.
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