(Note: As I have done in past elections, I am running a series of Q&As for judicial candidates in contested Democratic primaries. This is intended to help introduce the candidates and their experiences to those who plan to vote in March. I am running these responses in the order that I receive them from the candidates. You can see other Q&As and further information about judicial candidates on my 2018 Judicial page.
Tracy Good
1. Who are you and what are you running for?
My name is TRACY D. GOOD. I am running for the 313th Juvenile Court.
I’m a native Houstonian. I have been married to my wife for almost 29 years. We have two adorable twin daughters. I am a graduate of the University of Houston with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. In addition, I obtained my Juris Doctorate from the University of Houston Law School. I am a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Internal Auditor. Despite these credentials and many years of experience in corporate America, my passion and focus has always been defending the defenseless, ensuring that the rights of individuals are upheld to the full extent of the law. I want to carry these traits to the bench so that the powers of the government are equally balanced with the rights of individuals. This balance is especially important when it comes to protecting the rights of children and families.
2. What kind of cases does this court hear?
Juvenile and CPS termination cases.
3. Why are you running for this particular bench?
I have a passion for justice. I believe everyone regardless of economic status, ethnicity, gender, or sexual preference should all be seen equally in the eyes of the law. This is especially true with respect to the rights of children. I want lawyers in my court to fight zealously for their "children" clients. I want every legal avenue possible to be explored. We are dealing with their future. And, their presence in court presents them with a huge fork in the road. One path leading to a bright future, and other path leading
to a not so bright future. I believe that the laws of the state of Texas with respect to juvenile justice are designed with a goal, in part, to ensure that the children of the state of Texas have a promising future as contributing members of our adult society.
However, bureaucracy, an inefficient governmental administration, and an imperfect ad litem appointment system are negatively impacting THIS goal of the juvenile justice system. These are just some of the problems that I see.
These are the reasons why I am running. In my courtroom, I will efficiently manage juvenile and Child Protective Services (CPS) cases, and I will ensure that ad litem attorney appointment system is transparent, open, and that ad litem attorney caseloads are manageable.
I want to exam the juvenile justice and child protective services issues from a complete perspective
including:
- teen pregnancy/prenatal care
- family therapy/unity
- mental health issues
- socioeconomic disadvantages
- teen peer pressure/gang-related pressures
- law enforcement and community outreach
I want an impactful and critical examination of the “cradle to prison” pipeline, including resolutions to positively address this serious issue.
Harris County Juvenile Probation Department’s 2016 expenditures were over $105,000,000. There were 11,457 juvenile referrals to the department. This represents over $9,000.00 per referral. See: https://hcjpd.harriscountytx.gov/Published%20Reports/Annual%20Report%202016.pdf
It is important that the people elected by Harris County are good stewards of these funds. A primary characteristic of good stewardship is independence. Because of my internal audit background, I am a firm believer in not only the actuality of independence but the appearance of it. Therefore, I will not accept any campaign contributions from attorneys seeking ad litem appointments in my court!
With approximately $105,000,00 million dollar annual 2016 expenditure, the residents of Harris County deserve to be among the nation’s top ranked Juvenile Justice Systems. As your judge, it will be my passion and focus to make the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department a model for the nation.
4. What are your qualifications for this job?
Eleven Years of practicing primarily family law, including juvenile and cps matters. I am a CPA with many years of corporate experience.
5. Why is this race important?
Families and children are important, and the system that judges and/or punishes them should be held to the highest standard of fairness, transparency, accountability and professionalism.
6. Why should people vote for you in the Primary?
I am the better candidate for the job.
I’m a strong Democrat. In the past, I have volunteered for such organization as the NAACP legal redress clinic, and the real men read project. I have marched for causes in support of fairness and freedom for all.
Further, I’m a bit of renegade (perhaps it is the Democrat in me), in that I refuse to be a part of or accept court appointments from any Harris County Juvenile Court, for I personally feel awkward attempting to benefit from or acquiescing to a system that I hope to change one day.
Further I don’t understand how any person can have the fortitude to run against a system while simultaneously benefiting financially from that system. This seems a bit hypocritical to me. I’m not sure, but I hope that my primary opponents feel the same the way.
Everything is reasonable until that last part, which makes no sense. I get wanting to change and improve the juvenile justice system (amen), but is he saying that appointed attorneys won’t be part of that system? Or that we don’t need good ones? I fail to see how boycotting appointments has anything to do with changing the system, though I am certainly open to hearing an answer. From what he said he does represent private clients in these courts, who will invariably compensate him more than a court appointment would, which just further mystifies me.
If he is saying he won’t do the pay (donations) for play (appointments) game, that I would get and approve of. But he should be clearer about what he means. That system is an abomination, but ultimately will require a legislative fix.
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