Justice Jimmy Blacklock, a conservative ally of Gov. Greg Abbott, has been named the new chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court. He replaces Nathan Hecht, the court’s longest serving justice, who stepped down at the end of December due to the mandatory judicial retirement age.
Abbott appointed his general counsel, James P. Sullivan, to take the seat vacated by Blacklock’s promotion.
“The Supreme Court of Texas plays a crucial role to shape the future of our great state, and Jimmy Blacklock and James Sullivan will be unwavering guardians of the Texas Constitution serving on our state’s highest judicial court,” Abbott said in a statement.
As chief justice, Blacklock will take on a larger role in the administration of the court. During his tenure, Hecht helped reform the rules of civil procedure and was a fierce advocate for legal aid and other programs to help low-income Texans access the justice system. But, as he told The Texas Tribune in December, when it comes to rulings, “the chief is just one voice of nine.”
Adding Sullivan to the court will further secure the court’s conservative stronghold. While Hecht came up in an era when state courts were less politically relevant, Blacklock and Sullivan are both young proteges of an increasingly active conservative legal movement.
Blacklock attended Yale Law School and clerked on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and after a stint in private practice, he joined the Texas Office of the Attorney General under Abbott. He helped lead Texas’ aggressive litigation strategy against the Obama administration, defending the state’s restrictive abortion and voter identification laws, gay marriage restrictions and crusade against the Affordable Care Act.
When Abbott became governor, Blacklock became his general counsel. Abbott appointed him to the bench in December 2017, when he was just 38 years old.
The Texas Supreme Court has transformed over the last few decades from a plaintiff-friendly venue dominated by Democrats to the exclusive domain of increasingly conservative Republicans. Abbott, a former justice himself, has played a huge role in this shift, appointing six of the nine current justices, including Sullivan.
Sullivan graduated from Harvard Law School and clerked for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. He spent four years as Texas assistant solicitor general during Abbott’s tenure as attorney general, and in 2018, became Abbott’s deputy general counsel. In 2021, he became the governor’s general counsel.
Justice Hecht had his merits and I wish him well, but boy is it a sign of the times to be feeling even a little nostalgic about his time on SCOTx. But the right-wing legal movement keeps 3-D printing newer and more efficient drones to replace guys like him, so here we are.
Gov. Greg Abbott made nine December appointments to district court seats to fill posts opened due to incumbents’ moves, resignations, new court seats or election losses.
On Tuesday, Abbott appointed Lance Long to the Harris County 183rd District Court, effective Jan. 1. Long’s predecessor, Kristin M. Guiney, a Republican, won election to the First Court of Appeals.
Long leaves his post as assistant criminal district attorney for the Smith County District Attorney’s Office. His prior experience includes serving as a Harris County prosecutor, managing his own law firm, and as a staff attorney for the Harris County Office of Court Management.
Maggie Jaramillo was appointed Dec. 20 to the Fort Bend County 458th District Court, a seat left vacant by Judge Chad Bridges’ election win to the Fourteenth Court of Appeals.
Jaramillo was an associate judge for the 268th District Court in Fort Bend County. Previously, she served as judge of the 400th District Court, was a prosecutor in the same county, an attorney in private practice, and she started her career as an assistant county attorney in Starr County.
Caroline Dozier was appointed Dec. 20 to the Harris County 228th District Court, which was abruptly left vacant by the death of Judge Frank Aguilar, a Democrat who was killed in a car crash accident.
Dozier was chief of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office misdemeanor trial bureau. She served with the district attorney’s office for over 30 years.
[…]
Lori Ann DeAngelo was appointed Dec. 19 to the Harris County 495th District Court, a court that was created by the legislature, effective Oct. 1, 2024.
DeAngelo was previously appointed to the 487th District Court in Houston but lost the seat in the general election to Democratic Party opponent Stacy Allen Barrow.
All of them, Blacklock and Sullivan included, will be on the 2026 ballot. Let’s make sure we channel some energy into those races next year. Oh, and for those of you who complain about our partisan judicial elections, this is a reminder about how many of our judges got their start by being appointed. Most of them by Greg Abbott.
UPDATE: One more:
Failed district attorney candidate Dan Simons was tapped by Gov. Greg Abbott to preside as a state district court judge for the next two years, officials said.
Simons, who narrowly lost to newly elected District Attorney Sean Teare on the Republican ticket, was appointed Tuesday to the 496th District Court, one of Harris County’s three new courts. His term will expire either Dec. 31, 2026, unless he runs for that seat and wins.
Simons applied for the judicial position after the November election. He plans to start hearing cases in late January after closing his criminal defense practice, he said.
[…]
Simons, like Teare, worked for Harris County District Attorney’s Office, rising to chief prosecutor for a misdemeanor court before his 2017 departure, when Ogg started her first term, according to county records.
His final months at the office were marked by mixed performance reviews and allegations of questionable ethics. One supervisor lamented that Simons was unprepared and sought to win cases, rather than seek justice. Some presentation of cases were misleading, according to the review. Simons disputed the review.
Another prosecutor accused Simons of instructing her to lie during plea negotiations. A disciplinary committee considered the allegation but said it lacked sufficient evidence. No disciplinary action was taken but Simons was ordered to watch a video on prosecutorial ethics instead, records show.
Must be nice to have Greg Abbott there to help you fail upward.