(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.)
Jimmie L.J. Brown, Jr
1. Who are you and what are you running for?
My name is Jimmie L. J. Brown, Jr.
I am an African-American Male. I am an attorney, licensed since Nov. 2, 1984.
I graduated from Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University June 1984.
I was born October 14, 1957.
My parents were Jimmie L. Brown, Sr., father/deceased and Mary L. Richard, mother/deceased.
I am and elder and the Assistant Pastor, Harvest Time Church of God In Christ, I am running for the position of Judge, 165th Judicial District Court, Harris County.
2. What kind of cases does this court hear?
The Texas district courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction.
The district court has exclusive jurisdiction over felony cases, cases involving title to land, and election contest cases. It shares jurisdiction with the county courts, and in some case justice of the peace courts, for civil cases (its lowest limit for hearing a case is a mere $200 in controversy, while JP courts can hear cases up to $10,000). Family law jurisdiction varies depending on the existence of a county court-at-law; in some counties, the district courts share jurisdiction over divorces, child custody and support matters, adoptions and child welfare cases with county courts at law. Probate jurisdiction varies, depending on the existence of a statutory probate court in the county. In some larger counties, such as Harris County, the district courts are specialized, with designated sets of courts hearing criminal cases, juvenile cases, family matters, and non-family civil cases. In the smaller counties, a single district court handles all types of cases. In rural areas, as many as five counties share a single district court; urban counties.
Government Code, Chapter 24. District Courts
Sec. 24.112. 11TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT (HARRIS COUNTY).
(a) The 11th Judicial District is composed of Harris County.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (g), the provisions of this section apply to the 11th, 55th, 61st, 80th, 113th, 125th, 127th, 129th, 133rd, 151st, 152nd, 157th, 164th, and 165th judicial districts.
(c) Repealed by Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1082 (H.B. 3481), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2017.
(d) In all suits, actions, or proceedings in the district courts, it is sufficient for the address or designation to be “District Court of Harris County.”
(e) The judge of each district court shall sign the minutes of each court term not later than the 30th day after the end of the term and shall also sign the minutes at the end of each volume of the minutes. Each judge sitting in the court shall sign the minutes of the proceedings that were held before him. (f) The judge of each district court may take the same vacation as the other district court judges of Harris County at any time during the year. During the judge’s vacation, the court term remains open, and the judge of any other district court may hold court during the judge’s vacation. The judges of the district courts shall, by agreement among themselves, take their vacations alternately so that there are at all times at least six district court judges in the county.
(g) Subsection (h) applies to the 11th, 55th, 61st, 80th, 113th, 125th, 127th, 129th, 133rd, 151st, 152nd, 157th, 164th, 165th, 189th, 190th, 215th, 234th, 269th, 270th, 280th, 281st, 295th, 333rd, and 334th judicial districts.
(h) The judges of the district courts listed in Subsection (g) by agreement shall designate one of the listed district courts as the domestic violence district court for Harris County. In designating the domestic violence district court, the judges shall give preference to a district court:
(1) that has a judicial vacancy at the time of the agreement; or
(2) for which the sitting judge of the district court has not at the time of the agreement announced a candidacy or become a candidate in the upcoming election for that judicial office.
(i) Subject to any jurisdictional limitations, the district court designated under Subsection (h) as the domestic violence district court shall give preference to domestic violence cases, including cases involving:
(1) dating violence, as defined by Section 71.0021, Family Code; and
(2) family violence, as defined by Section 71.004, Family Code.
(j) For the purposes of determining the preference the designated domestic violence district court is required to give cases under Subsection (i):
(1) a domestic violence case means:
(A) an original application for a protective order under Title 4, Family Code;
(B) an original application for a protective order under Title 4, Family Code, that involves both parties and is filed concurrently with an original petition under the Family Code; and
(C) any matter involving custody of a minor child if one parent is alleged to have caused the death of another parent and there is a history of domestic violence in the parents’ relationship; and
(2) subject to judicial discretion and resources, the designated domestic violence district court may also hear divorce and custody cases in which:
(A) a court has made an affirmative finding of family violence involving both parties; or
(B) a protective order has been issued under Title 4, Family Code, involving both parties.
(k) The designated domestic violence district court shall:
(1) provide timely and efficient access to emergency protective orders and other court remedies for persons the court determines are victims of domestic violence;
(2) integrate victims’ services for persons the court determines are victims of domestic violence who have a case before the court; and
(3) promote an informed and consistent court response to domestic violence cases to lessen the number of misdemeanors, felonies, and fatalities related to domestic violence in Harris County.
(l) The Harris County district clerk shall create a form and establish procedures to transfer a domestic violence case that qualifies for preference under this section to the domestic violence district court.
3. Why are you running for this particular bench?
The Incumbent Judge is not doing the job. I believe I can do the job and certainly do the job better than the present incumbent. I have been a Summary Court Martials Judge – three times, a military conscientious objector hearings officer for not less than 25 hearings and an administrative law judge – Texas Railroad Commission, Transportation Section (prior to deregulation).
I have practiced law for 35 years. I have tried cases, both criminal and civil, conducted discovery, filed and argued motions, familiar with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure/Civil Practice and Remedies Code/Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and filed appeals – State and Federal. I have argued appeals before the 1st and 14th Court of Appeals (State), and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (Federal).
4. What are your qualifications for this job?
See Paragraph 3 above.
5. Why is this race important?
I am not certain what is meant by important. I believe it is a factor and is a positive or negative. For me a positive. It lends a perspective and insight of the judicial system – access, bias, impartiality and partiality, that will shape me as a judge. I believe it allows me to have a perspective on the impact of the role of the law, trial, the process and as a judge as seen from a person and a people who have come to value the need of the courts and the law.
Quoting Cesar Chavez: “History will judge societies and governments and their institutions, not by how big they are or how well they serve the rich and the powerful, but by how effectively they respond to the needs of the poor and the helpless.”
Quoting Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.”
Quoting Benjamin Franklin: “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”
6. Why should people vote for you in the primary?
One of the many reasons people should vote for me is that I’m the BEST candidate for the job of Judge for the 165th Judicial District Court. Not that I am perfect, nor that I have been perfect. Not that I have not made mistake. Not that I will not, but that I am human and strive to do what is right and to follow the law as best as I can and to – when the situation requires – deviate from the law to see justice/equity done.
“There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.” ― Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws