Star-Telegram endorses Steve Smith for the Texas Supreme Court

A tale of two stories

Feb. 18, 2006
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Copyright 2006

2006 PRIMARIES Texas Supreme Court (R) recommendation: Steve Smith

In terms of personal story, Steve Smith and Don Willett rate almost a tie.

Smith grew up in south Fort Worth, attended Everman public schools and graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington -- the first in his family to earn a college degree. He got his law degree from UT-Austin, clerked for a federal judge, worked for the Texas Legislature and, without the support of the Republican Party establishment, ousted an incumbent to win a seat on the Texas Supreme Court.

Willett grew up in tiny Talty, east of Dallas. He lost his father at age 6, learned values from a waitress mother and was the first in his family to, he said, "venture off from small-town life."

He graduated from Baylor University and Duke's law school and clerked for a federal appellate judge. He worked for Gov. George W. Bush, followed him to the White House, spent time at the Justice Department, left for the Texas attorney general's office and then was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to the Supreme Court in August 2005.

Each man boasts "conservative" credentials. Smith initiated the Hopwood lawsuit that ended the UT law school's race-conscious admissions procedures. Willett worked on the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign and then helped direct the administration's faith-based initiatives and vet federal court appointees.

Both claim to be textualists who take a restrained approach to judging.

On his Web site, Smith says that his judicial philosophy "mirrors that of United States Supreme Court Justice [Antonin] Scalia: textualism and rejection of the liberal 'living constitution' theory" and that "the Texas judiciary, in general, and the Texas Supreme Court, in particular, should not be creating new law."

In his application for the court appointment, Willett professes "an abiding reverence" for the law and expounds on judges' "not gratifying a personal political agenda" and needing to "resolutely resist the proclivity to assume the role of legislator."

Willett has a politician's polish, while Smith comes off as ... well, nerdy.

But what's the real difference?

Smith came to the court without judicial experience but wrote 16 majority opinions in his two years.

During his 2002 campaign, when he upset Perry appointee Xavier Rodriguez, Smith sounded agenda-driven on contentious issues such as school finance and parental notification. Now it seems that his two years on the court have given him perspective on the judges' role, the craft of statutory interpretation and the realities of electing judges known primarily to the lawyers and litigants who contribute to their campaigns.

"People are appreciative of judicial restraint, but they're more interested in judicial results," Smith says.

Smith is running a low-budget campaign using personal loans, finance reports show. This is significant in an elective system that takes money to run but has been criticized in the past, with good reason, for the disquieting appearances caused by big campaign contributions.

Willett, by contrast, has collected more than $595,000 since August, including $25,000 from Texans for Lawsuit Reform and donations from major homebuilding companies, oil and gas interests, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, Dow Chemical and U.S. Reps. Kay Granger and Kenny Marchant. Willett's $250,000-plus from lawyers and their firms includes more than $26,000 each from Vinson & Elkins and Baker Botts.

Willett told the Editorial Board that "my ironclad, take-it-to-the-bank promise in this campaign is to judge each and every case before me with objectivity and impartiality and with a bottom-line goal to get it right."

But Willett came to the court with no litigation experience and no background in the kinds of cases that the court decides, such as commercial disputes, insurance coverage issues, consumer and tort law or the intricacies of civil procedure. He has not yet written any opinions on the court, so his assertions about independence and restraint can't be tested.

Although Smith has sounded ideologically driven in the past, he largely did not act as a crusader during most of his short time on the court.

The Star-Telegram Editorial Board recommends Steve Smith for the Texas Supreme Court in the March 7 Republican primary.


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