Conservative Texas Supreme Court Justice Calls Fellow Republicans As 'Brainwashed' By Biglaw
It's unclear how Justice John Devine would even know since he barely bothers to show up for work.
Leaked audio obtained by the Texas Tribune features Justice John Devine of the Texas Supreme Court taking aim at his own Republican colleagues — the court is a 9-0 Republican body — as “brainwashed” by their training as former Biglaw attorneys. Congratulations if you had “Biglaw catching strays during a GOP primary” on your bingo card.
And he’s got a point, as his colleagues lean into quirky Biglaw customs like “hard work” and “putting in the hours” — practices that John Devine famously eschews. Devine made headlines earlier this month when Bloomberg noticed that he’s skipped over half of the state supreme court’s sessions. Devine has played deadbeat justice all year so he can fundraise and campaign for re-election. As he put it at the time, “It doesn’t do you any good if you don’t get reelected.” Well, touché.
Alas, his brainwashing remarks weren’t related to the work ethic of his peers:
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Their “Big Law” backgrounds, he said, had taught them to worry more about legal procedures — “standing, timeliness, or whatever else” — than their duty to uphold the Constitution.
“At times I feel like they would sacrifice the Republic for the sake of the process,” Devine said in the speech, a recording of which was obtained by The Texas Tribune. “My concern is that they all bow down to the altar of process rather than to fidelity to the Constitution. And when I say that, it’s not meant to be malice towards my colleagues. I think it’s how they were trained — how they were brainwashed.”
It will surprise you not at all to learn that the leaked audio comes from a campaign event. Respect the hustle.
Devine is the only state justice with a primary challenger, with Judge Brian Walker of the court of appeals seeking the Republican nomination based on… well, Devine not doing his job and being an ethical dumpster fire when he does bother to show up.
By contrast, Devine is leaning into the message that he’s the sort of judge who won’t get bogged down in being an actual judge. Considering his attendance record… well, be the change you want to see in the world.
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“I’m not going to stand here sanctimoniously and say, ‘Well he didn’t cross a T or dot an I,’” he said of Younger. “We are talking about great constitutional issues here that will determine whether we survive as a representative republic or not. Are we going to just have it stolen from us? Over process for crying out loud?”
Fun fact about representative republics — they function on the bedrock principle that elected officials do the jobs they’re elected to perform.
But more importantly, the “process” Devine complains about amounts to what the rest of us would call “the rule of law.” His campaign vision — in addition to auctioning private tours of the state supreme court to rich donors — sees the state supreme court justice as a legislative body unbounded by the existence of any justiciable dispute for the court to resolve. Which might also explain his disdain for showing up to work, since most of his job doesn’t involve declaring the separation of church and state a “myth.”
Instead, the job of a high court judge overwhelmingly involves stuff like navigating thorny procedural issues in sexual abuse claims between law firm partners. Though that’s a case that Devine is NOT recusing himself from despite having worked at the firm in question at the time of the alleged sexual abuse. For what it’s worth, the alleged abuser, Paul Pressler, is also the guy who tried to start his own right-wing law school and hired now-Speaker Mike Johnson to run it.
The leaked audio wasn’t limited to bashing the rest of the state supreme court:
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That’s not an apparent concern for Devine, who in his September remarks also took aim at a number of Texas officials over a variety of legal or political disputes. Texas’ all-GOP Court of Criminal Appeals — which ruled that Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office could not unilaterally prosecute local voting crimes — is controlled by “RINOs” and “trans-Republicans,” Devine said. He also railed against Democratic leaders in Harris County, accusing them of “Democrat dirty tricks” and trying to “bastardize our election code” to steal elections.
So we can now look forward to “trans-Republican” performing double-duty as a grotesque slur and an intra-party insult? Super.
Devine did not respond to interview requests or a list of questions, and a Texas Supreme Court spokesperson declined to comment on excerpts of Devine’s speech.
Well that’s another byproduct of that Biglaw training — they’re choosing to do all their screaming behind closed doors.
In leaked audio, Supreme Court Justice John Devine railed against “brainwashed” GOP colleagues [Texas Tribune]
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
