A specially appointed court of review vacated the State Commission on Judicial Conduct’s sanction of Sharon Keller today, saying the state board acted unconstitutionally in reprimanding the presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals.
Sharon Keller
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Supreme Court Says No to Keller
On the same day the Texas Supreme Court denied Judge Sharon Keller’s request for intervention in her sanction from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, she has filed a second request to appeal the commission’s decision.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Keller’s Appeal Invalid, SCJC Says
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct is taking on Judge Sharon Keller’s appeal of its sanction.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Keller Appeals
Judge Sharon Keller says that in sanctioning her, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct “acted in a lawless, unconstitutional manner.”
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: A “Public Warning” For Keller [Updated]
Sharon Keller got a “public warning” from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for refusing to keep her office open past 5 pm on the day a Texas death row inmate was scheduled to die.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Keller for the Defense
Judge Sharon Keller has been pilloried as the villain of the Texas criminal justice system, but supporters credit the chief of the state’s highest criminal court with working to ensure fair trials for impoverished defendants.
Posted inState Government
Keller’s Lawyer: Lies Led to Accusations
The investigation into Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Chief Justice Sharron Keller is closer to a conclusion today. Earlier this year a judge recommended that Keller should not be sanctioned after she was accused of closing the clerk’s office and blocking a final appeal for death row inmate Michael Wayne Richard. Ben Philpott, who reports for KUT News and the Tribune, has more on today’s judicial oversight panel hearing.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Defenseless
Before adopting the Fair Defense Act in 2001, Texas was considered abysmal in legal circles when it came to providing representation for the poor. Proponents and critics of the current system agree the situation has improved since lawmakers started requiring counties to implement minimum representation standards. But has it improved enough?
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Keller Gets Record Ethics Fine
Sharon Keller isn’t as meticulous on her personal finance reports as she is particular about court closing time, the Texas Ethics Commission found today.
Posted inState Government
Sharon Keller Might Walk
The Chief Justice of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals should not be reprimanded for actions that led to the execution of a death row inmate in 2007: That’s the opinion of the judge who presided over her ethics trial last year. Ben Philpott, reporting for KUT News and the Tribune, filed this story.