The Battalion
Tuesday • February 24,199
Tue
Study says judges accept questionable money
AUSTIN (AP) — Forty percent of the $9.1 mil
lion in campaign cash raised by justices on the
Texas Supreme Court came from parties and
lawyers with cases before that bench, according
to a study released Monday.
A decade after the CBS program “60 Minutes”
asked whether Texas justice was for sale, that
question remains valid, said officials of Texans
for Public Justice, the nonpartisan group con
ducting the study.
“It’s the system that stinks,” said Andrew
Wheat, one of the study’s authors. “Every court
member up there has somebody who’s paying
the piper.”
While plaintiff’s trial lawyers were making the
controversial donations 10 years ago, today’s big
donors are corporations, corporate defense
lawyers and business trade groups, the study said.
“I don’t think it smells any better,” Wheat said.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Phillips,
long an advocate for changing the way Texas
picks its judges, described the report as brim
ming “with accusations and innuendo.”
He said he is convinced no current justice “has
ever been influenced by a campaign contribution.”
However, Phillips added, “In the end it (the
study) says only what everyone should already
know — that Texas has a lousy system of judi
cial selection.”
But statewide partisan campaigns are the law,
Phillips said, and running takes money. “Almost
any contribution can be criticized on some
ground, as every citizen has an interest in the rul
ings of our courts,” he said.
Craig McDonald, director ofTexans for Pub
lic Justice, likened the practice to the home
team "paying a visit” to an umpire before a
baseball game.
“Members of the highest court should not be
allowed to solicit or accept money from people
who are appearing before that court. That’s the
bottom line," he said. “We think any dollar linked
to the docket is too much. It raises the appear
ance of corruption.”
The study examined contributions to seven of
a
Every court member up
there has somebody who’s
paying the piper.'
Andrew Wheat
Study author
the nine justices, all of whom ran in the 1994 or
1996 elections. Texas Supreme Court justices are
elected to staggered, six-year terms.
The seven raised a total of $9,166,450 in con
tributions of $100 or more. Donors closely
linked to cases before the court contributed
$3.7 million.
Among other findings, the study said:
— Sixty percent of the 530 opinions issued by
the court from 1994 through October 1997 “are
tainted by the fact that at least one of these sev
en justices took money from a contributor with
close links to a party or lawyer involved.”
— Lawyers and law firms contributed 42 per
cent, $3.8 million, of the total. Of that money, 80
percent was described in the study as coming
from “docket-linked” sources. Fifteen law firms
with 113 cases before the court gave a combined
$1.5 million.
— Political action committees and executives
of 50 corporations contributed 15 percent, or
$1.4 million.
In the mid-1980s, when the “60 Minutes” re
port aired, the Supreme Court was controlled by
Democrats. Today, Republicans hold seven of the
nine seats.
“Most of the current justices first ran as ‘Clean
Slate’ reformers, who promised to clean up the
court. As incumbents, however, the justices ap
pear to have become what they set out to re
place,” the study says.
Texas is one of only nine states in which
Supreme Court judges are chosen in partisan
elections, the study noted.
It suggested changing to a system of judicial
selection that would eliminate the need for cam
paign cash. Possibilities include gubernatorial
appointment of Supreme Court justices, or ap
pointing judges and holding periodic retention
elections in which voters say “yes” or “no” to leav
ing them on the bench.
Numerous efforts to change the way Texas
picks judges have failed in the Legislature.
Phillips, the chief justice, said he was pleased
Texans for Public Justice was joining the call for
judicial selection reform.
TABC rule preventing minors from entering bars dies
AUSTIN (AP) — Texans under
the legal drinking age of 21 can
continue to frequent bars — but
still not drink in them — after the
majority of the Texas Alcoholic
Beverage Commission refused to
act on a request to keep them out.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
asked the commission to draft a
rule to prevent those under 21
from entering establishments that
make more than half their rev
enues from the sale of alcoholic
beverages, unless they were ac
companied by a parent, spouse or
legal guardian.
The move would have been the
first step toward adopting such a
rule. It would have allowed the rule
to be proposed for public com
ment and possible adoption
But just one of the three com
mission members wanted to take
that first step — John T. Steen Jr. of
San Antonio. The other members,
Martha S. Dickie and commission
Chairman Allan Shivers Jr., both of
Austin, said they did not see the
need for it.
Shivers noted that the state al
ready has rules that prohibit mi
nors from buying or consuming al
cohol in bars or restaurants.
“I have a hesitancy to impose
any other regulations on society
unless there is an overwhelming
harm to be remedied,” he said.
Dickie added of the proposal, “I
think it imposes a significant re
striction on personal freedom and
fools around with long-estab
lished cultural traditions in this
state ... without any real evidence
that it accomplishes anything.”
Steen said he would like the
commission to make an attempt at
drafting the rule.
Kirk Brown of MADD said Steen’s
support is the first that the group
has received from a TABC member.
Brown told TABC that those age
18 to 20 make up a disproportion
ate percentage of drunken drivers
involved in fatalities, and that bars
are one source of alcohol.
“We believe it would save lives.
We believe it would not jeopardize
the business of responsible busi
nessmen in the state of Texas,” he
said of MADD’s proposal.
Tim and Barbara Worthy, owners
of the Old Coupland Inn and Dance-
hall, raised questions about the pro
posal. Worthy said while he can un
derstand both sides of the issue, at
least clubs provide a controlled en
vironment for underage Texans.
Without access to club enter
tainment, those who are underage
may be more likely to get alcohol
elsewhere and then drink and dri
ve, he said.
Lawyers say ranchersH
mm
benefitted from sho 1
AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — The
Texas cattlemen who cite Oprah
Winfrey for millions in losses
might actually have made money
from her talk show about “danger
ous foods,” a defense damage ex
pert testified Monday.
Using the hypothetical argu
ment that Winfrey’s April 16, 1996,
episode caused a drop in
cattle prices—and the de
fense stressed it was hy
pothetical — Bettina
Whyte said plaintiffs have
no grounds to claim dam
age.
“Is it your contention
that, as a result of ‘The
Oprah Winfrey Show,’
that Cactus Growers
(owned by plaintiff Paul
Engler) actually benefited
before tire broadcast. Cattle raise
say not enough cattle sold thatdj
to generate a valid benchmarj
price, so they use an average(
rived from the week before.
“When there’s a greater voluj^
to look at, don’t you get a betie
idea of the market?” Mullin asked
Whyte responded that hers
of five months’ worthj
cattle trading showe
that fair market valued ^othe
not necessarily reh'
large sales volume.
jet too
Engler and O’Brie ^sitch
Schr
Winfrey
are suing Winfrey, h«
production compajftailing
and vegetarian activ* iigh sc
Howard Lyman for bus tamed
ness disparagement
They say the showiia
to the tune of $421,000?” Engler at
torney Mike St. Denis asked.
“In fact, they did,” answered
Whyte, a damage specialist who
has testified in dozens of federal
court cases. She once even worked
for David Mullin, who in this case
represents cattleman Bill O’Brien.
Whyte explained that, even if
Winfrey’s show discussing mad
cow disease prompted the cattle
market to plunge, cattle feeders
such as Engler and O’Brien bene
fited because they were able to buy
animals at discounted prices.
Ave Tucker, a plaintiffs’ special
ist and a former co-worker of
Whyte, edrlier testified that Win
frey’s show cost Engler and his
company $6.5 million. O’Brien’s
Texas Beef Group claims $4.5 mil
lion in losses.
Tucker figured plaintiffs could
have brought at least a $62 per
hundredweight price for the 2 1/2
months after April 16 if not for the
show. Whyte based her calcula
tions on a $59 price for the three
weeks following.
Her figure comes from report
ed cattle sales in the region a day
plied that U.S. cattle nemor
signing
vulnerable to mad cow disease.
The broadcast came a mom oTexas
after the British government a n P re
tributed a handful of huraa l,in , n
deaths there to eating meat tain ^ ’
ed with mad cow disease, whic IK ( ^
has never been discovered in it ?
United States. * d
Accompanying Winfrey for th [exas .y
first time in court was longtin ore eve
friend Gayle King, who sat neait 00 t in t
and sometimes exchanged whit fexas.
pers during lulls in the action.
Earlier, a beef industry spokeAecaus
woman testified that her organiza ileand
tion knew Lyman, known as asti nosph
dent anti-meat crusader, would!)
opposing their representative o
the program but decided to fat Schmid
off with him anyway.
Alisa Harrison, who spoke oA s
videotape, was in the studio aud ^
ence when National Cattlemed c ^ 00 *
Beef Association specialist Gai 11 m ‘ ‘
Weber debated Lyman overt]]
threat of mad cow disease.
Harrison said her group was fa
miliar with Lyman, who chairstl) nends
Schn
Eating with Conscience prograi
for the Humane Society of tli at ’ t
United States.
hau pi;
The Department of Mathematics
will sponsor a lecture on
February 25, 1998, at 4:00 p.m.
in Room 120 Blocker Building
given by
Professor Sir Christopher Zeeman, F.R.S.
one of the pioneers of catastrophe theory
and applications in the physical, biological,
and behavioral sciences.
The lecture is intended for a general audience.
Friends
Congregational
CtiurcH (ucc)
2200 SoutHwood Dr. 9 F.IVL 2818
College Station. TX 77845
693-7021
Working late on Saturday or early on Sunday?
Can’t get up on Sunday morning?
Seeking a Christ-centered church that is committed to serving God?
If so, then join us for Wednesday with Friends, a new contemporary
worship hour of spiritual renewal and revitalizing music.
Starting March -»th
Wednesday evenings 6:15 to 7:15 pm
“An Open and Affirming Congregation”
JVIay Graduates
Official Texas A&M
Graduation Announcements
On Sale Now
through February 27, 1998
For Information and to place your order
access the Web at:
http://graduation.tamu.edu
All orders must be placed over the Web
All payments must be received by February 27
MSC Box Office 845-1234
FINAL WEEK!
Class of ’98 pictures
are being taken for the
Elephants!
1998
Aggieland
Don’t forget.
at A R Photography
Texas Avenue
TAMU
Campus
ro
ora
ro
1410 Texas Ave S.
(between Jason’s
Deli and Academy)
Drop by
A R Photography
at its new
location on
Texas Avenue, or
call 693-8183 for
an appointment
“I us
indem
Schr
lereat.
ohis re
is m
chool I
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