The ethics behind Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller’s decision to shut the doors on a death penalty appeal are resurfacing as her opponent launches a contentious campaign against her.
Democratic defense lawyer Keith Hampton is striking out at Keller, a Dallas resident who’s held the presiding judge post since 2001.
Experts say Hampton has a long road ahead of him, made rockier by the fact that no Democrat has won a statewide race in nearly 20 years. Though he has more money in his arsenal and is running a broad campaign against Keller’s job performance, her party affiliation and incumbent status are huge advantages.
Nine judges sit on the Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest court in the state for criminal charges, which hears capital punishment cases and has been criticized for reversing convictions for technical matters unrelated to a defendant’s innocence. If Hampton wins, he would be the only non-Republican on the court — and probably the only Democrat elected statewide.
“It’s difficult, but I don’t think impossible, given that Keller has some baggage and isn’t running the kind of campaign he is now,” said Sherri Greenberg, a former House member who is director of the Center for Politics and Governance at the University of Texas at Austin. “On the other hand, she may just be banking on that it’s a Republican gig.”
The Trib wrote about Hampton’s efforts to woo Republican voters last month. A victory for Hampton is one part how high the Democratic baseline is this year, and one part how successful he is at that persuasion effort. There is a Libertarian candidate on the ballot as well, which allows for the possibility of Hampton winning with a plurality vote. If he can get to 48%, he has a decent shot. Over the weekend he got the endorsements of the DMN and the Star-Telegram, which will help a little, and when all is said and done he should have most if not all of the remaining newspaper nods. It would be nice if more people were aware of Sharon Keller’s record and voted accordingly – visit VoteNoSharonKeller.com if you need a refresher – but this is how it is. If she wins again she gets six more years on the Court of Criminal Appeals bench. She doesn’t deserve that, and neither do we.