Even More Soifer Support

Dear Editor:
   Last week's Austin Chronicle article, "A 'Real Personal' Court Race" [News, Dec. 5], presented a biased and distorted view of Jan Soifer, a distinguished Democrat who is running for the open seat as judge of the 200th District Court. We are writing to set the record straight.
   We represented the Texas Democratic Party, Democratic elected officials, and Democratic interests in the 2001 redistricting litigation. During the pretrial stages of that litigation, Jan Soifer was one of the Locke Liddell & Sapp lawyers representing the state. Throughout the brief time that she worked on pretrial procedural issues, Jan Soifer conducted herself with her customary professionalism, and totally without partisanship.
   The suggestion by the Triana campaign that Jan is not a "good" Democrat because she represented the state for a few months in the early stages of the 2001 redistricting litigation is hitting below the belt. Are ACLU lawyers to be condemned because they represent unpopular groups at both ends of the political spectrum? Do we vilify criminal defense lawyers because they represent those on death row? No.
   Our good friend Glen Maxey is mistaken in his belief that Jan caused him and other Democrats to lose their legislative positions. The fact is that Texas legislative districts were redrawn by the Republican-dominated LRB. Three federal judges, including both Democratic and Republican appointees, eventually ruled on the legality of the LRB map – months after Jan's work was completed. She had nothing to do with the outcome.
   Jan Soifer is a lifelong, loyal Democrat. She has been an active supporter of the Democratic Party, Democratic candidates, and Democratic causes in Travis County as long as we've known her. We ask our fellow Democrats to join us in supporting Jan Soifer – the best-qualified Democrat for judge of the 200th District Court.