AFS Cinema
Supports Jan Patterson
RECEIVED Thu., Feb. 25, 2010
Dear Editor,
Re: “'Chronicle' Endorsements” [News, Feb. 12]: The Chronicle was right when you said Glen Maxey waged a “vicious campaign” against Nelda Wells Spears when he ran against her for the job of tax assessor and voter registrar [“Spears Pounds Maxey,” Newsdesk blog, March 4, 2008].
Glen Maxey has been waging the same kind of phony campaign against Jan Patterson. When he filed a complaint against her with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, he in effect called her a liar, although of course he didn’t use the word “liar.” Anyone who knows Patterson knows that she has unquestioned integrity. But anybody can file such a complaint. Filing the complaint doesn’t make it true.
Usually Maxey and I have been on the same side. For instance, we both supported Howard Dean when he ran for president, and I backed Maxey when he ran the campaign against an anti-gay constitutional amendment.
I also heard some ugly rumors that have been spread far and wide about Patterson. And I have to admit that I was bothered by the rumors. If the rumors that she was abusive to her briefing attorneys were true, then Patterson wasn’t the person I thought she was. However, I took the time to check out the source of the rumors and found out that they were completely baseless.
Patterson has been a hard-working judge on the 3rd Court of Appeals. She wrote a tough dissent in the Tom DeLay case. She has also written important opinions involving women and minorities. In fact, Gary Bledsoe, a former professor of law at St. Mary’s University Law School and president of the Texas NAACP, refers law students to the opinion Jan Patterson wrote in a case against the Department of Public Safety, which broke down the barriers that had prevented women and minorities from becoming Texas Rangers.
Martindale-Hubbell, the gold standard for rating lawyers, gives Jan Patterson its highest rating. Amy Clark Meachum, whom the Chronicle endorsed, hasn’t been a lawyer long enough to be rated by Martindale-Hubbell. She first decided to run for justice of the peace, which seemed like an appropriate place for a young lawyer to start out.
Last year Patterson won the highest rating from the Texas Bar Association Poll and from the Austin Bar Association Poll. It would be a loss to our community if we fail to elect this outstanding judge to the 201st District Court.
Re: “'Chronicle' Endorsements” [News, Feb. 12]: The Chronicle was right when you said Glen Maxey waged a “vicious campaign” against Nelda Wells Spears when he ran against her for the job of tax assessor and voter registrar [“Spears Pounds Maxey,” Newsdesk blog, March 4, 2008].
Glen Maxey has been waging the same kind of phony campaign against Jan Patterson. When he filed a complaint against her with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, he in effect called her a liar, although of course he didn’t use the word “liar.” Anyone who knows Patterson knows that she has unquestioned integrity. But anybody can file such a complaint. Filing the complaint doesn’t make it true.
Usually Maxey and I have been on the same side. For instance, we both supported Howard Dean when he ran for president, and I backed Maxey when he ran the campaign against an anti-gay constitutional amendment.
I also heard some ugly rumors that have been spread far and wide about Patterson. And I have to admit that I was bothered by the rumors. If the rumors that she was abusive to her briefing attorneys were true, then Patterson wasn’t the person I thought she was. However, I took the time to check out the source of the rumors and found out that they were completely baseless.
Patterson has been a hard-working judge on the 3rd Court of Appeals. She wrote a tough dissent in the Tom DeLay case. She has also written important opinions involving women and minorities. In fact, Gary Bledsoe, a former professor of law at St. Mary’s University Law School and president of the Texas NAACP, refers law students to the opinion Jan Patterson wrote in a case against the Department of Public Safety, which broke down the barriers that had prevented women and minorities from becoming Texas Rangers.
Martindale-Hubbell, the gold standard for rating lawyers, gives Jan Patterson its highest rating. Amy Clark Meachum, whom the Chronicle endorsed, hasn’t been a lawyer long enough to be rated by Martindale-Hubbell. She first decided to run for justice of the peace, which seemed like an appropriate place for a young lawyer to start out.
Last year Patterson won the highest rating from the Texas Bar Association Poll and from the Austin Bar Association Poll. It would be a loss to our community if we fail to elect this outstanding judge to the 201st District Court.
Anne C. McAfee