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Jade Meeker |
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Jan Breland |
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Russell Ramirez |
A J.P. for the last 10 years, Breland, 48, said she is pursuing a goal to move beyond her Pct. 2 jurisdiction in north and northwest Travis County, in order to preside over cases county-wide. Before assuming her J.P. post in 1989, Breland served as legal counsel to the Texas Department of Public Safety for four years; she also prosecuted cases for the county attorney’s office in the early Eighties, and worked for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for one year.
“My experience with the criminal justice system, the court of criminal appeals, the legislature, the hundreds of cases that I’ve tried – all of these add up to make me the strongest candidate,” she said. “My goal has always been to be a county court judge.” Given the number of young adults that appear in J.P. court, Breland says, she often finds herself playing judge, social worker, and probation officer to ensure that punishment works in tandem with rehabilitation. That aspect of the job led her to found and direct a volunteer group to help troubled youth, an endeavor that occupies much of her free time.
Meeker, 39, has had her eye on the Court-at-Law No. 6 seat since Puryear swapped party affiliations shortly after he was elected to the bench in 1994. A J.P. since 1992, Meeker has also served as a staff attorney for the City of Austin, and a research and staff attorney for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for seven years. Board certified in criminal law, Meeker has written numerous books on the subject, primarily in the area of arrest, search, and seizure. She credits criminal defense wizard Richard “Racehorse” Haynes, for whom she worked a short while in Houston, with having been an important influence in her career. If elected, Meeker says, her specialization in criminal defense will help her to make decisions quickly and fairly. “There’s a wide variety of cases heard in this court that are acutely dependent upon the evidence,” she says.
Where Breland and Meeker can lay claim to having judicial experience, Ramirez, 47, says the 10 years he has spent practicing in Court-at-Law No. 6 gives him the edge over his opponents. A criminal defense lawyer and former state assistant attorney general for consumer protection, Ramirez has some definite ideas on how he would run his court. “I would eliminate the pat sentencing idea and try to make the penalty more closely fit the offense,” he said. By that, the former substitute high school teacher says, he means he would tailor the punishment to include rehabilitative efforts, such as counseling, to curtail the recidivism rate. Ramirez added that he would propose changing the bond hearing process to allow indigent defendants an alternative to putting up cash. “Perhaps these defendants should be allowed to make a demonstration other than money, such as their employer or a family member, to guarantee their return to court,” he said.
The two front-runners in the race, Breland and Meeker, both have been endorsed by a number of Democratic groups and professional organizations. Breland scored highest in the county bar poll with 431 votes to Meeker’s 391, but Meeker has received the lion’s share of club endorsements. Ramirez has won the support of the Hispanic Bar Association and joined his opponents in a three-way endorsement by the Travis County Democratic Women.
This article appears in March 6 • 1998 and March 6 • 1998 (Cover).
