From In re Inquiry Concerning Hon. Sarah Eckhardt, decided last week by a Texas Special Court of Review (Chief Justice Brian Quinn, Justice Charles Kreger, and Justice W. Stacy Trotter, all of various Texas Courts of Appeals):
The sanctions in question consisted of a "public admonition." The Travis County Judge against whom the Commission assessed it relinquished that office months earlier. She now is a member of the Texas Senate. Her name is Sarah Eckhardt.
Of the two acts for which the Commission admonished her, one occurred approximately three years earlier on January 24, 2017. The other happened on September 27, 2019. Both garnered much public and media attention. Nevertheless, someone complained to the Commission on September 28, 2019, about both. The unnamed individual averred that "[j]udges take oaths of office to be non-partisan which is clearly not the case here." "[Eckhardt] does not take the oath of office seriously via public displays on and off the job," continued the complainant. "I do not trust her to have unbiased decisions and believe any conservative republican should be in fear when entering her courtroom." "She has lost the confidence of the public and is a partisan hack," concluded the individual.
Those allegations eventually resulted in the Commission's December 2020 admonition of Eckhardt "for engaging in willful conduct that cast public discredit upon the judiciary in violation of Article V, Section 1-a(6) of the Texas Constitution." The Commission took that action "pursuant to the … authority conferred it in Article V, § 1-a of the Texas Constitution in a continuing effort to protect the public and promote public confidence in the judicial system."
The January 2017 incident involved Eckhardt wearing "a pink knitted beanie with cat ears, referred to as a 'pussy hat,' while presiding over a meeting of the Travis County Commissioners Court." She and the Commission agreed that 1) the object was worn "as a political expression" protesting a statement uttered by the "the newly elected" United States President regarding the treatment of women {"You can do anything you want–-grab 'em by the pussy."}; 2) the "[a]genda item 3 [about to be considered] at that meeting was a proposed resolution in support of women's health and reproductive rights"; and, 3) "[a]genda Item 3 … was legislative in nature" as were "[t]he actions of the Travis County Commissioners Court in considering and acting on [it]."
As for the September 2019 incident, the record illustrated that Eckhardt accepted an invitation to sit on "a panel at the annual 'Texas Tribune Festival,' scheduled for September 27– 29, 2019." The other panelists were "a former mayor of Midland, Texas, the sitting Mayor of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the former Deputy Mayor of New York City." Additionally, the panelists were assigned the topic of "'Civic Enragement: How progressive politics are turning citizens into warriors and cities into battlegrounds.'" The parties stipulated that the topic "did not include judicial matters." Upon the panel's convening at the festival, the moderator broached the subject of "actions at the state government level in Texas to override or preempt local government measures, such as regulation of ride sharing services and tree preservation ordinances." { The Commission described the inquiry as "asking [Eckhardt] to speculate on why Governor Abbott would involve himself in the City of Austin's tree ordinance."} Responding, Eckhardt quipped that "Texas Governor Greg Abbott 'hates trees because one fell on him.'" This utterance alluded to Governor Abbott's partial, yet permanent, paralysis caused when a falling tree struck him.
