Texas Supreme Court Judge Rails Against 'Brainwashed' Republican Colleagues

Texas Supreme Court Justice John Devine branded his fellow Republicans on the bench "brainwashed" while speaking to voters in east Texas in September.

In a recording acquired by The Texas Tribune Devine, an arch conservative, said: "At times I feel like they would sacrifice the Republic for the sake of the process.

"My concern is that they all bow down to the altar of process rather than to fidelity to the Constitution. And when I say that, it's not meant to be malice towards my colleagues. I think it's how they were trained — how they were brainwashed."

The Context

Devine, known for his hardline conservative and anti-abortion views, has a track record of clashing with other members of the all Republican court who he views as insufficiently robust on social issues.

He previously expressed anger over the Texas Supreme Court decision not to hear a case brought by Jeff Younger who in 2022 asked the body to stop his ex-wife taking one of their children to California.

The child was assigned male at birth but identified as female and the move came after The Golden State passed legislation protecting those travelling to the state for youth gender reassignment surgery from prosecution.

What We Know

In the recording Devine hit out at the "big law" background of his colleagues, some of whom he suggested were "trans-Republicans" and "RINOs," the latter an abbreviation for 'Republicans in name only.'

He also focused specifically on the 2022 case brought by Younger, which was rejected after two justices concluded it was full of errors based on "tenuous speculation" that the ex-wife would break a standing order against gender affirming treatment for the child. Accusing his colleagues of focusing on minor details, with regard to Younger, Devine said: "I'm not going to stand here sanctimoniously and say, 'Well he didn't cross a T or dot an I.'

"We are talking about great constitutional issues here that will determine whether we survive as a representative republic or not. Are we going to just have it stolen from us? Over process for crying out loud?"

Newsweek has contacted Justice John Devine and the Texas Supreme Court for comment via his official campaign website and email respectively.

Views

Devine is the only Texas Supreme Court judge of the three up for re-election who is facing a primary opponent. He is being challenged by Second District Court of Appeals Judge Brian Walker, another Republican, who is attempting to center the campaign around Devine's ethical behaviour.

In a biting attack on Devine Walker said: "We have a judge who just continues to violate ethical rules and the code of judicial conduct that's written by the Texas Supreme Court itself.

"And if the people can't trust that judges are going to follow even their own rules, then they'll have very little confidence that the rule of law truly will prevail."

According to Bloomberg Devine has missed oral arguments in more than half of the cases the Texas Supreme Court has head since the current term began in September as he was instead campaigning for reelection.

Demonstrating the potential influence of state supreme court's on February 16 the Alabama Supreme Court ruled frozen embryos have the same legal rights as children, leading to in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment being paused at the state's largest hospital.

In their judgement the nine GOP justices agreed "unborn children are children" meaning the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act applies to "all children, born and unborn, without limitation."

The decision sparked a backlash from other Republicans including Donald Trump, the firm favorite for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, who said he wants "to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder" and urged authorities in Alabama to find "an immediate solution."