Adam Swartz

Adam Swartz (Democratic Party) is a judge for Precinct 3-1 of the Dallas County Justice of the Peace in Texas. He assumed office on January 1, 2023. His current term ends on December 31, 2026.

Swartz (Democratic Party) ran for election for the Precinct 3-1 judge of the Dallas County Justice of the Peace in Texas. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Swartz completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Adam Swartz was born in Dallas, Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Kansas in 2005 and a law degree from the Texas A&M University School of Law in 2013. His career experience includes working as a managing attorney. Swartz has been affiliated with the Dallas Bar Association, the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer's Association, IMPRINT TheatreWorks, Awwdoptable Inc, Destination Imagination, the North Texas Jewish Democratic Council, Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy, and the Texas Civil Rights Project.^[1]

Elections

2022

General election

General election for Dallas County Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 Place 1

Adam Swartz defeated Gregg Shalan in the general election for Dallas County Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 Place 1 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Adam Swartz (D)	53.4	88,229
	Submit photo	Gregg Shalan (R)	46.6	77,071

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 165,300
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Dallas County Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 Place 1

Adam Swartz advanced from the Democratic primary for Dallas County Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 Place 1 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Adam Swartz	100.0	24,246

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 24,246
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Dallas County Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 Place 1

Gregg Shalan advanced from the Republican primary for Dallas County Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 Place 1 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Gregg Shalan	100.0	23,640

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 23,640
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

Adam Swartz completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Swartz's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Adam has spent nearly a decade in Justice, County, & Municipal Courts across Texas, carving a niche as a consumer protection attorney (civil litigation, debt cases, LL/tenant disputes, & traffic ticket defense. He's been honored & humbled to be recognized with Texas SuperLawyer Rising Star awards each year since 2017.

I dedicate my time to my family & my communities. It’s how I sleep at night & what fuels my mornings…plus coffee.☕️ I actively fight for collective community causes (bail reform, compassionate use expansions/cannabis reform, social equality, walking back over-aggressive anti-consumer legislation, etc.) & I love working in small & non-traditional environments, particularly if there are others that believe in the mission of the project with me. It’s like having a workout buddy for civic development.

I was raised with the tradition that we heal the world a little bit one good deed at a time, & no good deed is ever too small. I have used that compass & the skill sets I’ve sharpened to build, better, or reform every institution/organization I’ve had the pleasure to be a part of.

I grew up here; I raise my daughter & coach DISD school teams here; I volunteer & I practice law here. I’m running for Justice of the Peace because I know I have what it takes to be a modern leader in a modern Court.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Experience. Integrity. Community.
Dallas County deserves an updated Justice Court, designed for the 21st century.
No shame (or shaming) in the People's Court.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Cannabis & Criminal Justice Reform

-Served on legislative advisory & drafting team for State Senator regarding reduction of cannabis concentrate penalties from felony to misdemeanor & expungement availability for non-violent convictions (passed by both the Texas House & Senate in 2021; stalled by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick);
Long-term community & legislative advocate regarding decriminalization & legalization (implying regulation/tax base benefit for the community) at state & fed. level;
-Personally lobbied Republican & Democratic State Representatives & Senators regarding the expansion of the Texas Compassionate Use Program (aka T-CUP) expansion for medical cannabis use (signed into law).

Anti-SLAPP Reforms
-Added certain provisions/language ultimately passed into law to walk back absurdities of the Texas Citizen's Participation Act, otherwise known as the Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), incl. replacing mandatory attorney fees award (that adversely chilled consumer lawsuits) with an attorney's fees award at the Judge's discretion, & rewording language to ensure meritorious complaints are not summarily thrown out of court.

Consumer Protection
-Authored and secured the addition of a full Consumer Protection plank to the Democratic Party Platform (which did not previously exist).
-Authored multiple bills submitted for legislative drafting bye state representatives and senators.

Bail Reform & Social Equality earn my boots on the ground, too.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Because I look up to him, Jon Stewart is who I'd like to sit down and spend some time with.

I wrote my undergrad senior thesis about the paradigm shift occurring in the early 2000s where Jon Stewart and the Daily Show became the most trusted names in news, and the juxtaposition of comedian commentators in news media. I called it "Jon Stewart & The Daily Show: A Rhetorical Analysis About Their Rhetorical Analysis."

The specific examples from his life that I've admired most were his 2004 appearance on CNN's Crossfire, where he changed the nature of televised punditry by calling out the ratings juggernaut for what it was: a pox on the civil discourse of America that was actively hurting our collective interests by disingenuously playing devil's advocate and trumping up faux apoplexy over tribalized trivialities. His work and persuasive speech to the Congressional House Judiciary Committee on the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund was both beautifully crafted and emblematic of the type of courage it takes to stand and deliver for people you believe in...to fight for them because they fought for you...to recognize that there is more than one way to fight for your country, and more than one way to pay back the people that do.

The answer is Jon Stewart.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

A Time to Kill - John Grisham

A Few Good Men - Aaron Sorkin

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Experience and Integrity.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Empathy, adaptability, epistemic curiosity, creative problem-solving within randomized constraints, previous business experience, previous lawyering experiences.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Call balls & strikes according to the law;

Give leeway within the law where it can be given, if appropriate;
Increase the efficiency and availability of/access to justice;

Maximize benefit for the community wherever/whenever possible.

What legacy would you like to leave?

To be determined...but in any event, better tomorrows for everyone that comes after us.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I was about 6 when the oil-tanker "Exxon Valdez" ran aground on Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound, ruptured, and spilled nearly 11 million gallons of Prudhoe Bay crude oil into a remote, scenic, and biologically productive body of water. I think what made that event stick with me was the emotion I felt as I saw magazine photos and news stories of other kids scrubbing ducks and other wildlife with toothbrushes to try and slop the muck off of them. It is the first subject I remember taking an active interest in and searching out books or periodicals with more information.

Same year: Field of Dreams & Batman came out. Those are historical events in MY family, at least.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My very first job was a summer gig in the Kids Cafe at the Dallas Jewish Community Center. It was a cross between short-order cook and cashier, we were paid in Galleria Gold, and I enjoyed it more than Circuit City when I was 16.

What is your favorite book? Why?

The last 3 books of the Wheel of Time series.

I named my daughter after one of the characters because I loved how she flowed into the story. The Wheel of Time is the most sprawling, epic fantasy series that is brilliant on character development and interwoven narratives. The last 3 books that were written by Brian Sanderson after author Robert Jordan died from a rare form of ALS came out each February that I was in law school. I had been reading this series since I was 16 and Brian found a way to make that pay off for every storyline, every character I came to care about. The Last Battle is a single chapter that wraps everything up nicely and is EXACTLY the ending we hoped for for over a decade.

Sometimes, the greatest thing about literature is its ability to transport us somewhere outside of us, in our own heads, to make us care and share the journeys of the individuals and people that take us away from ourselves for a minute. Maybe its to recharge our batteries, or maybe it is to help us find ways to cope and deal with whatever life throws our way. Literature is a blessing, and Wheel of Time I'll never tire of re-reading.

"Dovie'andi se tovya sagain."

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Professor Xavier (on a good day)

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Benny's Dispatch from In The Heights

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Persisting wrestling injuries that never healed right from high school.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

The Justice of the Peace has an outsized impact on a community's everyday lives, far more so than the County or District Courts.

The JPs in Dallas hear approx. 10,000 cases per year, from small claims to landlord/tenant disputes, to traffic tickets.

The bottom spot on the ballot has one of the single most important positions anchoring our communities together.

How would you describe your legal philosophy?

The legal effect of a statute should be determined by the objective purpose of the statute.

A judge calls balls & strikes. The law is the law, and within the law, there are variables and opportunities for sound minds to differ on interpretation.

As a purposivist though, there is more to the law than simply the rote text (which can often be inartfully fumbled by undetailed legislators or opportunistic individuals). The legislative history and totality of the circumstances surrounding the debate and passage of a particular statute should be taken into consideration and given appropriate weight when a statute's plain language can reasonably be interpreted in at least two ways.

Is there a particular judge, past or present, whom you admire?

While I don't know as much about either Earl Warren or Louis D. Brandeis as I do about the Justices alive in my time, they always stood out to me like lanterns in the window.

Louis Brandeis
Associate Justice 1916 to 1939
As the first Jew named to the Court and an unabashed advocate of social justice who had earned the nickname the “People’s Lawyer,” Brandeis faced a bitter confirmation fight. “He was dangerous not just because of his brilliance, his arithmetic, his courage,” his fellow justice William O. Douglas later wrote. “He was dangerous because he was incorruptible.” Indeed, it was Brandeis’ willingness to think beyond the status quo that made him such a prescient figure on the Court. His quotable dissenting opinions, particularly in cases involving freedom of speech and the right to privacy, would later become the majority positions of the Court.

Earl Warren -
Chief Justice 1953 to 1969
Before joining the Supreme Court, Warren was a consummate politician: a longtime governor of California who proved so popular in his first term that he won the nominations of both the Republican and Democratic parties when he ran for re-election. Dwight Eisenhower appointed him chief justice in 1953. Eisenhower proclaimed that the Court needed a justice with conservative economic and social values much like his own. Instead, Warren took the Court boldly into the 20th century with transformative liberal rulings in areas ranging from desegregation to free speech to criminal procedure.

The Warren Court issued many landmark decisions & Warren wrote the majority opinion in some of the most famous cases: Brown v. Board of Education (1954) banned segregation in public schools; Miranda v. Arizona (1966) required that criminal defendants be informed of their rights to remain silent and to be represented by a lawyer; Loving v. Virginia (1967) struck down prohibitions on interracial marriage. Somehow, Warren was able to find grounds for unanimity among colleagues

Do you believe that empathy is an important quality for a judge?

Of course.
This shouldn't even have to be a question, though there is good reason that it is.

Have you ever been rated by a Bar Association? If so, what was the rating?

I've been honored and humbled to have been recognized with Texas SuperLawyer Rising Star awards for my work in Consumer Protection each year since 2017.

Why are you running for this particular court seat?

I dedicate my time to my family and my communities. It’s how I sleep at night & what fuels my mornings…plus coffee.☕️ I actively fight for collective community causes (bail reform, compassionate use expansions/cannabis reform, social equality, walking back over-aggressive anti-consumer legislation, etc.) & I love working in small & non-traditional environments, particularly if there are others that believe in the mission of the project with me. It’s like having a workout buddy for civic development.

I was raised with the tradition that we heal the world a bit one good deed at a time, and no good deed is ever too small. I have used that compass & the skill sets I’ve sharpened to build, better, or reform every institution and organization I’ve had the pleasure to be a part of.

Dallas County Citizens deserve a Justice Court updated & designed for the 21st century, one that won’t turn its back on neighbors in need or shame you for being there in the first place. We need new leaders on our judicial benches who are making sure we don’t get left behind…Creating mobile-friendly websites, an Online Resource Warehouse, and electronic court filings & searchability for our local JP courts is long overdue.

I grew up here; I raise my daughter & coach DISD school teams here; I volunteer & I practice law here.

Inspired by that same service heart for my family & communities, I’m running for Justice of the Peace because I know I have what it takes to be a modern leader in a modern Court.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for a judge to have previous experience in government or politics?

Absolutely. It helps with the interpretation of the statutes from a purposivist standpoint. It helps from a picking-apart-the-drafting standpoint. It helps in a figuring-out-how-to-navigate-red-tape-and-still-get-things-accomplished standpoint. And it helps from the standpoint of picking people to serve in government from a pool of people who earnestly believe in the quality, value, and efficacy of good government.

What is your primary concern about today's legal system in your state?

For the Justice Courts, the issues are improving efficiency and access to justice.

Our local Justice Court has become increasingly out-of-touch with our community & its needs. My goal is streamlining the Court, making it easy to understand, making sure real people get fair shakes in a system that doesn't have to be so complicated.

What do you consider the greatest opportunity for the legal system in your state?

Restoring a belief in the independence of the Judiciary, reaffirming citizen's belief in good government being possible, and increasing civic participation in our local communities.

Do you believe that Bar Association ratings are an accurate reflection of a judge’s ability?

No rating system could ever fully encapsulate and reflect a given judge's ability (a component of which is potential). However, a rating system controlled to prevent repeat submissions from the same person are persuasive indicators of what is typical from any given judge on any given bench.

Tell us your favorite joke.

Lawyer joke: Two peanuts are walking through an alley. One is a salted.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Dallas County Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 Place 1

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Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 18, 2021

[bio-1] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 18, 2021

[1]

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Adam Swartz

Contents

Biography

Elections

2022

General election

General election for Dallas County Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 Place 1

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Dallas County Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 Place 1

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Dallas County Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 Place 1

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

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