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David Medina
David M. Medina was a justice of the Texas Supreme Court, in Place 4. He was elected to a full-term on November 7, 2006, after being appointed by Governor Rick Perry on November 10, 2004.[1] He left the court on December 31, 2012, after an unsuccessful bid for re-election.
Education
Medina received his B.S. degree from Southwest Texas State University in 1980 and his J.D. from South Texas College of Law in 1989.[2]
Career
Medina began working for Cooper Industries in 1987 and after graduating law school, became litigation counsel in 1989. He worked there until his appointment to the District 157 Court in May 1996. He served in this capacity until 2000, when he went back to Cooper Industries, as Associate General Counsel for Litigation. In 2004, Medina served as General Counsel to the governor, and that year, Governor Rick Perry appointed him to the Texas Supreme Court.[3][2]
2012 election
Medina won 37.74 percent of the vote in the Republican primary on May 29, 2012. Because no candidate received over 50 percent of the vote, he and John Devine competed in a primary runoff on July 31, 2012.[4] Medina was defeated in the runoff, receiving 46.69 percent of the vote to John Devine's 53.3%.[5]
- See also: Texas judicial elections, 2012
Awards and associations
- Board Member, Spring Klein Baseball Association
- Former Board Member, Habitat for Humanity
- Former Board Member, Houston Metro
- Adjunct professor, South Texas College of Law[3]
Noteworthy cases
Church practices (2008)
Medina ruled in 2008 that a church’s religious practice of “laying hands” is entitled to First Amendment protection against a member’s emotional damage claims arising out of tort. "Assessing emotional damages against a church for engaging in theses religious practices would unconstitutionally burden [the church’s] right to free exercise and embroil the Court in an assessment of the propriety of those religious beliefs."[6]
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Medina received a campaign finance score of 0.81, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was less conservative than the average score of 0.91 that justices received in Texas.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[7]
See also
- News: JP Election Brief: Ready for the next round of primaries, July 26, 2012
- News: JP Election Brief: Looking at Arizona, North Dakota and Texas, June 28, 2012
- News: JP Election Brief: Results from North Carolina and West Virginia (and more!), May 10, 2012
External links
- The Supreme Court of Texas, Justice David Medina, Place 4 (dead link)
- Project Vote Smart, Justice David Medina (TX)
- Texas Supreme Court Opinions by Justice David Medina
- Statesman.com, "Texas Supreme Court tosses $15.8 million verdict in case involving illegal immigrant," March 12, 2010
Footnotes
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2006 General Election results"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Project Vote Smart, "Justice David Medina (TX)"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Supreme Court of Texas, "Justice David Medina, Place 4" (dead link)
- ↑ 2012 Texas Republican Candidates
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Republican Primary Runoff Results," accessed August 1, 2012
- ↑ The Southeast Texas Record, "Texas high court rules 'laying of hands' protected by law," July 10, 2008
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
Federal courts:
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas
State courts:
Texas Supreme Court • Texas Court of Appeals • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals • Texas District Courts • Texas County Courts • Texas County Courts at Law • Texas Statutory Probate Courts • Texas Justice of the Peace Courts
State resources:
Courts in Texas • Texas judicial elections • Judicial selection in Texas
