[Note: I have started my own blog,
Mudflap Wisdom but am cross-posting this entry here so that it can get a wider audience. It is a view on the Cornyn affair that I have not seen as yet, and as a Kossack from Texas, I thought it worthy of submission.]
John Cornyn has certainly been busy lately. Not only has he been stirring up controversy regarding support for the Senate "nuclear option" (along with Bush I counsel C. Boyden Gray), his comments yesterday attempted to rationalize violence against members of the Judiciary.
While Senator Cornyn's comments yesterday may be stirring up outrage in the blogosphere and elsewhere, I am wondering if anyone in Austin is taking notice. I submit the following Canons of Ethics, which bind all attorneys licensed in Texas. These are codified in TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. §§ 51.001-327 (Vernon 1988).
Canon 1
DUTY OF A MEMBER TO THE COURTS. It is the duty of a member to maintain toward the courts a respectful attitude. Judges shall receive the support of members against unjust criticisms and clamor. Whenever there is proper ground for serious complaint of a judicial officer, it is the right and duty of a member to submit his grievances to the proper authorities. In such cases, but not otherwise, such charges shall be encouraged and the person making them protected.
Canon 19
CANDOR AND FAIRNESS. The conduct of a member before the court and with other members should be characterized by candor and fairness. He should not knowingly misquote the contents of a paper, the testimony of a witness, the language or the argument of opposing counsel, or the language of a decision or a text-book; or, with knowledge of its invalidity, to cite as authority a decision that has been overruled, or a statute that has been repealed; or, in argument to assert as a fact that which has not been proved; or to mislead his opponent by concealing or withholding positions in his opening argument upon which his side intends to rely.
Canon 29
THE MEMBER'S DUTY IN ITS LAST ANALYSIS. No client, corporate or individual,nor any cause, civil or political, however important, is entitled to receive, nor shall any member render any service or advice involving disloyalty to the law, or disrespect of the judicial office, a corruption of any person or persons exercising a public office or private trust, or deception or betrayal of the public. A member must also observe and advise his client to observe the Statute law, though until a statute shall have been construed and interpreted by competent adjudication, he is free and is entitled to advise as to its validity and as to what he conscientiously believes to be its just meaning and extent.
I also submit the following excerpt from the Texas Code of Professional Conduct, amended March 1, 2005. (TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. §§ 82.001-400 (Vernon 1998).)
VIII. MAINTAINING THE INTEGRITY OF THE PROFESSION
Rule 8.02 Judicial and Legal Officials
(a) A lawyer shall not make a statement that the lawyer knows to be false or with reckless disregard as to its truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge, adjudicatory official or public legal officer, or of a candidate for election or appointment to judicial or legal office.
I further submit the comments of Robert J. Grey, President of the American Bar Association (
full text here):
"To attack these servants of justice is to attack democracy, and our ability to rely on the legal system to assure our rights and justice. Every day across this nation thousands of courageous judges, jurors, court personnel and lawyers go into courtrooms to achieve justice the best way they know how. Their ability to work without fear or intimidation is the shield of justice and democracy for all of us."
While Cornyn is now admittedly a politician, he still holds a law license in the State of Texas, and is still bound by the same ethics standards of a practicing attorney. I will leave it to the reader to conclude whether the State Bar of Texas should hold him accountable for these statements as well as his misrepresentations on the opinions of the three "democratic strategists" regarding the "nuclear option" in the Senate.