Texas Supreme Court Justice Jeff Brown stopped in Tyler on Wednesday to announce his intention to seek re-election in 2018. It would be the Republican’s first full term.
“With each year, I become a wiser and more capable judge,” he said. “At least, I pray I do.”
Brown has been a judge for 15 years, serving at all three levels of the judiciary - first the 55th District Court for six years, then six more years as an associate justice of the 14th Court of Appeals, and now as a Supreme Court justice.
He was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry in 2013 to fill the seat of Justice Nathan Hecht, after Hecht was appointed chief justice. He then won a special election on his own in 2014 to the unexpired term.
Brown is a Texas native who grew up in Dallas. He received his bachelor of arts in English from The University of Texas at Austin then attended the University of Houston Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude. Brown clerked for both Justice Jack Hightower and Gov. Greg Abbott.
He is one of only four people to clerk for the Texas Supreme Court and later became a justice.
After clerking, Brown practiced law at Baker Botts, where he was board certified in civil trial law.
If re-elected, Brown said he wants to refine his writing and his analysis.
Some of Brown’s influences include Justice John Harlan, Justice Clarence Thomas and the late Justice Antonin Scalia - who administered him the oath in 2013.
“All of those men are judges who strictly adhere to the text and apply the law impartially, fairly and right down the line,” he said. “I aspire to be a judge just like that.”
Brown has been a part of the Hecht court as they have erased its backlog and has been a “great example of government working efficiently.”