JP3 voters have a chance to stop liberal judicial activism dead in its tracks

(Sic.)

The Republican nominee for Travis County Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 apparently has no tolerance for using the people's court as a bully pulpit.

In an unexpected salvo, Martin Harry has filed three grievances with the State Bar of Texas against Sylvia Holmes, the Democrat candidate, for her "lack of judicious temperament." We summarize the grievances below, but if you want more detailed information see Harry's grievance page and his press release.

1. Holmes has prejudice against charter schools and alternative high school programs (JP courts often deal with troubled youth and order them to complete GED programs at non-traditional schools).
2. Holmes allegedly promised lawyers at a campaign event that they and their clients would have their cases fast-tracked or given priority over those without an attorney present.
3. Holmes misrepresented her position as an assistant director for a University of Texas legal office serving around 1,200 clients yearly by claiming to be an associate director over the entire 52,000-member student body. Harry said in his release that this is an embellishment.

"Voters in this election are entitled to be informed about their choices for the next justice of the peace in Precinct 3 and no issue is more important than judicial ethics,” Harry said in his press release, noting that both he and Holmes are under the Texas Judicial Code of Conduct and are eligible for review by the state bar.

Travis GOP Chairman Matt Mackowiak came out in support of Harry's complaints against Holmes:

"Not only does Sylvia Holmes intend on using the Travis County Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace courtroom as a personal platform for her liberal politics and radical feminist views, it is now clear that her values are in question. We are deeply indebted to Republican candidate Martin Harry's investigation -- this devotion to judicial ethics is one more reason why voters should vote for him in November. The facts demonstrate that Sylvia Holmes' conduct does not meet the ethical standard of Precinct 3 voters. The Travis County Republican Party will aggressively defend Precinct 3 through November to make sure Martin Harry wins by the widest margin possible."

We at The Tracker noticed some tell-tale signs on Holmes' campaign Facebook Page that indicates that she is less interested in making fair an objective rulings (even if from a liberal perspective) on the JP court bench, but wants to be "in charge" and "bring progressive change" to the county using the judicial position. See the screenshot above, and this additional little nugget below.

As if Judge Susan Steeg wsan't liberal enough?

                          

Martin A. Harry

If Travis County voters of any political persuasion are wanting to remove politics from the courtroom then it appears Holmes is not the direction to go. We urge a vote for Martin Harry in November in Precinct 3.

If you're not sure what a Justice of the Peace does, exactly, or why it's important that partisan politics stay out of the courtroom, here's a helpful video Harry's team put together on the subject:

As it happens, This isn't Harry's first time to call out the abuse of the courts system to promote personal political objectives. In January, Harry alleged that Travis County elected officials violated state ethics law, wasted tax dollars, and abused federal courts to push a political agenda for four years in the Charles Kleinert accidental shooting case before it came to an abrupt halt at the U.S. Supreme Court (Travis Tracker, Jan. 10, 2018).



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Image credits:
Facebook.com
Martin A. Harry