McLaughlin has right mix of qualities for post
The rulings made in appeals courts typically have to do with narrow questions. Did the police properly obtain the evidence used in a trial? Did a judge give proper instructions to a jury? How should a decades-old precedent about privacy apply to the search of a smart phone? While the cases as a whole may involve heart-wrenching stories or be politically charged, the justices spend most of their day reading. The testimony, the cross-examinations, the presentation of shocking evidence — that all happens in lower courts. Appellate justices are generally bookish, researching their way to answers that are determined either by threejustice panels or by an en banc hearing of all nine members of the court. To win the day, they must persuade their colleagues.
We believe Tonya McLaughlin, 43, has the right mix of real world experience and appellate nerdiness. She’s served as a prosecutor and a defense attorney — an important background not well represented on the current court — and has won cases in the courts of appeal. In 2022 we endorsed her for the 262nd Criminal District Court, but she was defeated in the Democratic sweep of Harris County. Her mix of “empathy and no-nonsense” impressed us then, and still does. She can be tough on crime while respecting fundamental American rights.
Steve Rogers has served as judge on the 268th District Court in Fort Bend County for one year and, to our knowledge, doesn’t have appellate experience. He didn’t meet with us, but according to his website and an interview with Katy Christian Magazine, he worked primarily as legal counsel for an oil and gas company. He made an unsuccessful run for Fort Bend county attorney before his district court win. In an email response to the editorial board, he wrote, “People are tired of judges not doing their job and tired of all the woke politics. My judicial philosophy is simple, I follow the law and I enforce the law. I’m running for Justice to keep criminals off the streets, enforce our laws, protect Texans, and to get the justice system back to work!”
Rogers’ rhetoric strikes us as better suited for an aspiring district attorney, or even a judge at a district court like the one he just started serving. If conservatives are looking for an effective appellate justice, McLaughlin is the better fit.