Ex-appellate judge takes bench on top court
Former Houston appellate Judge Brett Busby, who lost his reelection bid in November, is taking a seat on the state’s civil court after his appointment was confirmed by the Texas Senate this week.
A seventh-generation Texan and graduate of Duke University and Columbia Law School, Busby is a member of the Federalist Society, a prominent conservative legal group. It advocates for “originalism” in the legal system, a belief that the Constitution should be interpreted according to what it meant when it was written.
But Busby said he is taking an objective approach as he takes a seat on the Texas Supreme Court.
“My approach to every case, no matter what the parties or issues may be, has always been to give every party a fair and respectful hearing and to decide the issues that they raise based on the law as it is, not as I may like it to be, and the record before the court,” he said.
Busby is one of four Republican judges who lost their elections in November but have recently been tapped by Gov. Greg Abbott to fill key court vacancies. In the 2018 midterms, Texas Democrats flipped four major appeals courts in some of the state’s largest metropolitan areas.
Abbott appointed Busby in February, and the Texas Senate voted to confirm him Wednesday.
He will replace former Justice Phil Johnson, who retired in December after serving for 13 years.
Busby was initially appointed to the Houston-area 14th Court of Appeals in 2012 by then-Gov. Rick Perry. He was elected to a full term the same year.
During his time on the appellate court, Busby was part of the threejudge panel that vacated the conviction of Jorge Guerrero, who was sentenced in 2013 to eight years for an armed robbery he committed when he was 16. The panel ruled the juvenile court hadn’t provided sufficient evidence to show why he should be certified to stand trial as an adult and sent the case back to the juvenile court.
Busby’s panel was one of the first two to make such a ruling; for 25 years, there hadn’t been a single successful challenge of a juvenile certification as an adult.
After he lost his race for re-election, Busby said, he worked as an appellate lawyer before he was notified about his appointment.
“Receiving a call offering you a position on the Supreme Court of Texas, it’s the sort of call that you dream about receiving,” Busby said. “I’m honored that the governor selected me.”