The Texas Lawbook has this story:
Wallace Jefferson, the first African-American to lead the Texas Supreme Court and one of the most respected jurists in the nation, is resigning his position effective Oct. 1. Jefferson said the reasons he’s stepping down are personal financial pressures and a realization that he had achieved most of the goals he had set out to accomplish. “I’m going to move on to some new challenges, though I’m not sure what yet,” Jefferson said …
According to the article, the governor was informed last week and the official announcement will be tomorrow. Update: Osler McCarthy has just circulated this email with the official announcement.
A short version of the article was published by the Dallas Morning News. The rest of the article, including reactions from current Justices, former Justices, and members of the appellate bar, is behind the Texas Lawbook paywall at this link.
Chief Justice Jefferson’s term runs through 2014, so the interim successor named by the Governor will stand for reelection that November for a full six-year term. If that successor is drawn from among the Court’s current Justices, then the Governor will have a second interim appointment to make.
2 responses so far ↓
1 D. Todd Smith // Sep 3, 2013 at 8:38 am
Interesting that news of the Chief’s impending departure broke through an exclusive interview with a pay legal news service.
2 Don Cruse // Sep 3, 2013 at 10:13 am
My impression is that yesterday’s grant of an interview was more about shaping an ongoing story than “breaking” a story. The same service had already printed a story about this on Friday, quoting some previous conversations with the Chief about the general thought process that judges use when leaving the bench and strongly hinting this would be his choice.