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Rival: Justice copied books
Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett's job application to the state included at least half a dozen examples of writing cribbed -- without attribution -- from two books by conservative legal stalwarts, the Republican's opponent said Wednesday. Justice Willett, appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to a vacant spot on Texas' highest civil court in August, confirmed having used the thoughts of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and former U.S. Circuit Judge Robert Bork. But Justice Willett said there was nothing sinister in his borrowing the anecdotes, some of which he said "are so commonly repeated as to be part of the conservative lexicon, like the expression 'legislate from the bench.' " "There was no need for attribution," he said. "This wasn't an intensely footnoted law review article, judicial opinion or doctoral dissertation. It was a conversational, earnest discussion of what I believe about the nature of judging and the limited role of the judiciary." … Charles Silver, a legal ethics professor at the UT law school, said there is no question of legal or judicial ethics, because the application was a political document, not a lawyerly or judicial work. The question is whether such applications are usually footnoted and sourced, Mr. Silver said. "If he [Justice Willett] believes these statements capture his views better than any other, he might have been doing the right thing," the professor said. "I think attribution would be the better practice. But, I'm not sure what the expectations are for a document like this."
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