Opinion ID: 1868643
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Issues on the Propriety of the Sanction Assessed

Text: In Issues No. Nine and No. Ten, Respondent suggests that the Commission's recommendation of removal and permanent bar from holding office is excessive. We examine that in light of our sustaining Issue No. Three, and not having to address Issues No. One, No. Two, and No. Five which are collateral. The Texas Judicial Conduct Commission is authorized to perform three fundamental tasks: (1) to investigate claims of misconduct and to bring and pursue formal or informal charges; (2) to hold an adjudicative hearing and make findings of fact; and (3) to recommend or order a final disposition to those charges. See generally Tex. Const. art. V, § 1-a (1993); see also Jeffrey M. Shaman et al., Judicial Conduct and Ethics, § 13.03 (3d ed. 2000). The investigations and deliberations of the Texas Judicial Conduct Commission may result in: (1) dismissal of the complaint; (2) public or private order of additional education in combination with a public or private sanction; (3) public or private admonition, warning or reprimand; (4) the acceptance of a voluntary agreement to resign from judicial office in lieu of disciplinary action, or (5) formal proceedings for the removal or the involuntary retirement of the judge from the bench. Tex. Const. art. V, § 1-a(8). In the instant case, the Commission, after the hearing and upon considering the record and reports filed, found good cause to recommend to this review tribunal that Respondent should be removed from office and forever barred from holding judicial office. [12] The recommended sanction is the most severe consequence for judicial misconduct provided for in the Texas Constitution. The severity of contesting the recommendation of removal from office is illustrated by the fact that if the order of removal is sustained, the offending judge forfeits all of her or his retirement annuity. [13] TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 834.004 (Vernon's 2003); see also TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 839.003. Respondent has chosen to contest the recommendation of removal. Upon a finding of judicial misconduct, the imposition of sanctions must necessarily be decided on a case-by-case basis. In determining whether a recommended sanction is excessive or otherwise appropriate, a review tribunal must remain mindful that the primary purpose of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct, and all its ancillary rules, is to protect the citizens of Texas, rather than to discipline judges. In an era of increasing partisanship, legislative bickering, and social turmoil, it is the judiciary that is most often called upon to resolve differences, and lend order and calm. The Texas judiciary must be the guidon of the banner representing stability, impartiality, and fairness in our State. Consequently, we emphasize that the standard for judicial conduct in the State of Texas must be more than effortless obedience to the law, but rather, must be conduct which constantly reaffirms one's fitness for the high responsibilities of judicial office and which continuously maintains, if not furthers, the belief that an independent judiciary exists to protect the citizen from both government overreaching and individual self-help. See generally In re Barr, 13 S.W.3d at 532. In the instant case, we are not faced with a single instance of sexual impropriety by a member of the Texas judiciary, acting in his individual capacity, in the privacy of his home. Rather, we find Respondent, who in his judicial capacity, and in his judicial chambers, engaged in the inappropriate, unsolicited, sexually suggestive conduct which included sexual advances by forcibly kissing and fondling two young women. The women included an eighteen-year-old part-time employee with the Brooks County District Attorney's Office, and the twenty-one-year-old pregnant daughter of his court bailiff. [14] Integrity is the very essence of the judicial vocation. Respondent has brought the judiciary into disrepute and has violated the trust of the people who placed him in office. Respondent's actions damaged public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary. In the instant case, it is not merely a question of whether Respondent accepted the responsibility of becoming familiar with and complying with the Code of Judicial Conduct and of upholding the integrity of the judiciary, but rather, whether he knew right from wrong. In any society, the unwelcome sexual advances of one in authority over another is wrong. The actions of a judicial officer in pursuing such advances, in chambers, as to another individual regardless of whether the victim is a public servant or the pregnant daughter of the court bailiff, is to be condemned. Given the facts and circumstances detailed above, we find that the recommendation of removal from office is appropriate to protect the citizens of Texas and certainly is not excessive. Further, we likewise find the recommendation that he be prohibited from holding judicial office in the future not to be excessive. Issue Nos. Nine and Ten are overruled in their entirety. Having sustained Issue No. Three, and not having to address Issue Nos. One, Two and Five, and further having overruled each of Respondent's remaining issues on review, we affirm the recommendation of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct that Respondent be sanctioned. We accept the recommendation that Respondent, Terry A. Canales be removed as Judge of the 79th Judicial District Court of the State of Texas, and further accept the recommendation that he be forever barred from holding judicial office in the State of Texas. TERRY A. CANALES IS HEREBY REMOVED AS JUDGE OF THE 79TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT OF THE STATE OF TEXAS AND IS FOREVER BARRED FROM HOLDING JUDICIAL OFFICE IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.