succeeded |alma_mater birth_place nationality party office preceded birth_date term_start appointer image article_title name
incumbent austin high school in houston , texas chicago , cook county illinois american republican texas supreme court justice scott andrew brister 12 january 1961 october 8 , 2009 rick perry eva guzman.jpg eva guzman
 eva martinez guzman
eva guzman

eva martinez guzman -lrb- born january 12 , 1961 , in chicago , illinois -rrb- is a member of the texas supreme court , the body of final appeal in civil and juvenile law in texas .
she was appointed to place 9 on the court by governor rick perry in the fall of 2009 to fill the seat vacated by justice scott brister , who resigned with more than a year left in his term .
all nine supreme court justices are republican .
guzman won the gop nomination for the seat in the primary election held on march 2 , 2010 .
she defeated judge rose vela of the 13th court of appeals , 721,456 -lrb- 65.3 percent -rrb- to 384,135 -lrb- 34.7 percent -rrb- .
in the november 2 general election , guzman defeated democrat blake h. bailey .
guzman is one of seven children of mexican immigrant parents .
she was reared in houston , where she graduated in 1979 from the predominantly hispanic austin high school .
a resident of cypress in harris county , she is the first hispanic woman to serve on the high court .
another hispanic , david medina , was elected to the court in 2006 .
guzman was recognized by the hispanic national bar association as `` latina judge of the year '' and as `` 2009 judge of the year '' by the mexican american bar association of texas foundation .
at the time of the appointment , perry called guzman a `` principled conservative with an `` unmatched work ethic . ''
prior to her high court appointment , guzman was an associate justice on the 14th court of appeals in houston , where she ruled on thousands of civil and criminal appeals wrote hundreds of published opinions .
she is also an adjunct professor at the university of houston law center .
as of 2009 , she had served for more than a decade as the first hispanic female appointed and then elected to both the harris county family court and the 14th court of appeals .
guzman has also been named `` appellate judge of the year '' by the houston police officers union .
she received a bachelor 's degree from the university of houston and a law degree from south texas college of law in houston .
she is married to houston police sergeant antonio ray `` tony '' guzman -lrb- born 1958 -rrb- , and the couple has a daughter , melanie alexis .
