Texas Judicial Branch

The powers of Texas government are divided into three departments or branches and are confided to separate bodies of magistracy. The branches are legislature, executive and judicial systems. In Texas, the legislature is the most powerful among the three branches of government (Texas Politics, 2012).

However, none of the three is particularly strong; the legislature is described as more stronger than the others. However, the judicial branch is political just like the other two branches. According to Cheek and Champagne (2005), the judicial politics has declined in terms of finances, but a candidate’s party affiliation is still relevant though in a different way. One has to be a Republican to win a statewide election or elections held in a county such as Harris or Dallas. For instance, there was not a single Democrat contesting for any of the three seats for Texas Supreme Court in the 2000 elections. In recent years, the judicial elections have become more partisan and the courts have given the judicial candidates freedom to speak openly about their ideologies more than ever before. The topmost offices on both the state and local levels of Texas justice system are, therefore, occupied by the elected officials. The officials often succumb to their political instincts while upholding the law-district attorneys, county sheriffs, judges from all levels of the court system. The governor and state legislators take a huge effort to maintain a tough-on-crime public image.

The judicial politics is also evident in the way funds are administered to the system. Though state politicians have emphasized on being tough towards crime activities, they are unwilling or unable to fund a properly-functioning justice system adequately. This results to shortages in the critical components of justice, for instance, police training, public defenders and judicial salaries. In conclusion, the Texas judicial branch is as political as the executive and legislative branches.