Bill Text: TX HR1625 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: In memory of former Texas Supreme Court chief justice Jack Pope.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-04-26 - Filed [HR1625 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HR1625-Introduced.html
85R14869 BPG-D | ||
By: Lambert | H.R. No. 1625 |
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WHEREAS, The Texas legal community lost a true giant with the | ||
passing of former state supreme court chief justice Jack Pope of | ||
Austin on February 25, 2017, at the age of 103; and | ||
WHEREAS, Born in Abilene on April 18, 1913, Andrew Jackson | ||
Pope Jr. was the son of Dr. A. J. Pope Sr. and Ruth Taylor Pope; he | ||
completed his bachelor's degree at Abilene Christian University and | ||
went on to graduate from The University of Texas at Austin School of | ||
Law, where he was editor of the Texas Law Review; on June 11, 1938, | ||
he married the former Allene Nichols, and they became the parents of | ||
two sons, A. J. and Allen; and | ||
WHEREAS, Justice Pope joined his uncle's law firm in Corpus | ||
Christi but interrupted his career to serve as a U.S. Navy | ||
cryptographer during World War II; following his return, he was | ||
named judge of the 94th District Court, and in 1960, he won election | ||
to the Fourth Court of Civil Appeals; he was elected to the Texas | ||
Supreme Court four years later, and in 1982, he was appointed chief | ||
justice; and | ||
WHEREAS, Over the course of his remarkable 38-year tenure on | ||
the bench, Justice Pope authored more than 1,000 opinions; many of | ||
them were landmark decisions, and he transformed Texas water law | ||
through his reassessment of the rights conveyed by Spanish and | ||
Mexican land grants; moreover, he carried out significant reforms | ||
to promote the integrity and efficiency of the legal system and to | ||
ensure equal access to justice; he was a founder of the Texas Center | ||
for the Judiciary, a judicial education institute, and he signed | ||
the order mandating formal education for judges; ten years after | ||
chairing the State Bar of Texas committee that drafted the first | ||
voluntary judicial code of conduct, he drafted the initial | ||
mandatory code, and he was a charter member of the Texas Center for | ||
Legal Ethics; and | ||
WHEREAS, An innovator in a range of different areas, Justice | ||
Pope wrote the first handbook for citizens called to jury duty, and | ||
he sponsored the founding of the State Law Library; as chief | ||
justice, he guided the establishment of the Interest on Lawyers' | ||
Trust Accounts Program, which funds civil legal aid to low-income | ||
Texans, and when the program was dramatically expanded in 2013, the | ||
enacted legislation was named the Chief Justice Jack Pope Act in his | ||
honor; he also won legislative support for statutory changes to | ||
thwart forum shopping for preferred judges; and | ||
WHEREAS, Justice Pope received myriad accolades through the | ||
years, including a lifetime achievement award from the Judicial | ||
Section of the State Bar, Outstanding Alumnus honors from the UT | ||
School of Law and Abilene Christian University, and honorary | ||
degrees from a number of other colleges; for many years, he served | ||
as a trustee of ACU, and he developed the Jack Pope Fellows Program | ||
at the university to provide scholarships for students pursuing | ||
careers in public service; most of his library and papers are | ||
archived at the institution; and | ||
WHEREAS, Following his retirement in 1985, Justice Pope | ||
helped incorporate the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society, and | ||
in 2014 the society published Common Law Judge, a collection of his | ||
writings; he remained an avid outdoorsman, and after passing his | ||
100th birthday, he still enjoyed taking walks around his | ||
neighborhood and Zilker Park; and | ||
WHEREAS, Jack Pope left an indelible imprint on the Texas | ||
legal system, and those who were privileged to share in the richness | ||
of his life will forever cherish their memories of his wit, honesty, | ||
common sense, and profound dedication to justice for all; now, | ||
therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas | ||
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of the Honorable Jack | ||
Pope and extend sincere condolences to his loved ones; and, be it | ||
further | ||
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of | ||
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Justice | ||
Jack Pope. |