Biography
The following interview on Tuesday, October 15, 2002 is with Eric Albrighton whose office is at 109 Tyler St. in Longview, Texas. It will become a part of the oral history project of the Department of History at the University of Texas in Tyler, Texas. The interviewer is Josh Belflower.
JB is Josh W. Belflower
EA is Eric Albritton
Transcription
JB: Today is Tuesday, October 15, at 10:30 in the morning and we are at the office of Eric Albrighton in Longview, Texas at 109 W. Tyler St.
Hum, what is your name sir?
EA: That's alright, it's Eric Miller Albritton. I live at 1309 Inverness St. in Longview which is 75601. My office is located in downtown Longview at 109 W. Tyler ST. 75601.
JB: And how long have you resided there?
EA: I have lived in Longview since 1998.
JB: And would you discuss your educational background?
EA: I went to grade school and high school in Rockwall, Texas. Graduated from Rockwall High School in 1987. I then went to Stephen F. Austin State University for one year, after that year I transferred to Baylor University. I studied Sociology at Baylor, graduated in May of '91. Phi Beta Kappa. I then spent three years in Berkley, California going to Vault Poll School of Law. Graduated the University of California of Berkley Law School in May of '94. I then went to work in Tyler, Texas as Judge William Justice's law clerk, I was there for one year.
JB: Can you discuss your work with him?
EA: When I worked with Judge Justice he had a secretary named Evelyn, a court reporter named Susan Simmons, a court room deputy named Peggy Thompson, Reed Withworth, and me. Reed and I were the Judge's two law clerks. The Judge, the law clerks were assigned one-half of the docket. One of us handled the even cases, one of os handled the numbered cases. Hum, it was a wonderful year, within the year I spent with the Judge, we would go to the office every morning early and the entire staff would sit around and drink coffee. We would visit about the days events, we would visit about politics, we would visit about books we had read or movies we had seen, we talked about work some. Hum, we also during the year, we had lunch with the Judge every day, I can't remember one day that we didn't, it may have been one or two, most every day we had lunch with the Judge. Again, just visited and had a very warm and cordial friendly relationship.
JB: Can you discuss changes in the court during your time there?
EA: Well, let me talk a bit about the actual work that we did with the Court. Hum, the way the Judge handled it when motions would come in, Peggy would collect the motions, she would wait on the response, and then she would put them in the box of the law clerk handling that case. We had odds or evens, we would then do a great deal of the research, um, read the motions, talk to the judge, talk among ourselves about the issues involved then we would draft orders. WE would then put those orders into the Judge's box and the Judge would look at them and edit them. He was a prolific editor, he had his own ideas about grammar, um, he was quite liberal with his use of commas, for instance. Um, sometimes after doing, he would then do the editing and send it back to the law clerk, and we would make the changes, put it back in his box for his signature. Um, that was the most typical, sometimes in addition to editorial changes we would talk to the Judge about particular ways to handle an issue, what ought to be the rule, or how to apply the rule properly in this case. And had substance discussions about the law, and also during that year, not only did we talk about the individual cases that we were working on but we talked about bigger issues about framing the law and the way things ought to be handled. And the Judge was a firm believer that all persons are entitled to respect and should be treated with dignity and that was really sort of the value principal through our work. Changes that happened during that year, we had come to the Judge after there had been some very significant changes in his court family. Debbie McGee who had been his long time secretary had recently left, to work for Buck Files and his long time court reporter, Dorothy Doherty had left and his long time Courtroom deputy, Joyce Almers left. Each of those women had been working for the Judge when I interviewed for the job and each of them were gone by the time I came. So, there had been a lot of change in the Judge court family. Bigger changes, um, that happened at the court during the time I was there, Judge Folsum and Judge Hartford, were both appointed to the bench and were both confirmed um, I went with the Judge to in vesture both of them. Um, those were the only big changes I think that really happened at the court while I was there.
JB: Um, those were basically, his staff?
EA: Yeah, he had had those staff changes.
JB: Were there any procedural changes?
EA: Um, no not that I'm aware of.
JB: Can you discuss public perception of the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas?
EA: Well, I mean that's really a complicated question because um, I think as a general matter, people in the communities respect the federal courts. I think the more particularly as it relates to Judge Justice, I think that there were some class of persons who respected him greatly for his intellect and his compassion and his courage but I also think that there are certain types of folks who um, were not big fans of his. Um, thought that he was activists and having gender, so I think that on whole the perception of the court was good, I also think that anybody who knew the Judge in any way close or just an acquaintance had great respect for the Judge but I think that some of the uninformed population had some disdain for him. Although, I never personally experienced any of that animosity.
JB: To say that he was good, this was a valid perception in your judgment?
EA: Oh yea, Judge Justice in that court had immense integrity. Judge Justice is an extremely honorable person who takes his job very, very seriously. So everybody who believed him to be hard working and honorable had absolutely the correct perception.
JB: Would you say that the court has shaped public opinion or did it shape it?
EA: I think that the court probably shaped public opinion. I think that Judge Justice in particular has had the opportunity to preside over some cases that have had tremendous impact socially. For instance, the year that we were in chambers the Judge presided over a case in the Paris Division, that was filed by a lawyer named Jim Adler, against the State Bar of Texas, that had to do with lawyer advertising. Judge Justice found that most of the rules were constitutional; he found some very small minority of them were unconstitutional and based on first amendment grounds. I think that decision, the facts not only help people view the bench but how they view lawyers as a whole. I think that the profession of lawyers is lessened by the extensive advertising that takes place. I think that people who advertise on T.V. and make outlandish claims reduce the um, the esteem of our profession. And I think that, that case effected, because the rules were held to be constitutional effected the way all of us were viewed by public at large. Now that's not at all to say that Judge Justice had done anything inappropriate because I think Judge made the right decision and frankly I will say that I think the Judge is personally put off by advertising as well. I think that the Judge appreciated the fact that these advertisers harm us all as lawyers but never the less, despite his personal feelings he did what he believed was dictated by the law, upholding those regulations. But the Judge also had many, many other cases that have shaped the public agenda, for instance, when I was in chambers, we worked on a case um, involving the desegregation of housing, in east Texas the plaintiff was Young and the defendant was Cisneros, then the director for the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and I think there was much difficulty for instance Vita, there had been an African American person who had been moved into that housing project, pursuant to orders of the court, um, he had been killed and I think that much debate around the country, certainly in East Texas was generated. People had to examine their own biases and their prejudices and their feelings about desegregation and about ways. I don't think that the Judge made rulings to ever encourage that sort of debate but the Judge only did what was called upon by the law, and the constitution but the bi-product of the what the Judge did resulted in the examination of race and bias and things of that nature. And those are just two small examples.
JB: What was Judge Justice like?
EA: Judge Justice he um, is a bright man, he had innate intellectual, he's also a hard working person. Um, I he did not work inordinate hours when I was there. However, I understand that as a younger man, he did. Uh, the most dividing characteristic of Judge Justice in my opinion is that he was both courageous and passionate.
You know, I had the opportunity to work for another Justice who was also a great man. But I had the opportunity to sort of look at both of them and analyze them in relation to each other as well as in relation to other Jurist that I had known. And what I can say about Judge Justice is that he always, always, always did what he thought was right. He never um, waivered from doing what he thought was the right thing to do under the law and the facts. And it was very courageous for him to do that because sometimes he was compelled to do things that were not popular, but I don't think that ever entered into his equation of what to do. I think that he always did what he thought was right. On a personal level, we in our society, we, and our society uses the term 'gentleman' loosely, um, Judge Justice was a gentleman. He is thoughtful in his advice, in his responses, he was pre… in his position, always he was interested in what you have to say, um, he's just, he's incredibly warm and kind, he's compassionate and courageous and he's just frankly one of the most wonderful people that I've ever met in my life.
JB: Can you describe some of the interactions with the Judge.
EA: My interactions with the Judge were um, they were always pleasant, I can't recall anytime that um, we were cross. That's not to say that we've always agreed universally, on what to do, for instance on that lawyer case it was assigned to my co-clerk, but I did not necessarily agree, um, with everything, all the decisions the Judge made in the case. I thought more of the statue might suffer from constitutional infirmities and when I would talk to the Judge about those issues, he was very respectful, he would talk to me substantively about my thoughts, he was never dismissive um, but he did ultimately what he thought was right. After all he was the Judge, he was not ever concerned about who he was or how he perceived. He was just exactly who he was and he had no apologies for it which was a real lesson for me, at the time I had struggled, as I still do struggle with who I am and how people perceive me but I don't think the Judge worried much about who he was. He had this very firm understanding of who he was and why he had that job and what his responsibility was. Um, it was always, it was good to be around the Judge. I enjoyed talking to him and listening to his ideas, he was very fond, the Judge was very, very fond of his father. We got to hear lots of great stories about Will Justice, that were interesting to a young lawyer, um, he was also very enlightening to sit with the Judge, in trial he would pass us notes from time to time and comment on some of the things the lawyers were doing and what the witness was doing. And it was always insightful, and to this day when I trial lawsuits, I often think about, well, what would the Judge think about this. Well, what would be his observation and usually when I would resort to that sort of analysis, I am benefited by it. Je's just, he's an insightful person.
JB: How had Judge Justice influenced your career?
EA: Yeah, he um, I did not know that I wanted to be a criminal defense attorney when I came out of law school. I thought I wanted to be a law professor. Um, but after spending a year in Tyler with the Judge, I knew that I had to do criminal defense work. I knew that it was where my heart was and I thought that's how success, benefit society and benefit my individual clients. The Judge was proud of being a criminal defense layer, he was, you know where is a misperception that he was easy on crime and easy on criminal and I think that's entirely inaccurate. I think the Judge is more law and order, than people appreciate, um, but he was truly aware of the abuses of the state after we had many opportunities to visit fourth amendment issues, while I was there. And, I just fell in love with those issues because the Judge loved them I think, and also because I got an opportunity to think real hard about those issues, and evaluate who I was and how I could help people. And, so he has affected my life tremendously.
JB: Were there any other Judges that influenced your career?
EA: Oh, absolutely, Judge Pullets, whom I worked for after Judge Justice, was a tremendous impact on my life. He is the hardest working person I have ever known, bar none. And my time with him just reinforced if you want to be the best you have got to do everything, you have got to spend all the time. Also Judge Pullets was just amazing to me, although Judge Justice was very bright, and hard worker. Judge Pullets was one of the sharpest minds I have ever encountered. He was just incredibly quick and certainly you can't learn that, but being around him and watching the way that he did things and the way that he analyzed issues I think, helped me more I think actually. Also, he was a truly important man on the fifth amendment, and sixth amendment, and uh, he just embodied things that admired Judge Justice about, doing the right things and having love for the citizen and lending a helping hand. Also my tie with Judge Pullets also kind of highlighted some things about Judge Justice. He was the Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals at the time, and on the Court of Appeals you've got to get at least one other person to vote with you. Judge Justice of course did not have that constrain. So it really highlighted to me the fact that Judge Justice always did what he thought was right where as Judge Pullets did I think , had to sometimes take into consideration, politics, or things and others. That's not to say that he would waiver in what he believed in or what he believed was important, but uh he really had to take into consideration the opinions of others, and I saw the way that Judge Pullets dealt with his colleagues on the court and I think I learned a great deal about how you deal with people by the way he dealt with his court.
JB: What cases were you involved in?
EA: You mean for the Judges cases?
JB: Yea, cases that you may have had your hands in.
EA: That Young v. Cisneros case, which was a big case. I worked very closely with Francis McGovern and the Judge. Francis McGovern was a special mastery in that case. And that was a real highlight of my time, to work on that case with the Judge. That's really a kind of hard question to answer because every litigant that appeared in front of us had an important problem, and they were all important. Because they were all important to them. And that's one of the things the Judge taught us is that everybody's case is important.
JB: Um, what Judges have affected daily life to you?
EA: I think Judge Justice, has certainly affected everybody's life. Um, I there are other great Judges on this court, uhm David Folsom's a wonderful judge, John Han is a wonderful judge, um, and they affect people's lives every day with their individual cases that they are hearing. Judge Folsom for instance, certainly affected our cities within the last year or so as he presided over the tobacco litigation.
JB: What issues were more important?
EA: Well, as I said, each individual case was important. The bigger cases of course were the larger advertising cases. (mumbles) in relation to health care, those were really the biggest cases. Also there was a wonderful case, John Cochran, who was a man who had been sentenced to die out of the District Court in Bouie County and that was an important case, that had raised some real interesting issues while we were there.
JB: How has the law changed as a result of the U.S. District Court?
EA: Well, for a number of years, we no longer have building criminals running the Texas Penitentiaries, thanks to Judge Justice. We now have segregated housing in public house in East Texas, thanks to Judge Justice, um, juveniles are treated with respect and dignity and they're not brutalized to the extent that they once were, thanks to Judge Justice. Um, I mean there are countless, countless things that the Judges that have affected both the systems in the state of Texas as well as the individual lives of Texans.
JB: In what direction is the court moving?
EA: Um, I think that we have a good court, I think that, John ward our most recent Judge is a very good Judge, I think that he is an extremely hard worker, I think that he is concerned about both the administration of justice and justice itself, as I said I think that Judge Folsom, and Judge Hannah are the judges who I have the most contact and I have inordinate respect for them. I think that, I don't really know how the court is changing, I think the really nice thing about those three judges that I mentioned is that it has not been that long since they were lawyers and so I think that they, trial cases in a lawyer friendly way, and I think that that's a real credit to them.
JB: Discuss current judicial relationships.
EA: I think that this district is very good in that respect. All of the Judges I think are accessible. I recently was in a case with Judge Cobb in Beaumont and he was just as courteous and polite and engaged the lawyers on a personal level. Judge Steger is very personal and interested in what's going on with the lawyers and I think that all of our judges work hard at maintaining good bench -bar relationships and I think that's the way to describe the bench-bar relationship
I think that Judge Justice shaped the times but I also think that he was a product of his environment. I think that he was raised by a great populist lawyer who had passion for the little guy.
Thank you, Josh.