Don Willett | |
|---|---|
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| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit | |
| Assumed office January 2, 2018 | |
| Appointed by | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Emilio M. Garza |
| Justice of theSupreme Court of Texas | |
| In office August 24, 2005 – January 2, 2018 | |
| Appointed by | Rick Perry |
| Preceded by | Priscilla Owen |
| Succeeded by | Jimmy Blacklock |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1966-07-16)July 16, 1966 (age 58) Dallas,Texas, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Tiffany Willett |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Baylor University (BBA) Duke University (MA,JD,LLM) |
Donny Ray Willett (born July 16, 1966) is an American lawyer and jurist serving since 2018 as aU.S. circuit judge of theU.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.[1] He was previously a justice of theSupreme Court of Texas from 2005 to 2018.
Willett was born on July 16, 1966, inDallas, Texas. He grew up inTalty inKaufman County. His adoptive father died at the age of 40, when Willett was six, and he and his older sister, Donna, were reared by their mother, Doris, who waited tables to support the family.[2] Neither of Willett's parents finished high school. Willett attended public schools inForney in Kaufman County, graduating in 1984. He then became his family's first college graduate.[3]
Willett received a triple-majorBachelor of Business Administration (economics, finance, public administration) fromBaylor University in 1988. While at Baylor, he was a member of theBaylor Chamber of Commerce. Willett then went toDuke University, where he jointly attended theDuke University School of Law and did graduate study inpolitical science. He received aJuris Doctor with honors and aMaster of Arts in political science in 1992.[4] As a law student, he was an editor ofLaw & Contemporary Problems.
After law school, Willett worked as a clerk for JudgeJerre Stockton Williams at theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He then practiced employment and labor law in theAustin office ofHaynes and Boone, LLP from 1993 to 1996. During that time, he also served as a senior fellow with theTexas Public Policy Foundation. Willett has also served as a non-resident fellow with the Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society at theUniversity of Pennsylvania.[4]
In April 1996, Willett joined then-GovernorGeorge W. Bush's administration as Director of Research and Special Projects, advising on various legal and policy issues. In 2000–2001, Willett worked on theBush-Cheney presidential campaign and transition team. In the White House, Willett was Special Assistant to the President and Director of Law and Policy for the White HouseOffice of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (WHOFBCI). He drafted the first two executive orders of the Bush presidency, one creating the WHOFBCI and the other creating related offices in five cabinet agencies. In early 2002, Willett was appointed Deputy Assistant Attorney General forOffice of Legal Policy at theUnited States Department of Justice, where he helped coordinate the selection and confirmation of federal judges. He also supervised policy initiatives such as thePROTECT Act of 2003 to combat child abduction and exploitation. Willett also led the development of an executive order to expedite U.S. citizenship for immigrant service members fighting inIraq andAfghanistan.[4]
He returned to Texas in early 2003 to become Deputy Texas Attorney General for Legal Counsel in the office of newly electedTexas Attorney GeneralGreg Abbott. As the attorney general's chief legal counsel, Willett led the agency's core legal divisions (opinion committee, open records, general counsel, public finance, intergovernmental relations, and litigation technical support). In addition to giving the attorney general legal advice on various issues, Willett also helped with select litigation, including efforts to protect theTen Commandments monument on theTexas Capitol grounds and also thePledge of Allegiance when it was challenged for including the words "under God."[4]
Willett was serving in this Deputy Attorney General position when he was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court in August 2005.[5]
Willett sits on the advisory board for the Honors College at hisalma mater, Baylor University, which named Willett a Distinguished Young Alumnus in 2005. He also served on the national steering committee for Baylor's proposal to secure theBush Presidential Library. Willett is on the national advisory board for ConSource (The Constitutional Sources Project), a free, online library of U.S. founding-era source material. For Constitution Day 2008, Willett authored a commentary in theAustin American-Statesman highlighting ConSource and its nonprofit educational mission to make these historical documents accessible to teachers, students, academics, lawyers and judges. Willett is a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, the Austin Bar Foundation, and is a member of the American Law Institute.
Willett was one of fiveincumbent justices on the 2006 ballot, but he was the only one who faced opposition; his four colleagues were unopposed in both the March 7 primary and the November 7 general elections. In the March primary, Willett narrowly defeated former JusticeSteven Wayne Smith, who sought to regain the seat on the Court that he had lost in the 2004 Republican primary to Justice Paul Green. In the general election, Willett won 51% of the votes and defeated Democratic Party nomineeBill Moody, who got 45% (2.12 million votes to Moody's 1.87 million).
Willett defeated an intraparty challenge from Steve Smith in the May 29, 2012, Republican primary, but the contest attracted little attention. The publicationTexas Conservative Review endorsed Willett and described the Smith campaign as "lackluster."The Review wrote that Smith seemed more intent in seeking "revenge for past losses than making a positive impact" on the high court.[6]
In the general election, Willett received 4,758,725 votes (78.8 percent) to 1,280,900 votes (21.2 percent) for theLibertarian nominee, R. S. Roberto Koelsch.[7]
According toSCOTUSblog, in the 2012 election "Willett embracedTwitter as a way to get his campaign message across, and Twitter embraced him back."[4]
Willett authored several notable decisions over the course of his service on the Texas high court, all of which can be found on the Court's official website and onGoogle Scholar.[8]All Texas Supreme Court justices have liaison assignments to help improve different aspects of the civil justice system. Willett was liaison to the Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism, the Task Force to Ensure Judicial Readiness in Times of Emergency, and the Court Reporters Certification Board.
In May 2016, Willett appeared on presidential candidateDonald Trump's list of potential U.S. Supreme Court justices.[9]
In 2016, Willett received aMaster of Laws fromDuke University School of Law.[1]
On September 28, 2017, PresidentDonald Trump announced his intent to nominate Willett to an undetermined seat on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.[10] On October 3, 2017, Willett was officially nominated to the seat vacated by JudgeEmilio M. Garza, who assumedsenior status on August 1, 2012.[11][12]
On November 15, 2017, a hearing on his nomination was held before theSenate Judiciary Committee.[13] On December 7, 2017, Willett's nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–9 vote.[14] On December 12, 2017, theUnited States Senate invokedcloture on his nomination by a 50–48 vote.[15] On December 13, 2017, his nomination was confirmed by a 50–47 vote.[16][17] He received his judicial commission on January 2, 2018,[1] and was sworn in the same day.[18]
Willett was considered a potential Supreme Court nominee for PresidentDonald Trump.[19][20]
According toSCOTUSblog, "Willett views the role of judges as protecting individual liberty by striking down laws that infringe on it." In addition, "Willett's belief in the primacy of individual liberty makes him a defender of religious as well as economic freedoms."SCOTUSblog described Willett as "more inclined to defer to the legislature in cases that he does not view as impinging on individual economic or religious liberty." LikeNeil Gorsuch, Willett "has made a point of writing separately to declare his principles."[4]
In February 2019,Reason wrote that Willett had been "making a name for himself" in the area of criminal justice reform and that "it would appear that advocates of criminal justice reform have a new champion on the federal bench."Reason cited Willett's critique of thelegal doctrine ofqualified immunity, which shields government officials from being sued for discretionary actions performed within their official capacity.[21] In August 2018, Willett concurreddubitante when the court found that theTexas Medical Board was entitled to qualified immunity for an unconstitutional warrantless search it made of a doctor's patient records, writing: "To some observers, qualified immunity smacks of unqualified impunity, letting public officials duck consequences for bad behavior."[22][23]
Willett was named Outstanding Young Alumnus of Baylor University in 2005 and inducted into theForney High School Hall of Honor in 2007. He has received the Faith and Integrity in Legal Services Award and the Austin Under 40 Award for Government and Public Affairs.
Willett received theTexas Review of Law and Politics's 2014 Distinguished Jurist of the Year Award. Each spring, the Texas Review of Law & Politics awards its Distinguished Jurist of the Year award to an individual who has made valuable contributions both to the journal and to conservative causes of national importance.
Willett is a former rodeo bull rider.[4] He and his wife, Tiffany, married in 2000. They live inAustin, Texas, and have three children. Tiffany served as litigation director for a member of theTexas Senate, and in D.C. as education director for theWhite House Fellows. When they left the Bush administration in 2003 to return home to Texas, she worked for Texas CASA, which advocates for abused and neglected children in the court system.
Willett is known for his activeTwitter presence, though he has only tweeted once since his appointment to the federal bench.[24] TheTexas House of Representatives named him "Tweeter Laureate."[25]
In 2017, Willett helped perform theHeimlich maneuver on a diner atChick-fil-A who was choking.[4]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Don Willett (incumbent) | 280,356 | 50.55% | |
| Republican | Steven Wayne Smith | 274,302 | 49.45% | |
| Majority | 6,054 | 1.10% | ||
| Total votes | 554,658 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Don Willett (incumbent) | 2,135,612 | 51.05% | −33.21% | |
| Democratic | Bill Moody | 1,877,909 | 44.89% | N/A | |
| Libertarian | Wade Wilson | 169,918 | 4.06% | −9.58% | |
| Majority | 257,703 | 6.16% | −62.36% | ||
| Total votes | 4,183,439 | 100.00% | −8.69% | ||
| Republicanhold | Swing | −33.21% | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Don Willett (incumbent) | 644,807 | 56.82% | +6.27% | |
| Republican | Steven Wayne Smith | 490,089 | 43.18% | −6.27% | |
| Majority | 154,718 | 13.64% | +12.54% | ||
| Total votes | 1,134,896 | 100.00% | +104.61% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Don Willett (incumbent) | 4,771,916 | 78.77% | +27.72% | |
| Libertarian | RS Roberto Koelsch | 1,285,794 | 21.23% | +17.17% | |
| Majority | 3,486,122 | 57.54% | +51.38% | ||
| Total votes | 6,057,710 | 100.00% | +44.80% | ||
| Republicanhold | Swing | +27.72% | |||
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Associate Justice of theSupreme Court of Texas 2005–2018 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit 2018–present | Incumbent |