Sam Sparks
Sam Sparks was afederal judge with theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Texas. He joined the court in 1991 after being nominated by PresidentGeorge H.W. Bush (R). He elected to take senior status beginning December 31, 2017.[1] His service ended on September 17, 2025, upon his death.[2]
Early life and education
Born inAustin, Texas, Sparks graduated from the University of Texas with his bachelor's degree in 1961 and from the University of Texas School of Law with hisJ.D. in 1963.[3]
Professional career
- 1991 - 2025: Judge,United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
- 2017 - 2025:Senior judge
- 1991 - 2017: Judge
- 1965-1991: Private practice,El Paso, Texas
- 1964-1965: Law clerk, Hon. Homer Thornberry,United States District Court for the Western District of Texas[3]
Judicial career
Western District of Texas
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: Sam Sparks |
| Court:United States District Court for the Western District of Texas |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 51 days after nomination. |
 ANominated: October 1, 1991 |
| AABA Rating:Unanimously Well Qualified |
| Questionnaire: |
| AHearing: November 14, 1991 |
| QFRs:(Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| AReported: November 21, 1991 |
| AConfirmed: November 21, 1991 |
| AVote: Unanimous consent |
Sparks was nominated to theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Texas by PresidentGeorge H.W. Bush on October 1, 1991, to a new seat created by 104 Stat. 5089. TheAmerican Bar Association rated SparksUnanimously Well Qualified for the nomination. Hearings on Sparks' nomination were held before theSenate Judiciary Committee on November 14, 1991, and his nomination was reported by then-U.S. Sen.Joseph Biden (D-Del.) on November 21, 1991. Sparks was confirmed by the unanimous consent of theU.S. Senate on November 21, 1991, and he received his commission onNovember 25, 1991.[3][4][5] He elected to take senior status beginning on December 31, 2017.[1] His service ended on September 17, 2025, upon his death.[2]
Noteworthy cases
Texas' lawsuit against Travis County over sanctuary cities law dismissed (2017)
- See also:United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (Texas and Ken Paxton v. Travis County, Texas, A-17-CA-00425-SS)
- See also:United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (Texas and Ken Paxton v. Travis County, Texas, A-17-CA-00425-SS)
On August 9, 2017, JudgeSam Sparks dismissed a lawsuit filed by the state ofTexas andTexas Attorney GeneralKen Paxton (R) againstTravis County and other political subdivisions in Texas over Texas' immigration enforcement law, commonly known as Senate Bill 4 (hereafter, SB4). Paxton filed the lawsuit one day after SB4 was signed into law byGov.Greg Abbott on May 7, 2017. The lawsuit sought a judicial ruling that the law was constitutional prior to SB4's taking effect on September 1, 2017.
In his order dismissing the suit, Judge Sparks noted that it was impossible for the subdivisions to have violated a law that had not yet gone into effect. He wrote, "because SB4 does not take effect until September 1, 2017, it is impossible for Defendants to take any action that would violate the not-yet-effective law. The mere fact that a municipal policy was instituted before a law was signed, or that it remains in place prior to the law taking effect, does not equate to a violation of the law."[6]
In a separate proceeding, on August 30, 2017, JudgeOrlando Garcia issued a preliminary injunction enjoining partial enforcement of SB4.
Over-prosecution of illegal immigrants (2010)
- See also:United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (United States, v. Juan Ordones-Soto, 1-09-cr-590-SS)
- See also:United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (United States, v. Juan Ordones-Soto, 1-09-cr-590-SS)
Judge Sparks on February 5, 2010, questioned prosecutor's efforts about pursuing cases involving illegal immigration in federal courts. Sparks wrote in his ruling that pursuing immigration cases, "Presents a cost to the American taxpayer ... that is neither meritorious nor reasonable." The judge's ruling was a sign that federal courts in Texas have been overburdened with illegal immigration cases and has asked prosecutors to be more justified in pursuing future cases.[7]
Texas sued over food stamp backlog (2009)
- See also:United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (Stacy J. Howard, and Linda E. Thornberg, et al., v. Albert Hawkins, 1:2009-cv-00577)
- See also:United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (Stacy J. Howard, and Linda E. Thornberg, et al., v. Albert Hawkins, 1:2009-cv-00577)
Judge Sparks dismissed a lawsuit filed against the state ofTexas by theU.S. Department of Agriculture over delays in food stamp applications. The USDA sued the state as the state was allegedly taking longer than the mandated thirty-day deadline to act on new food stamp applications. However, the judge found that the laws did not clearly mandate that applications must be processed in thirty days.[8]
Challenging affirmative action (2009)
On August 17, 2009, Judge Sparks ruled that the University of Texas system can use race as a factor in admitting students into universities that are part of the UT System.[9] Two white students who were denied admission into the University of Texas at Austin sued the University of Texas system claiming that the university used their racial status as a factor in denying them admission.[9] However, the judge ruled that despite the fact that race was used, the admissions standards used by the UT system were upheld by the Fourteenth Amendment in the Constitution.[9][10]
See also
- United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
- United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit
External links
Footnotes
- ↑1.01.1Statesman, "Austin federal Judge Sam Sparks takes senior status, will work less," January 3, 2018
- ↑2.02.1Federal Judicial Center, "Sparks, Sam," accessed September 23, 2025
- ↑3.03.13.2Federal Judicial Center, "Biography of Judge Sam Sparks," accessed May 29, 2017
- ↑United States Congress, "PN 667 — Sam Sparks — The Judiciary," accessed May 29, 2017
- ↑American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees, 102nd Congress," accessed May 29, 2017
- ↑Twitter, "Philip Janikowski," August 9, 2017
- ↑Austin American-Statesman, "Federal judge questions immigration prosecutions," February 5, 2010
- ↑The Houston Chronicle, "Judge tosses lawsuit seeking food stamp speed-up," October 16, 2009
- ↑9.09.19.2The Marshall News Messenger, "Federal judge upholds UT's consideration of race in admissions," August 18, 2009
- ↑Wall Street Journal, "Justices Take Pass on Texas Affirmative-Action Case," June 25, 2013
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: NA-New Seat 104 Stat. 5089 | Western District of Texas 1991–2017 Seat #8 | Succeeded by: Jason Pulliam |
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Barksdale •Bonner •Buckwalter •Cyr •Fernandez •Garbis •Harmon •Lee •Lindberg •Lodge •Nelson •Nottingham •Plager •Rosen •Rymer •Smith •Spatt •Thomas •VanBebber •J. Walker •V. Walker •Wiener •Wright | ||
| 1990 | Alito •Amon •Birch •Boudin •Cleland •Clevenger •Dubina •Hamilton •Henderson •Hood •Hornby •Jones •Kent •Levi •Loken •Lourie •Martin •McBryde •McClure •McKenna •McLaughlin •McNamee •Moreno •Mullen •Nelson •Nickerson •Niemeyer •Norton •Parker •Pickering •Rader •Rainey •Randolph •Shanstrom •Shedd •Shubb •Singleton •Skretny •Souter •Sparr •Stahl •Stamp •Suhrheinrich •Taylor •Vollmer •Ware •Wilson | ||
| 1991 | Albritton •Andersen •Armstrong •Arnold •Bartle •Bassler •Batchelder •Beckwith •Belot •Benson •Blackburn •Bramlette •Brody •Brody •Burrell •Carnes •Caulfield •Cauthron •Clement •Collier •Conway •Cooper •Dalzell •DeMent •DeMoss •Doherty •Echols •Edmunds •Faber •Freeh •Gaitan •Garza •Graham •Haik •Hamilton •Hansen •Hendren •Herlong •Highsmith •Hogan •Huff •Hurley •Irenas •Johnson •Joyner •Kelly •Kleinfeld •Legg •Leonard •Lewis •Longstaff •Lungstrum •Luttig •Matia •McCalla •McDade •McKeague •McKelvie •Means •Merryday •Moore •Morgan •Nielsen •Nimmons •Osteen Sr. •Padova •Payne •Reinhard •Robinson •Robreno •Roll •Roth •Schlesinger •Scullin •Siler •Solis •Sotomayor •Sparks •Stohr •Thomas •Traxler •Trimble •Ungaro •Van Sickle •Wanger •Werlein •Whyte • Yohn | ||
| 1992 | Baird •Barbadoro •Black •Boudin •Carnes •Covello •DiClerico •Gilbert •Gonzalez •Gorton •Hansen •Heyburn •Jackson •Jacobs •Keeley •Kendall •Kopf •Kyle •Lewis •McAuliffe •McLaughlin •Melloy •Preska •Quist •Randa •Rosenthal •Rovner •Schall •Sedwick •Simandle •Stahl •Vratil •Williams | ||
Federal courts:
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court:Eastern District of Texas,Western District of Texas,Northern District of Texas,Southern District of Texas • U.S. Bankruptcy Court:Eastern District of Texas,Western District of Texas,Northern District of Texas,Southern District of Texas
State courts:
Texas Supreme Court•Texas Court of Appeals•Texas Court of Criminal Appeals•Texas District Courts•Texas County Courts•Texas County Courts at Law•Texas Statutory Probate Courts•Texas Justice of the Peace Courts
State resources:
Courts in Texas •Texas judicial elections •Judicial selection in Texas
- Pages using DynamicPageList3 parser function
- Appointed by George H.W. Bush
- Confirmed 1991
- Federal Article III judges
- Federal judiciary nominee, October 1991
- Former federal judge
- Former federal judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
- Texas
- Noteworthy case
- Western District of Texas, Seat 8
- Former federal judge, Western District of Texas
