Political
affiliations
can
complicate
hearing
messages
about
decorum
and
establishing
what
the
proper
consequences
to
violating
norms
are.
Al
Green
managed
to
smuggle
a
spine
in
to
Trump’s
address
to
Congress,
and
Republicans
promptly
got
him
up
out
of
there.
Democrats
did
nothing
when
Marjorie
Taylor
Greene
and
Lauren
Boebert
heckled
Biden
during
one
of
his
States
of
the
Union
—
because
again,
spineless
—
but
it
goes
to
show
how
important
it
can
be
to
try
and
nip
outbursts
in
the
bud
before
they
flower
into
a
media
cycle
talking
point.
At
least
in
theory.
Texas’s
Chief
Justice
tried
to
do
just
that.
Bloomberg
Law
has
coverage:
The
State
Bar
of
Texas
is
taking
Texas
Supreme
Court
Chief
Justice
Jimmy
Blacklock’s
(R)
public
scolding
stoically.Blacklock
warned
the
State
Bar
to
“remain
completely
politically
neutral”
at
his
first
state
of
the
judiciary
address
on
Feb.
26.
“The
Supreme
Court
will
accept
nothing
less
from
the
State
Bar,
and
we
expect
the
Bar
to
live
up
to
that
high
standard,”
he
said,
offering
little
in
the
way
of
specific
concerns.
Abstractly,
this
all
reads
above
board.
However,
the
vagueness
of
the
warning
makes
you
wonder
what
Justice
Blacklock
had
in
mind
as
examples
of
the
Bar
having
a
political
bent.
The
Bar’s
involvement
in
trying
to
discipline
Ken
Paxton,
Brent
Webster,
and
Sidney
Powell
come
to
mind,
but
it
is
hard
to
believe
that
trying
to
prevent
an
election
from
being
stolen
is
purely
a
Democrat
concern.
If
it
is,
Mike
Pence
may
need
to
change
his
political
affiliations.
Thankfully,
it
looks
like
the
Bar
took
the
light
reprimand
on
the
chin.
Bar
president
Steve
Benesh
of
Bracewell
LLP
said
in
a
statement
after
Blacklock’s
speech,
“We
agree
with
the
Chief
Justice
that
the
State
Bar
of
Texas
should
remain
politically
neutral,
and
that
is
what
we
work
to
do
every
day.”
Time
will
tell
whether
Benesh’s
response
amounts
to
calling
Blacklock’s
bluff
or
promising
to
fall
in
line.
If
it’s
the
former,
we
may
soon
see
what
consequences
Justice
Blacklock
has
up
his
sleeve.
If
it’s
the
latter,
get
ready
for
Trump’s
third
term.
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
is
learning
to
swim, a
published
author
on
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected] and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.