AUSTIN, Texas — U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice, whose rulings shattered old Texas by changing the way the state educated children, treated prisoners and housed its poorest and most vulnerable citizens, has died. He was 89.
His law clerk, Kelly Davis, said the judge died Tuesday in Austin.
The soft-spoken jurist spent three often tumultuous decades on the bench following his appointment by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. To some, Justice was a judicial renegade who disregarded the public's will by imposing his own concepts on a conservative state.
"Judge Justice dragged Texas into the 20th century, God bless him," said former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, who presided over the Texas Senate from 1973 to 1991. "He was very unpopular, but he was doing the right thing."
His decisions are widely credited for creating a modern Texas. They forced the state to dramatically expand and improve its prison and juvenile justice systems, and to dismantle racial barriers in public housing and education. He opened public schools to the children of illegal immigrants and provided bilingual education in rulings that were later used as the foundation of national policy.
Posted 12.15.2009 | Home