THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

Liberty Dispatch never has made any bones about the belief that our democratic republic functions best when a conservative philosophy and conservative policies are guiding it. We have been very open about how much stronger the connection conservatism has to the Republican party and the deception much of the local media has used to promote Democrats. But the month of December in Liberty County affords us great opportunity to compare two local Democrats and say something positive about one while expressing outrage about the other.

“The Good” referred to in the title of this article refers to retiring Judge Don Taylor’s work ethic in his last month in office. In a time of Christmas parties and with a near ninety year old Mom celebrating a birthday, Judge Taylor was holding court so he could turn over the County Court at Law docket to his successor, Judge Tommy Chambers – a Republican. The voters who saw Judge Taylor’s court just before the holidays saw a public servant with a courtroom full of people that wanted their particular issues resolved. Taylor could have claimed vacation time or personal privilege, but he didn’t. He was anxious to try and make it to escort his Mom to their celebration, but he was courteous and professional.

In contrast, “the bad and the ugly” refers to Judge Rusty Hight. I can hear his defenders now saying this is all about cases coming before him. El wrongo! Hight is no longer a judge and therefore has no more cases. I personally never had a case before him and felt badly for anyone who did. The reason for that is the knowledge (much of it public record) of how Hight conducted business from our courtroom. He further damaged his integrity and any hope of many of us viewing him as a good public servant in the way he dealt with his last month in office.

To start with, he was mostly missing in action. Our sources grew tired of looking for him in the courthouse in December so we will have to let it suffice to say rumors that he would only hold court one day in December could not have been far off. Because he was an outgoing judge, not much attention was paid to his last day on the bench, but any open minded defender of Hight’s could research his last rulings and it would not surprise us if they argued on his behalf no more. His alleged wheeling and dealing and his partisanship and his unusually lenient sentences of the worst of criminals or those who had a financial interest with him have been well documented.

Now his unwillingness to serve honorably and leave our courtrooms in the best of condition for a new judge is forthwith added to his Liberty County Texas history. The Liberty County history of: Judge Carol (CT Rusty) Hight, a bad judge with an ugly record and of poor ethical and moral fiber.

Message to Democrats and Republicans alike: Public service means serving the public, NOT raping them!