ICFall08: Letter from Chair, Quinn


When I was around 12 and living in El Paso, a kid in the neighborhood began making fun of my friend because my friend was Hispanic. She called him such things as “spic,” “Mexican,” and “taco bender.” Being Hispanic too, I knew that the words were meant to derogate because they had been directed at me one time or another. Yet I did nothing but stand there. Remaining silent has bothered me ever since. I came up with rationalizations as to why I did nothing. Some even sounded good. But in the end, they were just that . . . rationalizations. I should have done or said something. The need to have acted back then came home again earlier this year. During a Texas Center board meeting last October, I had the opportunity to hear from an NCAA basketball referee. His topic dealt with effective leadership and the difference between "being right versus doing right." The concept may be a bit hard to grasp since they seem to be the same thing, but they’re not. Being right can, at times, be the same as doing right. More often, though, it simply means getting your way. Doing right, on the other hand, means pursuing what is required by the law or the best outcome for all involved, irrespective of personal whim or interest. As judges, we often make decisions that run counter to our personal beliefs or desires. I surely have. Believe me, the thought of potential political repercussion pops up when I do that. Being semi-intelligent and a lawyer by trade, I know I can think up ways to side-step difficult matters. Yet that name-calling kid all those years ago affected me.	I don’t want to worry anymore about what I should or could have done after doing nothing. So maybe that makes my choice easy; try to do what’s right and pray for strength to ignore what others think. While that may not make for good job security, it nevertheless will make it easier for me to live with myself. I have enough feelings of guilt running through my mind, given my upbringing. Judges play an important role in the eyes of the public. They expect us to be thoughtful and to do right. Of course, that does not mean we will since we are human after all. Indeed, my wife and the high courts often remind me of my fallibility. But there's still opportunity to learn from being wrong too, or so I tell myself. My term as Chair of the Texas Center and Judicial Section of the State Bar ends in several weeks. As exciting as it was and as lucky as I was to meet and work with so many great people, I can’t say that I’ll regret its end. Though my actions pleased some and angered others, I can only say I tried to do right by the Texas Center and the judges of Texas. That meant fostering a unified, well-informed, and well-educated judiciary. Such a goal is one we should all work for, and I will continue to do right by it. But for now, let me thank you for the 15 minutes in the spotlight. Ma, are the kids packed and cat's out?

When I was around 12 and living in El Paso, a kid in the neighborhood began making fun of my friend because my friend was Hispanic. She called him such things as “spic,” “Mexican,” and “taco bender.” Being Hispanic too, I knew that the words were meant to derogate because they had been directed at me one time or another. Yet I did nothing but stand there. Remaining silent has bothered me ever since. I came up with rationalizations as to why I did nothing. Some even sounded good. But in the end, they were just that . . . rationalizations. I should have done or said something.

The need to have acted back then came home again earlier this year. During a Texas Center board meeting last October, I had the opportunity to hear from an NCAA basketball referee. His topic dealt with effective leadership and the difference between "being right versus doing right." The concept may be a bit hard to grasp since they seem to be the same thing, but they’re not. Being right can, at times, be the same as doing right. More often, though, it simply means getting your way. Doing right, on the other hand, means pursuing what is required by the law or the best outcome for all involved, irrespective of personal whim or interest.

As judges, we often make decisions that run counter to our personal beliefs or desires. I surely have. Believe me, the thought of potential political repercussion pops up when I do that. Being semi-intelligent and a lawyer by trade, I know I can think up ways to side-step difficult matters. Yet that name-calling kid all those years ago affected me.

I don’t want to worry anymore about what I should or could have done after doing nothing. So maybe that makes my choice easy; try to do what’s right and pray for strength to ignore what others think. While that may not make for good job security, it nevertheless will make it easier for me to live with myself. I have enough feelings of guilt running through my mind, given my upbringing.

Judges play an important role in the eyes of the public. They expect us to be thoughtful and to do right. Of course, that does not mean we will since we are human after all. Indeed, my wife and the high courts often remind me of my fallibility. But there's still opportunity to learn from being wrong too, or so I tell myself.

My term as Chair of the Texas Center and Judicial Section of the State Bar ends in several weeks. As exciting as it was and as lucky as I was to meet and work with so many great people, I can’t say that I’ll regret its end. Though my actions pleased some and angered others, I can only say I tried to do right by the Texas Center and the judges of Texas. That meant fostering a unified, well-informed, and well-educated judiciary. Such a goal is one we should all work for, and I will continue to do right by it. But for now, let me thank you for the 15 minutes in the spotlight.

Ma, are the kids packed and cat's out?