[Order of public censure of Judge Morris Jackson Hampton] Page: 3 of 8
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2
f) "I put prostitutes and gays at about the same level. If
these boys had picked up two prostitutes and taken
them to the woods and killed them, I'd consider that a
similar case."
g) "And I'd be hard put to give somebody life for killing
a prostitute."
h) "Just spell my name right.. .if it makes anyone mad
they'll forget it by 1990."
2. That on or about December 16, 1988, Judge Hampton responded
to a telephone interview with the Associated Press and did comment
as follows:
"The victims were homosexuals. They were out in the
homosexual area picking up teenage boys. Had they not
been out there trying to spread AIDS around, they'd
still be alive today. I hope that's clear. This is an
eighteen year old boy. He had thirty years in prison.
You know that's a pretty heavy pumshment for a kid
that's never done anything wrong before. I balance the
character of the defendant against the crime he
committed. I tried to consider every fact that was
presented to me. I've been prosecuting since 1955.
Defending, I defended cases twenty years. I've been
judging them for seven years and any sentence that I do
is a sum total of thirty-three years experience in
criminal law and it does not upset me if anybody in the
Gay Alliance disagrees with me."
Conclusions by the Special Master
In his report, the Special Master also arrived at several conclusions, in
essence, as follows:
1. Because the comments by Judge Hampton were public and
concerned a case which was then pending in the judge's court Judge
Hampton violated the provision of the Code of Judicial Conduct
prohibiting public comment on a pending case [Canon 3A(8)].
2. Because Judge Hampton would be impartial in any case involving a
homosexual or a prostitute as a victim, Judge Hampton did not violate
Canon 2A of the Code of Judicial Conduct (dealing with impartiality).
3. Because Judge Hampton did not suggest in his comments that the
life of a prostitute or homosexual was of a lesser value than that of
some other individual, the judge did not violate Article 5, Section 1-a,
paragraph 6A of the Texas Constitution which condemns willful
conduct that casts public discredit upon the judiciary or the
administration of justice.
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[Order of public censure of Judge Morris Jackson Hampton], legal document, 1990; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc916472/m1/3/: accessed June 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.