The Texas Politics Project

Honesty and integrity are key elements of reputation. Though we lack data on how the public, attorneys, court personnel, or judges in Texas feel about each others' honesty and ethical standards, we can learn much from their judgments about other groups and institutions. Based on 1998 survey data, Texas attorneys, court personnel, and judges have little regard for the news media and the U.S. Congress. All groups, particulary judges, hold Texas courts in higher regard than Congress or the news media. But skepticism about the honesty and ethics of the Texas courts reigns among sizable pluralities of attorneys and court personnel. Texas court personnel also were notably more skeptical of the integrity of the U.S. Supreme Court--even before its decision in Bush v. Gore which decided the 2000 presidential election for Bush.