By Mark Curriden, JD
Senior Writer for The Texas Lawbook
(January 27) – Chief Justice Nathan Hecht officially became the longest serving Texas Supreme Court justice in history Sunday.
Sunday marked Hecht’s 9,157th day to serve on the state’s highest court, exceeding the record held by the late Chief Justice Joe R. Greenhill, who served 25 years and 25 days on the Court until his retirement in October 1982.
If he is re-elected to another six-year term this year and completes that term of service, Hecht will have been a justice for nearly 11,700 days, making him one of the longest serving state Supreme Court justices in U.S. history, according to the National Center for State Courts.
In an interview Sunday, Chief Justice Hecht said he has had some great experiences during his 25 years on the court.
“I got to meet Queen Elizabeth in May 1991 when she visited the Governor’s Mansion,” he said. “We were told to not engage in conversation or to make any sudden moves toward her and to simply take her hand and say ‘Your Majesty’ if she offered it.
“But Justice Raul Gonzalez couldn’t contain himself and wanted to give her a hug, but the protocol folks jumped in to stop it,” Hecht said.
The chief justice said that there have been a handful of strange moments at the court during his lengthy tenure. One lawyer, who had been up all night preparing for oral argument, passed out as she stepped to the lectern. Justice Hecht doesn’t remember whether she won or lost the case.
And then there’s the issue of cell phones, which are supposed to be turned off in the courtroom.
“Right in the middle of oral argument, a cell phone starts ringing and just kept ringing,” Hecht said. “We all looked around the courtroom to see whose phone it was.
“It was the chief justice’s,” he said with a laugh.