John Hill (Texas politician)

John Luke Hill, Jr. (October 29, 1923 – July 9, 2007), was a Texas lawyer, Democratic politician, and judge. He is thus far the only person to have served as as Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.

Early life

He was born in Breckenridge, the seat of Stephens County to the west of Fort Worth, to Mr. and Mrs. John Luke Hill, Sr. He grew up in Kilgore in Gregg County near the East Texas oil fields. [http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4952972.html "Houston Chronicle" "Former Texas Supreme Court Justice John Hill dies" July 9, 2007] ]

Career

Legal career

He graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin in 1947. Hill went to work for a small law firm in Houston which gave him invaluable experience in trial work. In 1951, he founded his own Houston-based firm specializing in plaintiff's trial work. He was considered one of the top lawyers in Texas.

Hill won $3.5 million from Lockheed and $8.5 million from Braniff in lawsuits during the early 1960s. He was known for mastering his brief and for his down-to-earth style as an advocate.

Political career

Hill's career in politics started as an organizer for John B. Connally, Jr., in Harris County during the 1964 gubernatorial campaign. Connally appointed him Secretary of State in 1966 and he served until 1968. That year he ran in the Democratic primary for governor, but the nomination and the election went to sitting Lieutenant Governor Preston Smith of Lubbock.

In 1972, Hill was nominated as attorney general when he upset the incumbent Crawford Martin by 100,000 votes in the Democratic primary. It was a year in which Texas incumbents fared particularly poor in state races. His most significant achievement was persuading the Legislature of Texas to support a deceptive trade practices act providing triple damages for victims of unfair trade practices.

He also played a leading role in closing down the Chicken Ranch in Fayette County inspiration for "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas". Hill had a subordinate leak material to reporter Marvin Zindler who ran a week-long series of special reports on The Chicken Ranch putting pressure on Governor Dolph Briscoe. After Briscoe turned to him for advice, Hill suggested that Briscoe call the sheriff of Fayette County who closed down the Chicken Ranch. Hill served as Attorney General until 1979.

Hill challenged Briscoe in 1978 in the Democratic primary and was successful but lost in the general election to Republican Bill Clements. Hill was the first Texas Democrat since 1869 to lose a gubernatorial general election to a Republican nominee.

Chief Justice of Texas

Hill practiced law until 1984 when he was elected as Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice to succeed the retiring Jack Pope. During this period, there were concerns about ethics of the courts with brought about a legislative committee investigation. The State Commission on Judicial Conduct chastized two justices and CBS's "60 Minutes" offered a story on lawyers who practice in the courts making large donations to campaigns. Hill championed reform of the partisan election of judges and argued that judges should be selected based on merit, similar to the systemm used at the federal level.

In a surprise news conference in August 1988, Hill announced that he was leaving the chief justice position with three years remaining in his six-year term. He claimed that the partisan election of judges was "creating a perception of impropriety" and that he planned to devote his time to reforming the judicial system.

Later life

In 1997, Governor George W. Bush called Hill from retirement to ask him to become a member of the Texas Lottery Commission following a scandal.

Hill died while undergoing heart surgery in St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston. He was survived by his wife of sixty-one years, Bitsy Hill. Their son, Graham John Hill, and son-in-law, Michael Warren Perrin (born ca. 1948 and the husband of daughter Melinda), are trial attorneys in Houston. A second daughter, Martha Hill Jamison, is the judge of the 164th District Court in Houston. She has two sons and a daughter, Meredith Virginia Clark, Matthew Thomas Clark, and Sam Luke Jamison. Hill also had seven other grandchildren and four great-grandchildren as of today.

References

* [http://blog.kir.com/archives/2007/07/john_l_hill_rip.asp]
* [http://preview.ussearch.com/preview/newsearch?searchFName=graham&searchMName=&searchLName=hill&searchCity=houston&searchState=TX&searchApproxAge=56&adID=10002101&searchtab=people&x=30&y=15]
* [http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/html/just/justices/15.html]