Greg Abbott

Gregory W. "Greg" Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is the attorney general of Texas, only the second Republican since Reconstruction to serve in that role. Abbott was sworn in on December 2, 2002, following John Cornyn's election to the U.S. Senate. Prior to assuming the office of attorney general, Abbott was a justice on the Texas Supreme Court, a position to which he was initially appointed in 1995 by then-Governor George W. Bush.

Personal history

Abbott was born [ [http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=MTX98792?q=print vote-smart.org] ] in Wichita Falls and was reared in Duncanville (Dallas County). He and his wife, Cecilia P. Abbott, a former school teacher and principal, were married in 1982. They have a daughter named Audrey, born 1997. [ [http://www.oag.state.tx.us/agency/agga_bio.shtml oag.state.tx.us] ]

After his graduation from the University of Texas in Austin, with a B.B.A. in finance, he received his law degree from the Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, Tennessee.

Jogging injury leaves Abbott in a wheelchair

Shortly after graduation, he was partially paralyzed in a freak accident when, while jogging in Houston, he was struck by a falling tree. He has used a wheelchair since the accident. The Houston Chronicle reported in April 2002 that Abbott hired a prominent plaintiff’s lawyer, Don Riddle, after the accident. Abbott sued both the homeowner whose tree fell on him as well as a company that once trimmed the tree.

In October 2002, the Austin American-Statesman reported that Abbott already has received almost $3 million of an award that is expected to exceed $10 million in his lifetime. Abbott’s attorney in the case, Riddle (who made more than $1 million off the case), says that medical costs and other "actual damages" accounted for a fraction of the settlement, which mainly compensates Abbott for non-economic damages, such as mental anguish.

His judicial experience

Abbott’s political career began in Houston, where he served as a state trial judge in the 129th District Court for three years. Bush appointed Abbott to the Texas Supreme Court, and he was then twice elected to the state’s highest civil court -- in 1996 (two-year term) and 1998 (six-year term). In 1996, Abbott had no Democratic opponent but was challenged by Libertarian John B. Hawley of Dallas. Abbott obtained 3,201,185 votes (84.1 percent) to Hawley's 604,984 (15.85 percent). In 1998, Abbott defeated Democrat David Van Os of San Antonio, 2,104,828 (60.1 percent) to 1,396,924 (39.89 percent) to win a full term on the Supreme Court. However, he served just over half of the term.

As a judge he received awards including: "Jurist of the Year" from the "Texas Review of Law & Politics"; "Trial Judge of the Year" from the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists; and "Appellate Judge of the Year" from the Texas Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Election as attorney general, 2002

Abbott resigned from the Supreme Court in 2001 to seek the open attorney general's position in 2002. Attorney General John Cornyn was vacating the post to run for the U.S. Senate. (Cornyn won the Senate race that year to succeed retiring Republican William Philip Gramm of College Station.) Abbott defeated the former mayor of Austin, Democrat Kirk Watson, for the position. He received 2,542,184 votes (56.72 percent) to Watson's 1,841,359 (41.08 percent). Two minor candidates held an additional 2.18 percent of the vote.

Accomplishments as attorney general

After taking office, Abbott established a Cyber Crimes Unit to arrest criminals who use the Internet to prey upon children; a Fugitive Unit to arrest sex offenders who violate their parole; and an expanded Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to crack down on abuse of the elderly and waste of taxpayer dollars. Since taking office, General Abbott has claimed some $4 billion in child support for Texas children.

In his capacity as the state’s lawyer, Abbott oversees more than 700 lawyers who represent the State of Texas. As a lawyer, Abbott has appeared in courtrooms around the state and has obtained indictments against criminals charged with offenses ranging from attempted aggravated assault of a child to capital murder.

An active participant in his community, Abbott has held leadership positions in numerous organizations, including” the Central Texas Chapter of Goodwill Industries, the Governor's Committee to Promote Adoption, Justice for All, and the Texas Institute for Rehabilitation and Research Foundation. In 2004, Abbott served as Honorary State Chairman of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Texas.

On November 21, 2005, Abbott sued Sony BMG. Texas is the first state in the nation to bring legal action against Sony BMG for illegal “spyware.” The suit is also the first filed under the state’s spyware law of 2005. It alleges the company surreptitiously installed the spyware on millions of compact music discs (CDs) that consumers inserted into their computers when they play the CDs, which can compromise the systems. [ [http://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagnews/release.php?id=1266 oag.state.tx.us] [http://news.com.com/Texas+sues+Sony+BMG+over+alleged+spyware/2100-7350_3-5964995.html?tag=nl] ] . On December 21, 2005 Abbott added new allegations to his lawsuit against Sony-BMG. Abbott says the MediaMax copy protection technology violates the state's spyware and deceptive trade practices laws. He says Sony-BMG offered consumers a licensing agreement when they bought CDs and played them on their computers. But, Abbott alleges in the lawsuit that even if consumers reject that agreement, files -- known as spyware -- are secretly installed on their computers, which pose security risks for music buyers. Abbott said "We keep discovering additional methods Sony used to deceive Texas consumers who thought they were simply buying music", and "Thousands of Texans are now potential victims of this deceptive game Sony played with consumers for its own purposes." In addition to violations of the Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act of 2005, which allows for civil penalties of $100,000 for each violation of the law, the alleged violations added in the updated lawsuit, on December 21, 2005, carry maximum penalties of $20,000 per violation. [ [http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2005/12/19/daily31.html dallas.bizjournals.com] [http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2005/12/19/daily32.html sanantonio.bizjournals.com] ] . See 2005 Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal.

"Van Orden v. Perry"

On March 2, 2005, Abbott appeared before the United States Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., where he defended Texas's Ten Commandments monument, a display that stood on the state Capitol grounds for more than forty years. Dozens of similar monuments were donated to cities and towns across the nation as part of a promotion for Cecil B. DeMille's epic movie "The Ten Commandments".

The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision, which was written by the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, found the Texas display passed had secular motives and therefore passed constitutional muster.

Justice Stephen Breyer, who served as the swing vote in the case, wrote: "The circumstances surrounding the monument's placement on the capitol grounds and its physical setting provide a strong, but not conclusive, indication that the Commandments' text as used on this monument conveys a predominantly secular message … The determinative factor here, however, is that forty years passed in which the monument's presence, legally speaking, went unchallenged ... Those forty years suggest more strongly than can any set of formulaic tests that few individuals ... are likely to have understood the monument as amounting ... to a government effort to establish religion."

Therefore, the Texas commandments were constitutional. But in the case of "McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky", involving a series of Commandments in the two county courthouses, Breyer found the commandments unconstitutional.

Hailing the Supreme Court's decision, Abbott said: "This is a great victory not just for Texans, but for all Americans. With this ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a clear message that the Texas Ten Commandments can be displayed on public grounds in recognition of the historical role they have played in the foundation of this country and its laws." The Ten Commandments monument still stands just to the northwest of the Capitol in Austin.

Reelection as attorney general

Abbott was unopposed for renomination as attorney general in the March 7, 2006, Republican primary. In the November 7, general election, Abbott easily defeated the self-styled "people's" Democrat David Van Os. Abbott polled 2,553,610 (59.5 percent) to Van Os's 1,598,378 (37.3 percent). Libertarian Jon Roland received another 139,525 votes (3.3 percent).

Election history

Most recent election

2006

Election box begin
title=Texas general election, 2006: Texas Attorney General [Office of the Secretary of State. 2006 General Election. http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe (accessed 15 December 2006)] Election box candidate with party link
party= Republican Party (US)
candidate = Greg Abbott
votes = 2,556,063
percentage = 59.51
change = +2.79Election box candidate with party link
party= Democratic Party (US)
candidate = David Van Os
votes = 1,599,069
percentage = 37.23
change = -3.85Election box candidate with party link
party= Libertarian Party (US)
candidate = Jon Roland
votes = 139,668
percentage = 3.25
change = 1.99Election box majority
votes = 956.994
percentage = 22.28
change = 6.65Election box turnout
votes = 4,294,800
percentage =
change = Election box hold with party link no swing
winner = Republican Party (US)

Previous elections

2002

Election box begin
title=Texas general election, 2002: Texas Attorney General [Office of the Secretary of State. 2002 General Election. http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe (accessed 15 December 2006)] Election box candidate with party link
party= Republican Party (US)
candidate = Greg Abbott
votes = 2,542,184
percentage = 56.72
change = Election box candidate with party link
party= Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Kirk Watson
votes = 1,841,359
percentage = 41.08
change = Election box candidate with party link
party= Libertarian Party (US)
candidate = Jon Roland
votes = 56,880
percentage = 1.26
change = Election box candidate with party link
party= Green Party (US)
candidate = David Keith Cobb
votes = 41,560
percentage = 0.92
change = Election box majority
votes = 700,825
percentage = 15.63
change = Election box turnout
votes = 4,481,983
percentage =
change = Election box hold with party link no swing
winner = Republican Party (US)

1998

Election box begin
title=Texas general election, 1998: Texas Supreme Court, Place 3 [Office of the Secretary of State. 1998 General Election. http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe (accessed 15 December 2006)] Election box candidate with party link
party= Republican Party (US)
candidate = Greg Abbott
votes = 2,104,828
percentage = 60.11
change = Election box candidate with party link
party= Democratic Party (US)
candidate = David Van Os
votes = 1,396,924
percentage = 39.89
change = Election box majority
votes = 707,904
percentage = 20.21
change = Election box turnout
votes = 3,501,752
percentage =
change = Election box hold with party link no swing
winner = Republican Party (US)

Sources

* [http://www.oag.state.tx.us/agency/agga_bio.shtml Official biography]
* " [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40461-2005Feb20.html Supreme Court on a Shoestring] ", The Washington Post, February 21, 2005
* http://www.texasobserver.org/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=1121
* http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0628/p01s03-usju.html

References

External links

* [http://www.oag.state.tx.us/ Office of the Attorney General of Texas]
* [http://www.gregabbott.com/ Attorney General Abbott's personal website]