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| Affiliation | Republican |
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2017-01-01 |
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| Name | Don R. Willett |
| Address |
, Texas , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
July 16, 1966
(57 years)
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| Contributor | aztwinsmom |
| Last Modifed | RBH
Jun 29, 2018 08:06pm |
| Tags |
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| Info | Don Willett was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court in August 2005 by Governor Rick Perry. He succeeds former Justice Priscilla Owen, who joined the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in June 2005.
Before assuming the bench, Justice Willett was Deputy Texas Attorney General for Legal Counsel, where he served as chief legal adviser to Attorney General Greg Abbott on the complete array of major legal issues confronting Texas.
Before that, Justice Willett was Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he played a key role in the President’s judicial selection and nominations process. He also supervised numerous cutting-edge civil and criminal justice initiatives, such as expediting U.S. citizenship for active-duty immigrant servicemembers and crafting the landmark PROTECT Act of 2003 to protect children from abduction and exploitation. Before joining the Justice Department, Willett served as Special Assistant to the President in the White House.
From 1996–2000, Justice Willett advised then-Governor Bush on a vast range of legal issues, and then served on the Bush-Cheney 2000 Presidential Campaign and Transition Team.
A native Texan, Justice Willett earned a triple-major BBA from Baylor University and his J.D. with honors along with an M.A. in political science from Duke University, where he was Senior Editor of LAW & CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS and Editor of the DUKE INTERNATIONAL & COMPARATIVE LAW ANNUAL. Following law and graduate school, he was a law clerk to Judge Jerre S. Williams of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. From 1993 to 1996, Justice Willett practiced employment/labor law in the Austin office of Haynes and Boone, L.L.P. and also handled significant pro bono matters for various nonprofit legal foundations.
Justice Willett was named Outstanding Young Alumnus of Baylor University for 2005. He also received the Faith and Integrity in Legal Services Award, and was honored in 2006 with the Austin Under 40 Award for Government and Public Affairs. Justice Willett is a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and a Member of the American Law Institute.
Presently, Justice Willett serves as Supreme Court Liaison to the Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism and sits on the Judicial Advisory Board of the Texas Association for Court Administration.
Justice Willett has a long history of community involvement, including appointments to the Texas Commission on Volunteerism & Community Service, the Texas Commission on Judicial Efficiency (judicial selection reform task force), and the 1997–98 Class of Leadership Austin. His board and nonprofit service includes the National Fatherhood Initiative, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas, SafePlace, the Texas Lyceum Association, the advisory board of the TEXAS REVIEW OF LAW & POLITICS, the advisory board of the Federalist Society (Austin chapter), the national steering committee for Baylor University’s proposed George W. Bush Presidential Library Center, and the Baylor University Council for Institutional Development. In addition, Justice Willett was a Class XXII member of the Governor’s Executive Development Program, and in the mid-1990s was a Senior Fellow with the Texas Public Policy Foundation. He has also served as a non-resident fellow with the Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society (PRRUCS) at the University of Pennsylvania.
Justice Willett’s wife, Tiffany, was also part of President Bush’s White House staff, serving as Education Director for the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships. She most recently worked for Texas CASA, which advocates for abused and neglected children in the court system. Their son, Jacob Noble, was born in February 2004, and their second baby is due November 2006.
Justice Willett’s term ends December 31, 2006.
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