Black people are under attack. Black representation is under attack. In Harris County, Black women judges are under attack. In 2018, seventeen Black women won judicial elections in Harris County, making history around the world. We called it Black Girl Magic.

Then the Legislature changed the rules, increasing experience requirements for judges and changing the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. I opposed those changes. The Black Girl Magic judges still met the new quali cations. So why the sudden urgency a er Black women won? I’ve practiced law since 1995, when almost every Harris County judge was white. I’ve practiced before that judiciary and today’s more diverse bench. I’ve seen Black defendants treated more harshly than white defendants by prosecutors and judges. Judges who understand people’s backgrounds can recognize bias others overlook.

Trust me. We do not want to go back. White judges still outnumber Black judges. Why complain about too many Black judges when nobody complained about nearly all-white benches? This backlash is racist. In 2024, Black women judicial candidates fought unsuccessful efforts to remove them from the ballot. Erica Hughes and TaKasha Francis survived challenges and won. In 2026, three Black women judicial candidates were removed from the ballot, while white counterparts faced unchallenged primaries. These fights involved previous Harris County Democratic Party leadership. The court decisions against these women reflect racial bias. The double standard in how Black judges are treated is glaring.

Judge Kelli Johnson, a white Democrat, was arrested for DWI. She was also reportedly absent from her bench from May until the following April. Judge Susan Brown, a Republican, helped cover her courtroom and arrange visiting judges. Former sta have alleged Johnson called a Black male judge “boy,” threatened to sic her dog on him, sought that judge’s voting proxy without permission, and threw county equipment at Harris County staff. I know of no public commission sanction arising from those allegations.

Johnson isn’t the only example. Judges Frank Aguilar, a Democrat, Lisa Millard, a Republican, and Linda Motheral, a Republican, were also reportedly absent for significant periods. Why did these absences not result in comparable public disciplinary consequences? In 2017, Judge Nikita Harmon, an elected Black woman judge, was sitting behind her own bench when Judge Jim Wallace ordered her of and threatened to have his bailiff arrest her. I held a press conference defending Judge Harmon.

I recall Judge Brown pressuring Harmon not to  le a judicial complaint against Wallace. If a Black judge, elected by the people, can be threatened with arrest for sitting behind her own bench, then the rest of us are in deep shit. I believe Brown has pursued complaints against Black women judges while protecting white judges from comparable scrutiny.

And I haven’t forgotten Judge Cassandra Holleman, one of our original Black Girl Magic judges. She took o ce in January 2019 and died of cancer the following month. While gravely ill, lawyers criticized her attendance, repeated the racist trope that Black people are lazy, and discussed  ling judicial complaints. I remember that talk. This woman wasn’t lazy. She was dying. After she died, where were the apologies? Where was the compassion? Now consider Judge Angela Graves-Harrington. Her husband died unexpectedly. She lost her soulmate, her partner, the father of her children, her world. She was grieving while helping her children cope. Yet she faced disciplinary scrutiny over attendance.

Why was grace extended to Johnson but not Graves-Harrington? White privilege, Republican or Democrat, should never outweigh Black humanity. The State Commission on Judicial Conduct’s unequal treatment of Black women judges is unacceptable. Its standards must apply equally. I’m concerned about complaints involving Black women judges and personnel in District Attorney Sean Teare’s office. Judicial independence cannot mean automatically granting prosecutors’ requests. Republican ads claiming Democratic judges let murderers out are scare tactics. Charges aren’t convictions. Judges must follow evidence, law, and the Constitution.

As long as people keep doing racist shit, I’ll pull that race card from the bottom, middle, or top of the deck. Call a thing a thing. November 3 matters. When you come to vote for me, Jolanda “Jo” Jones, for House District 147, don’t skip the judicial races. Remember our Black Girl Magic judges: Tonya Jones, Shannon Baldwin, Toria Finch, Lori Chambers-Gray, Michelle Moore, Sandra Peake, Linda Dunson, LaTosha Lewis-Payne, Ramona Franklin, Germaine Tanner, LaShawn Williams, Dedra Davis, Angela Graves-Harrington, and Lucia Bates. Remember also Juanita Jackson, Damiane Dianne Curvey, Ashley Mayes Guice, Tami Cra and Melissa Marie Morris. Check your ballot. I’m unapologetically Black. I will never apologize for demanding equal justice. Vote early or November 3. Go all the way down the ballot. We will remember in November.