austinbar.org FEBRUARY 2024 | VOLUME 33, NUMBER 1
NJC Names Judge Maya Guerra Gamble a “Courageous Judge”
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udge of the 459th District Court and Austin Bar Treasurer Maya Guerra Gamble was named one of The National Judicial College (NJC)’s “60 Courageous Judges.” The NJC’s Courageous Judges Awards “honor 60 judges, present and past, from courts in the United States and abroad, who have demonstrated courage in upholding the rule of law and providing justice for all.”1 Nominations were solicited from NJC’s alumni, faculty, staff, and others associated with the organization. An internal committee headed by College President Benes Z. Aldana made the final selections, relying almost exclusively on the examples of courage described by the nominators. Many of the judges were recognized for honoring their vow to follow the law and Constitution in the face of contrary public opin-
ion, political pressure, and threats to personal safety. Judge Guerra Gamble’s nomination heralded her handling of Heslin v. Jones, one of the many lawsuits filed against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his network, InfoWars. Plaintiff Neil Heslin was the parent of a student killed during the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012. In the suit, Heslin sought damages from Jones and other defendants. In numerous instances after the shooting, Jones accused the parents, school staff, and students of being “crisis actors,” alleging no one had died at Sandy Hook, and calling it a “false flag” or fake event. As a result of these accusations, Heslin was subjected to harassment and threats, both in person and online, Heslin’s attorneys said during the trial.
TOP LEFT: 459th Civil District Judge and Austin Bar Treasurer Maya Guerra Gamble. TOP RIGHT: Alex Jones being questioned in Judge Guerra Gamble’s courtroom. BOTTOM RIGHT: A Zoom hearing with Molly Duane, an attorney with the Center for Reproductive Rights, and Austin Kaplan, both of whom represented Kate and Justin Cox. Kate Cox sought a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Texas’s abortion ban in order to terminate a nonviable and potentially life-threatening pregnancy. Judge Guerra Gamble granted the TRO during this hearing.
The trial started in July 2022 and lasted two weeks. In August 2022, Judge Guerra Gamble ruled against Jones, awarding more than $4 million in compensatory damages and more than $45 million in punitive damages. Jones and his attorneys argued that Texas law capped the amounts that could be awarded in certain types of damages, and that the ruling should be cut by more than $40 million. In November 2022, Judge Guerra Gamble rejected this argument.
Speaking to the media during breaks in the trial and during his daily four-hour broadcast, Jones called the proceedings “a kangaroo court,” “a show trial,” and “a witch hunt.” In addition to this highly publicized trial, Judge Guerra Gamble’s NJC nomination also cited her ruling against a law allowing private citizens in Texas to sue anyone who “aids or abets” abortion after six weeks. continued on page 4.