Paul W. Green (born March 6, 1952 in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

) is a former justice of the

Supreme Court of Texas The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of ...

. He served on the court from November 2, 2004 to August 31, 2020.

Background

Green graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

in 1974 from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

and received his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1977 from

St. Mary's University School of Law St. Mary's University School of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of St. Mary's University, a private Catholic university located in San Antonio, Texas. Academics The School of Law has an enrollment of about 770 students, pursu ...

in San Antonio, with the designation as a "distinguished graduate." Prior to joining the Supreme Court, Green was a justice for ten years on the Fourth Court of Appeals of Texas, based in San Antonio.

2004 election

Green won the Republican nomination to his seat on the Court in a contested primary against then-Justice

Steven Wayne Smith Steven Wayne Smith (born October 26, 1961), is a Republican former Texas Supreme Court associate justice, who was defeated for renomination in 2004 through the active opposition of then Governor Rick Perry. He was unseated by Paul W. Green. Smith ...

. Smith, though a new member of the Court at the time, was opposed by then Texas

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republica ...

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

John Cornyn, a former Texas Supreme Court Justice himself for seven years, also supported Green over Smith. In 2006, Smith sought to return to the Court by entering the primary contest against recent Perry appointee

Don Willett Donny Ray Willett (born July 16, 1966) is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He was previously appointed by Texas Governor Rick Perry to serve as a justice of the Supreme Court of Texas on ...

, but Willett won the contested primary vote by a single percentage point.

2010 election

Green ran for re-election in 2010. With 60 percent of the vote, he defeated William Moody and Tom Oxford in the general election.

2016 election

Green won re-nomination in the Republican primary on March 1 against Rick Green (no relation), a former member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

from Dripping Springs who is affiliated with David Barton in the group

WallBuilders David Barton (born January 28, 1954) is an evangelical author and political activist for Christian nationalist causes. He is the founder of WallBuilders, LLC, a Texas-based organization that promotes pseudohistory about the religious basis of th ...

. Justice Green prevailed over Rick Green, 1,077,507 votes (52.1 percent) to 991,785 votes (47.9 percent). Green then defeated the Democrat Dori Contreras Garza in the November 8 general election, 4,758,334 (54.3 percent) to her 3,608,634 (41.2 percent). The

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties * Outline of libertarianism ...

nominee, Tom Oxford, an earlier opponent of Justice Green, polled 288,504 votes (3.3 percent), and the

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

candidate, Charles E. Waterbury received 107,731 (1.2 percent).

Retirement

In July 2020, Green announced his retirement from the court, effective August 31, 2020.

References

External links

Justice Green's profile online at the Texas Supreme Court
{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Paul W. 1952 births Living people 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges Lawyers from San Antonio McCombs School of Business alumni Lawyers from Austin, Texas St. Mary's University School of Law alumni Texas Republicans Justices of the Texas Supreme Court