1. Who are you, and what are you running for?
My name is Anthony Magdaleno, and I am running for Judge of the 311th Harris County Family District Court. (The incumbent judge, the Honorable Doug Warne, has announced his retirement.) All registered voters living in Harris County can vote in this race. I am a native Houstonian, the proud son of a retired and recognized Houston Police Officer and late mother who was a retired Houston Independent School District employee. My parents raised my three sisters and me in West University, and we all attended West University Elementary, Pershing Junior High, and Lamar Senior High School. I am a parishioner at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church and am an incoming member of the Knights of Columbus.
2. What kind of cases does this court hear?
This is a domestic relations court, which has jurisdiction over numerous matters involving the family, including but not limited to divorce, the division of marital property and debts, the conservatorship of children, visitation and child support issues, the modification of prior family orders, termination of the parent-child relationship, adoptions, domestic violence protective orders, and Children’s Protective Services matters.
3. Why are you running for this particular bench?
It has always been my dream to be a family law judge. In fact, for nearly 22 years I have been practicing family law because I am truly passionate about this area of the law. Now that Judge Warne has announced his retirement, it is my time to pursue this dream.
4. What are your qualifications for this job?
As I stated above, I have been practicing family law for nearly 22 years. During that time, I have been trying family cases and mediating and settling family disputes for women, men and their children, as a result of my being appointed by a family court as a court-appointed attorney or by being privately hired. I have handled complex issues involving, but not limited to, Children’s Protective Services, standing, jurisdiction, divorce, the division of marital property, termination of parental rights and adoption of children, to name a few, and not simply cases where there were no children or property involved, or no matters in dispute. On occasion, I have appealed family law cases to the Courts of Appeals as well.
In addition, I have had the privilege of sitting as an substitute Associate Judge in Judge Warne’s court at his invitation, and continue to receive appointments from his court to represent children, women, and men in all types of matters pending before his Court.
My commitment to the practice of family law includes my service as a director of the Houston Bar Association’s Family Law Section board, as a volunteer providing no-cost family law legal advise through the Houston Bar Association’s Legal Lines and Mexican-American Bar Association’s Consejos Legales, and as a mentor of newly-licensed attorneys practicing in the area of family law.
5. Why is this race important?
This race is important because this Court is a forum where men and women going through the most emotionally-tramatic times of their lives because of family conflict go to seek relief. Voters should look very closely at this race by looking at the complexity of the professional work handled by each candidate, the demeanor and professionalism of each candidate, and the reputation of each candidate as perceived by other practicing family law attorneys.
6. Why should people vote for you in the primary?
Because I believe that the “black robe” a family law judge wears is a robe of service and not a robe of power.
In my practice, when a client comes into my office with a family matter, such as a divorce, that client is quite often almost in a state of panic, thinking that his or her world is ending because of the threat that he or she is going to lose his or her children, house, car, retirement, etc. In such a situation, I have always enjoyed being able to sit down with that client, assess the situtation, and advise that client of what could be done to address his or her particular situtation so that the burden of stress he or she was under could be “lifted off his or her shoulders”. When that client left my office feeling a sense of relief, then I felt I had done an important part of my job — that of helping that client prepare emotionally to deal with the situation at hand and to proceed to court.
I would now like to take this perspective to the courthouse, and sit as a judge to help BOTH PARTIES get through the judicial process without unnecessary stress, grief, chaos, embarrassment, or expense. In addition, since litigants in family court quite often have the intimate details of their personal lives exposed in open court, I believe it is so very important for a judge to have the appropriate demeanor in dealing with litigants before the Court. A judge should be respectful to litigants, and not belittle, ridicule, intimidate, or yell at them. All that does is to make an already difficult situation unbearable. A family court should be respected but not feared.
7. Why did you choose to run in the Republican Primary versus the Democratic Primary?
I have been voting in Republican primaries for at least the last ten years, and I am a strict constructionist. I am bound by the law established by the Texas Family Code, and must rule within the bounds of that Code. Creating new law or modifying existing law should be left to the legislative branch and not the judicial branch of government.
Website: anthonymagdaleno.com
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