John Washington III Says Judges Must Put the Constitution and the People First, Not Their Office

Presidential candidate John Washington III is questioning whether the courts are putting the Constitution first. In a written statement, John Washington III noted that state judges are bound by the U.S. Constitution and, in Texas, also swear to uphold the state constitution, and he asked why, in his words, the constitution that should come first too often seems to get overlooked.

John Washington III said people walk into court again and again and feel their constitutional rights do not get a fair look, and he asked why outcomes can feel pre-decided and why loyalty to an office seems to matter more than loyalty to the people. Judges, he wrote, are asked for the people's vote and then, in his telling, serve their office instead of the people.

"That's not justice. That's not acceptable," John Washington III wrote. "The people deserve judges who put the constitution and the people first." The statement frames the issue as a conflict of interest at the heart of the justice system, and it is the latest in a series of written statements in which the candidate has questioned whether public institutions answer to the people they serve.