Charles Spain on Rice, rulings and re-election

By Thomas Pickell     10/22/24 11:13pm

Seeking re-election in 2024, Charles Spain ‘81 is Texas’s first openly gay justice of appeals. From his legislative efforts to his work with the Boy Scouts of America, Spain, a Will Rice College associate, said he has always valued bravery and fairness.

Spain said that personal opinions have no place in his decision-making.

“What people don’t understand about our courts is, if we’re doing our job, we really are calling balls and strikes,” Spain said. “The fact that I don’t like what happened is irrelevant.”

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Spain’s role in the appellate court involves collaboration with fellow appellate judges. Judges make decisions in groups of three who may disagree on interpretations of the law. While the public only sees the final decisions, Spain said the deliberative process can be contentious. 

“Smart people can really get into it, and hopefully, the work product that goes out at the end leaves out the … sharp elbows and the disagreements and the frustrations,” said Spain. 

Spain said his convictions for fair treatment were shaped during his time at Rice, where he was initially a pre-medical student majoring in history. While working in a hospital as a sophomore, Spain said he saw firsthand how power imbalances could play out in real life, a realization that stayed with him throughout his legal career. 

“I thought the doctors did not treat the nurses well. I thought the power dynamic was off,” said Spain. “I thought the doctors oftentimes were dismissive and rude to me, not always, but some of them.’” 

After graduating from Rice, Spain worked for the Boy Scouts of America, an organization he had a strong passion for since he became an Eagle Scout as a teenager. Though he hadn’t yet come out, he said the experience left him with a stark reminder of the systemic injustices that the LGBTQ+ community faced in the 80s.

“[My predecessor] picked up a couple of guys at White Rock Lake and took them back to his apartment, and they robbed and killed him,” Spain said. “The media and the District Attorney’s office [had] agreed that they’re going to keep this quiet.”

After graduating from Baylor Law School, Spain worked as a clerk for the Texas Supreme Court, where he pushed to remove Confederate symbols from the Texas state seal. 

Before his work on the appellate court, Spain was one of the founders of the state bar’s LGBTQ+ committee, along with Connie Moore and Mitchell Katine. When the trio argued for the section to be added to the bar, it was initially rejected by the board of directors in 1996.

“It was the first section of the State Bar of Texas that they ever turned down, “ said Spain.

Despite the initial rejection, Spain said Judge Norman Black encouraged them to persevere and re-apply. Two years later, in 1998, the Bar Association approved the creation of the LGBT Law Section, the first of its kind in the United States.

“He said, ‘Your job is to keep going. Because you almost got this done,’” Spain said. “He said, ‘I’m really disappointed at what happened,’ and then he went all Winston Churchill, and he said, ‘Never give up. Never give up. Never give up.’”

Spain said he has also advocated to fix the omission of Martin Luther King Jr. Day from the U.S. Flag Code with the help of senator Ken Bentsen. Though it was initially rejected by the Republican Congress, it was eventually passed with support from Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Spain said his moment of triumph was cut short by the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

“It’s a one-sentence bill; it's really not complicated. Bentsen asked me if I wanted to go to a White House Oval Office signing, and I said, ‘Of course I do.’ And the problem was that President Clinton did something very improper,” Spain said.

Spain believes that, though change can often be slow and contentious, it is worth pursuing if it is meaningful. 

"Bravery is when you say things that need to be said that other people don’t want to hear,” Spain said. “Are you going to stick your head up above ground? Because somebody's going to kick you in the head. It’s inevitable."

Spain said he also sees voting as a critical part of engaging in the political process. He said he urges voters to participate, even if they don’t have complete confidence in the candidates, emphasizing that informed voting can still make a difference. 

"You don’t have to have a moral certainty that everybody that you’re voting for is going to be the best candidate,” Spain said. “Not voting is a choice. It’s a definite choice, and it makes a difference."

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