[JURIST] Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht [official profile] won his appeal of an "admonishment" [JURIST report] he received in May for allegedly improperly using the power of his office to support the nomination of his friend, Harriet Miers [JURIST news archive], to the US Supreme Court. A three-judge panel of the Special Court of Review, appointed by the Texas Supreme Court [official website], issued a ruling [text, PDF] Friday, dismissing the admonishment and determining that Hecht had not violated Texas Code of Judicial Conduct [text]. The justices who considered the appeal were Kerry FitzGerald [DBA profile] and Amos Mazzant [SBT profile] of the Dallas appeals court and Ann McClure [official profile] of the El Paso appeals court. AP has more.

Hecht defended his actions [JURIST report], which included granting about 120 newspaper, radio and television interviews on the Miers nomination, before the appeals panel in August. US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) [JURIST news archive] also testified in support of Hecht during that appeal.