John Phillip Devine (born October 3, 1958 in Peru, Indiana) is the Place 4 justice of the nine-member

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 ...

. A Republican, Devine defeated

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David M. Medina in a primary

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held on July 31, 2012. Devine was then elected without a

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opponent in the

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on November 6, 2012. His term began on January 1, 2013. Devine graduated in 1980 with a degree in

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and

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from

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

in Muncie, Indiana. He then joined

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Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

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 ...

and studied law at the

South Texas College of Law South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL or South Texas) is a private law school in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1923, it is accredited by the American Bar Association. South Texas College of Law Houston is the oldest law school in the city of ...

in Downtown Houston. After earning his

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degree in 1986, he went to work for Brown and Root. Before being elected to the state Supreme Court, Devine had served as district judge of the 190th Judicial District Court in Harris County from 1995 through 2002. When he first ran for district judge in 1994, Devine was unopposed in the Republican primary, and narrowly won the general election, unseating Democratic incumbent, Eileen F. O'Neill, 289,943 (50.5 percent) to 284,246 (49.5 percent). Devine was re-elected to a second term on the district court bench in 1998, with 261,514 votes (52.8 percent), defeating Democrat Jane Fraser, who polled 233,597 (47.2 percent). Devine did not seek a third term in 2002 and was succeeded by fellow Republican Jennifer F. Elrod, now a judge on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. From 2003 to 2011, Devine was a special judge to the Harris County Justice of the Peace courts. He also served on the Harris County Juvenile Board, Harris County Juvenile Justice School Board, Board of Civil District Judges, Texas Association of State Judges, and American Judges Association. In 2004, Devine was sued for his refusal to take down a painting of

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on display in his Harris County courtroom. The case was later dismissed, and the painting remained in the courtroom. He is married to Nubia Piedad Gomez, formerly of

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. They had seven children, four boys and three girls. Their youngest daughter died shortly after birth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devine, John 1958 births Living people Ball State University alumni South Texas College of Law alumni Texas Republicans Businesspeople from Texas Texas state court judges Justices of the Texas Supreme Court People from Houston People from Austin, Texas 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges People from Peru, Indiana