Texas Judge Sued for Offering Paddling in Courtroom
A South Texas justice of the peace will find himself in another judge’s courtroom this morning, likely grateful that one — unlike his own — contains no wooden paddles.
Cameron County Justice of the Peace Gustavo Garza is being sued by the parents of a 15-year-old girl whose stepfather was given the choice of paying a $500 fine or paddling the girl in open court for skipping school.
Daniel Zurita reluctantly used one of the two paddles in Garza’s courtroom on his stepdaughter, who was 14 at the time, in April. It’s the option that 98 percent of parents choose in his courtroom, Garza said.
“It is lawful,” said Garza, who said he has practiced law for 26 years, including work as a prosecutor in Willacy and Cameron counties. Garza stressed that he never ordered a parent to paddle a child, he simply offered it as an option in place of a fine and a misdemeanor mark on their records . . .