An Open Mike

Asked why there hasn't been mass outrage over such antics, the attorney says only, "I guess the lawyers are afraid of him. McSpadden carries grudges for a long time."

"You live by the publicity, you die by publicity," says the adversary, who insists on complete anonymity. "McSpadden's hoisted himself on his own petard."

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As eager as his opponents are to write his political obituary, McSpadden hardly seems ready to oblige them -- or even to ease up on his attacks.

Last year regional Republican officials drafted a letter designed to pressure a three-judge regional appellate panel into reversing its position against the state's sodomy law. McSpadden jumped into the fray.

"You seem to have taken the 'bully pulpit' to a new low," the judge wrote to Harris County GOP chairman Gary Polland. "Hope you understand that if you ever threaten me over a judicial ruling, you may be leaving my office head first."

Hints of détente are equally dashed with the response to a simple question about the all-Republican Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which rules on how he conducts cases. McSpadden says he was troubled when the earlier Democrat-dominated appellate judges went overboard on finding technicalities to reverse convictions.

"Now they are way too far to the right," McSpadden says. "I don't want anybody looking for ways not to reverse me. If there's a reason I should be reversed, then I should be -- plain and simple."

He swears he won't be trying to advance to that court. "I wouldn't run for anything," he says. "I hate politics. I'm always embarrassed when people come up and say, 'Gosh, Mike, you've done so well. You are such a good politician.' I'm a judge who has to act like a politician once every four years."

McSpadden hardly seems like someone in a GOP-induced Siberia. His name regularly graces the society column coverage of charity benefits. He can condemn Republican positions and still stroll onto the tennis court for charity doubles matches with the Bush family. On the personal front, he's been an active bachelor since 1994, when his childless marriage of 12 years to Susan Spicer ended amicably.

His campaign to cleanse the judiciary of politics continues unabated. Other judges have come to expect the annual election-season letters from McSpadden, urging them to avoid taking contributions from attorneys or bail bondsmen or others with interests in their courts. Only a handful have followed his lead over the 15 years, but that doesn't stop the letters. Or the occasional broadsides from his bench.

"I don't think he's afraid of what people are going to think," prosecutor Davidson says about McSpadden's appeal. "I think he's one of those who has a knack for saying other people's thoughts. Others might think something and not say it because it's politically incorrect -- Judge McSpadden will say it."

He argues separation of the judiciary from politics, even as the Republican Party completed its purge of Democratic judges last November. "It will take a governor who is more concerned with making sure we have the finest judiciary, rather than answering to a political party," McSpadden says. "All the governors to this point have been guilty of strict partisanship."

As doubtful as it may be that change will come, his crusade at least has given him the kind of independence he's long advocated for all judges.

"They'd have a helluva time trying to beat him," says Judge Shaver. "He's second only to Ted Poe in name ID, and the public's loved his stances. I don't think he needs to be worried."

Voigt is equally impressed. "He doesn't play all this political bullshit -- my hat's off to him for that."

"He's obtained his own independent base of support, so he doesn't need the ward heelers and the hacks to stay in office," attorney Jones says. "I'd rather somebody be that way, regardless of their judging abilities, than be beholden to political operatives. He's his own man."

It is the kind of survival that could make Jesse Bushyhead proud, even along a Trail of Tears.