Mission of Honor: Joe Izen

by Kevin Connelly

Texas born Joe A. Izen Jr. is considered by many of his clients to be a highly proficient attorney with few peers in the legal profession when it comes to a committed defense of those he represents. He has been licensed over 20 years and is the lead attorney for many of the more difficult cases. His practice has grown rapidly across the nation and even into other countries such as Belize, where he stopped the SEC from illegally obtaining records of a resident trust company. He has won numerous battles with the IRS. It can be our hope that we not only can win many more important battles against abusive government agencies, but that we can be part of the reform efforts of some of these agencies in order to bring them back into their proper role of public servants.

I first had the honor of meeting Mr. Izen a few weeks ago at an Italian restaurant in Houston. After our meeting these were the thoughts I looked back on. Whenever you go to a voting booth, and you see the list of candidates to the various state and national offices, you usually know whom you are going to vote for in the most publicized races. How many times have you seen candidates in an election that you never heard of, didn't know anything about, but since you belong to a particular party, you vote for the one with that affiliation? Or have you ever just picked one because the name sounded good? How many times have you seen candidates campaign openly for less publicized positions such as State Comptroller, Railroad Commissioner or for a seat (place) on the Texas Supreme Court?

Well, I actually got to meet a man who is running for Supreme Court Judge Place 2 in Texas. His name is Joe Izen. At first I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if he was going to be a stuffed shirt, look down at me or be offended because I was wearing blue jeans. I didn't really know what to expect. A member of the executive committee of The Southern Independence Party of Texas informed me that Joe Izen is on the ballot for the November election as a Libertarian but that Izen has also accepted endorsement by The Southern Independence Party of Texas.

When Mr. Izen approached our table with his wife, Karen, I wasn't sure who was coming over. Then he said, "Hi, I'm Joe Izen." He sat down and I listened while another guest at his table was asking some questions. They were hard for me to understand, because I'm not in the legal profession, but Mr. Izen's answers on all of the questions were clear, plain and understandable. I was very impressed with the way Izen was using the constitution, and did not realize how many loopholes certain attorneys and judges could use to get around it. Time and time again, Mr. Izen stressed without a doubt that when he is elected no loopholes to get around our constitution will be allowed.

I began asking some questions of my own. The one that I always wanted to know was, "Do judges openly campaign?" If they did, I was either ignorant or unaware, very likely the former. All I've ever seen were TV political spots and brochures of potential judges. Mr. Izen said, "Yes they do campaign. Most of the time it is done on their record of decisions." Looking at Mr. Izen's stance on the constitution as an attorney, I was impressed to see that he had a number of cases that were won strictly with the use of the constitution, and in particular, was a case he won against the IRS in the United States 9th Circuit. Now I was really impressed. As I became more comfortable listening to his down to earth answers and pleasant personality, I had my first view a future Texas Supreme Court Judge when elected. The information Mr. Izen gave me in a candid manner, pointed out specific points of the law that Mr. Izen promises to uphold. This made me aware of how our justice system really needs to work. My conversation with Mr. Izen showed me there's more to being a great judge than just a party affiliation.

If you want a return to honest constitutional justice, you should consider Joe Izen for Place 2 on the Texas Supreme Court. For case information on Joe Izen, see www.joeizen.com