Judge Janis Jack remembers

We had the privilege of interviewing Judge Janis Graham Jack, a Senior Federal United States District Judge in Corpus Christie. She presided over the TAP (The Aransas Project) vs Shaw trial where Jim Blackburn led the plaintiff's team in a suit against the TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) and GBRA (Guadalupe Blanco River Authority) The case claimed that the state had mismanaged the fresh water inflows to San Antonio Bay. High salinity levels in the bay caused the reduction of some critical food sources for the resident endangered Whooping Cranes. Consequently, that year 23 endangered Whooping Cranes perished because they were not able to find their usual food source.

The Judge recounts her impressions of Jim Blackburn as an individual who was dogged in his pursuit of justice. After she found in favor of the plaintiff in this case, the defendants appealed her ruling to the 5th Curcuit Court in New Orleans, where it was overturned. Jim tried again by appealing the the case to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court refused to put the case on the docket for review and Jim's options for appeal in the court system ended there. This series of legal hurdles resulted in an epiphany. He came to understand that a  better way to win environmental cases in Texas is to find a middle-way to bring both sides together in a win-win scenario.

In this case,  after all the legal maneuvering was over, the litigants met for lunch. They discussed their differences  and came to an agreement addressing the problems of fresh water inflows to the bay. Eventually almost all of the goals of the original litigation were achieved. This was a true win-win-win for TAP, the GBRA and of course... the beloved Whoopers.