Lawmaker Cleared for Wearing a Pink 'Pussyhat' and Mocking Gov. Greg Abbott's Disability

Texas state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt has been cleared by a special court of review after being rebuked by the state's Commission on Judicial Conduct for a pair of incidents when she was Travis County judge.

In 2017, Eckhardt, 57, donned a pink knitted cat-eared "pussyhat" during a commissioners court meeting, the Texas Tribune reports. The hats were worn at that time and since in protest of Donald Trump's presidency and his lewd comments about grabbing women "by the p----" in a leaked Access Hollywood tape that jolted the 2016 presidential campaign.

And then in 2019 Eckhardt made a joke about Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who uses a wheelchair because he was paralyzed from the waist down after being struck by an oak tree while jogging in 1984, during an appearance at the Texas Tribune Festival.

While discussing Abbott's support of a law restricting local governments from regulating tree removal on private property, Eckhardt said the governor "hates trees because one fell on him," the Texas Tribune reported at the time.

She later apologized for the remark, saying the comment was "flippant" and "inappropriate."

Both incidents were cited in a complaint considered by the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct, which publicly admonished Eckhardt for "for engaging in willful conduct that cast public discredit upon the judiciary."

On Thursday, the Special Court of Review chose to toss out the punishment or to "vacate the sanctions levied by the Commission and deny further sanctions," according to its opinion.

"Today, the First Amendment won in Texas," Eckhardt said in a tweet. "Our freedom of speech — especially political speech — is foundational to our democracy. That's why we fought this in court, and I'm thrilled that our rights won the day!"

Eckhardt served as Travis County judge, an executive role that presides over the commissioners courts despite its title, from 2015 until 2020, when she stepped down to run for the Texas Senate in a special election.

In their decision, the judges who conducted the review said Eckhardt was a judge "in name only."

"As with a book, a title signifies one thing but not necessarily the true substance of what one finds upon deeper search," the panel of three members wrote. "She enjoyed the title 'judge' but had none of its duties."

The panel also wrote, "Eckhardt claims that admonishing her violated her First Amendment right to speak freely. We agree."