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Dallas Times Herald
JUDGE
From A-1
local gay leaders were shocked
by the number of people, who
felt Hampton had voiced a preju-
dice that Dallas, despite its repu-
tation, would not endorse.
"His apology was called for,"
said county Republican Party
Chairman Tom James. "Between
now and the primary in 1990, the-
voters will just have to determine
whether or not his record overall
will, overcome this expression of
his.
"At Jack Hampton's consider-
able expense, I think this com-
munity's had to look at some-
thing we should have looked at a
long time before," he said.
The onslaught of criticism,
which grew daily, astounded few
mote than.
himself. A
felony judge
in Dallas
since 1981,
56, is a
widely re-
spee forthright
man who
even gay de-
fense law- Hampton
yers say is eminently fair in his
rulings from the bench. When
asked Dec. 15 by a Times Herald
reporter why he rejected a life
sentence for a man who killed
two people in cold blood, Hamp-
ton explained the killer was only
18, had no prior record and came
from a good Mesquite home.
"And," Hampton added with-
out hesitation, "these two guys
that got killed wouldn't have
been killed if they hadn't been
cruising the streets picking up
teenage boys. I don't much care
for queers cruising the streets
picking up teenage boys."
The day his comments were
published, Hampton's noncha-
lance turned to bewilderment in
the wake of the mounting outcry,
which would be joined by three
members of the Dallas City
Council, officials in Austin and
Washington, D.C., and fellow Re-
publicans.Many are now questioning why
Bednarski's companions, too,
were not charged.
"It was such a brutal murder,
so uncalled for," said Glenn Max-
ey, executive director of the
Gay/Lesbian Lobby in Austin.
"It's the kind of violent crime
that plays itself out over and
over and over in many lesser
ways. My phone number is listed
[under the lobby's name]. Three
or four nights a week I get mes-
sages: 'I hope all you faggots die.'
"We're trying to fight for our
lives, our friends are dying from
AIDS and then we have to putup with this garbage," he said.
"We can't do much about that,
but we can say something about
bigots sitting in positions of pow-
er."
Hampton's position, the fact
that he controls human lives
with his decisions and took an
oath to handle those lives with
equal and impartial justice, also
fueled outrage - even among
people who essentially agree
with his views.
"I'm for the judge, and I agree
with him. I don't like guys
spreading AIDS all over the
country picking up my kids toWhen the president of the
North Texas Association of Phy-
sicians for Human Rights called
Hampton at home that afternoon
to verify the Times Herald re-
port, the judge spoke instead
about how his life had been
threatened, how he had to take
his family out of town and how
his Christmas was ruined.
"Isn't it ironic," the doctor,
Ronald Stegman, said later, "that
the judge is getting a taste of
what every gay person gets every
day?"
Even those leading the calls
for Hampton's ouster find it diffi-
cult to explain why the judge's
remarks provoked such wide-
spread attention and indignation.
Some said it was the senseless
brutality of the crime for which
Hampton sentenced Richard Lee
Bednarski, now 19, to only 30
years in prison. Bednarski will be
eligible for parole in 7 years.
According to testimony, Bed-
narski fatally shot Tommy Lee
Trimble, 34, and John Lloyd
Griffin, 27, after he and his Mes-
quite friends lured the men to a
secluded area of Oak Lawn's
Reverchon Park as part of their
Saturday night plans to "pester
homosexuals." The other teens
claim they did not know Bednar-
ski had a gun and were
"shocked" by the killing. Never-
theless, they did not report the
murders, and Bednarski' was ar-
rested two weeks later by police
acting on an anonymous tip.
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[Clipping: Judge], clipping, Date Unknown; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1584096/m1/1/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.