Meet your candidates!
It’s an election year, and here at Plano Profile we strive to connect our community; part of that is helping educate the community and giving candidates a platform to address the community.
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Meet Kathy Cheng who is running for Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, Place 6 as a democrat.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.
I have been in private practice for over seventeen years. My areas of practice include but not limited to estate planning, probate litigation, commercial litigation, real estate law, family law, tax law, and criminal law.
In addition, I have served as part-time parking adjudication officer for the City of Houston since 2013.
Why are you running for office?
One of the reasons I am running for office is because I believe that justice, fairness and equality shall be afforded to all citizens. In order to make that a reality, one must understand why it is significant to effectuate the meaning of those words as opposed to using those words as terms of art.
As an Asian-American immigrant of multicultural backgrounds and experiences, having experienced and witnessed disparate treatment, I know the importance of giving effect to the terms justice, fairness and equality to all.
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What makes you the most qualified person for this position?
As a female legal practitioner, I am compassionate to the needs of people, passionate to prosecute or defend the causes of my clients, decisive to the method required of achieving a resolution, and courteous to all.
As an Asian American immigrant, I am open minded to the worldly views of others and sensitive to the needs of others. As a mother of three wonderful children, two of whom are toddler boys, I practice patience on a daily basis.
Last but not least, as a part-time hearing adjudication officer for the City of Houston, I conduct my hearings with unbiased views so that every citizen is assured of justice in my courtroom. Taking the above qualities collectively, compassion, passion, decisiveness, courteous, open-minded, sensitive, patient, unbiased and commitment to justice, the character trait of judicial temperament comes to mind.
Those qualities coupled with my multicultural backgrounds, experiences and understanding that every ruling I make affects people beyond the writings of briefs and/or words spoken by their legal counsels, I am the candidate better suited to serve the best interest of Texans.
What issues are your top priorities? Name three.
My priorities as Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, Place 6 is to improve the court’s efficiency, engage citizens and inform them of the existence of the State Bar of Texas, and to inspire others to make a difference in society.
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What changes would you implement and how?
The changes I would make include but not limited to educating the general public about the judicial system including its impact on the general population, the impact of electing judicial candidates based on political party affiliation, and the impact of lack of diversity in the judiciary. These changes can be effectuated through routine civic engagement.
What factors in your life have shaped your beliefs?
Having my life saved by my father and spared by God, I learned not to take life for granted. That if one desires to make a difference in this world, I have to learn to look deep within myself and find the courage to face the fear of the unknown.
From my mother, she taught me that if one is passionate about something, take that passion and run with it to help others. Because of their teachings, I have learned to take on challenges that some people normally would not dare to take more or less taken on by an Asian American female.
Because of their teachings, I have been the voice for my clients under the worst contested divorce cases. Because of the courage I found through their teachings, I have fought and succeeded against big law firms in complex commercial litigation matters.
Because of the teachings of God, I have learned to ignore the judging eyes of others when they cast doubt as to what I can and cannot achieve. From the teachings of the countless educators in my life, I am better versed in many areas that I would not otherwise be without their teachings.
For the foregoing factors, I am the independent, confident, successful, yet humbled individual that I am today who will make an impact in Texas on November 6, 2018 by being elected the first Asian American female to the Texas Supreme Court.
What do you believe should be the function of government?
I believe the legislative branch of the government functions to create laws to provide a guideline for its citizens so that there is law and order.
The executive branch functions to enforce the rules so that the rights of its citizens are protected while the judicial branch of the government interprets and applies the laws enacted by the government.
Because not one branch of the government has greater power than the other, the government functions collectively in a check and balance system.