{{Short description|American judge (born 1978)}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Michelle Slaughter |office = Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |term_start = January 1, 2019 |term_end = December 31, 2024 |predecessor = Elsa Alcala |successor = Lee Finley |birth_date = {{birth year and age|1978}} |birth_place = |death_date = |death_place = |party = Republican |education = University of Houston (BA, JD) }} '''Michelle Slaughter''' (born 1978) is a former Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

== Education ==

Slaughter received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Houston and her Juris Doctor from the University of Houston Law Center in 2004.<ref name="Directory">{{Cite web |title=Justice Elect Michelle Slaughter - Texas State Directory Online |url=https://www.txdirectory.com/online/person/?id=44646&office=20373 |access-date=2020-09-12 |website=www.txdirectory.com}}</ref>

== Legal career ==

Upon graduating law school, she clerked with Haynes and Boone. Before taking the bench she was a managing member at Slaughter & Hammock and from 2005 to 2010 practiced at Locke Lord.<ref name="HLC">{{Cite web |date=2018-11-29 |title=UH Law Center alumna Slaughter '04 elected to Texas appeals court |url=https://www.law.uh.edu/news/fall2018/1129Slaughter.asp |access-date=2020-09-12 |website=www.law.uh.edu}}</ref>

== State judicial service ==

Slaughter campaigned to be a Judge for the 405th District Court of Galveston County and took office in 2013.<ref name="GoldenHammer">{{Cite web |date=2018-03-11 |title=Galveston District Judge Michelle Slaughter wins seat on Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |url=https://thegoldenhammer.net/galveston-district-judge-michelle-slaughter-wins-seat-on-texas-court-of-criminal-appeals/ |access-date=2020-09-12 |website=THE GOLDEN HAMMER |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2015, she was cleared of any wrongdoing by a judicial panel after concern was raised over personal Facebook posts regarding a trial she was overseeing.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Glenn |first=Mike |date=2015-10-01 |title=Galveston judge cleared of wrongdoing in Facebook posts |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Galveston-judge-cleared-of-wrongdoing-in-Facebook-6541807.php |access-date=2020-09-12 |website=HoustonChronicle.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

In March 2018, she won the Republican primary to be a Judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.<ref name="GoldenHammer" /> Her opponent in the General Election was Libertarian Mark Ash.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-15 |title=Libertarian Mark Ash will challenge Michelle Slaughter for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |url=https://www.lp.org/libertarian-mark-ash-will-challenge-michelle-slaughter-texas-court-criminal-appeals/ |access-date=2020-09-12 |website=Libertarian Party |language=en-US}}</ref> She went on to win the general election, receiving 4,760,576 votes or 74% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2018 General Election |url=https://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist331_state.htm |access-date=2020-09-12 |website=elections.sos.state.tx.us}}</ref> Her term on the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals began on January 1, 2019<ref name="Directory" /> and she replaced Judge Elsa Alcala.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCullough |first=Jolie |date=2019-01-14 |title=Court issues stay in execution of Rusk County man scheduled to die Tuesday |url=https://www.news-journal.com/news/police/court-issues-stay-in-execution-of-rusk-county-man-scheduled-to-die-tuesday/article_87e1da38-1830-11e9-a8c2-ef487eb60360.html |access-date=2020-09-12 |website=Longview News-Journal |language=en}}</ref>

In 2024, Slaughter was defeated in the Republican primary by attorney Lee Finley.<ref>https://communityimpact.com/austin/south-central-austin/election/2024/03/05/paxton-backed-challengers-projected-to-defeat-incumbent-criminal-appeals-judges/</ref>

==Personal life==

Slaughter is a Republican.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Elected Officials Directory: Judge Michelle Slaughter |url=https://www.texastribune.org/directory/michelle-slaughter/ |access-date=2020-09-12 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%" |+ Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals Place 8: 2018 General Election Results !|Year !|Republican !|Votes !|Pct ! !|Libertarian !|Votes !|Pct |- |2018 |{{Party shading/Republican}} |'''Michelle Slaughter''' |{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |4,760,576 |{{Party shading/Republican}} |74.68% | |{{Party shading/Libertarian}}|Mark Ash |{{Party shading/Libertarian}}|1,614,119 |{{Party shading/Libertarian}}|25.32% |}

== References == {{Reflist|30em}}

== External links == *[https://www.txcourts.gov/cca/about-the-court/judges/judge-michelle-slaughter/ Texas courts bio] *{{Ballotpedia|Michelle_Slaughter|Michelle Slaughter}}

{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=Elsa Alcala}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals}}|years=2019–2025}} {{s-aft|after=Lee Finley}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaughter, Michelle}} Category:1978 births Category:Living people Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:University of Houston Law Center alumni Category:21st-century American judges Category:21st-century American lawyers Category:21st-century American women judges Category:American women lawyers Category:Judges of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Category:Texas lawyers Category:Texas Republicans Category:Texas state court judges

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