Hembram Bakhul at 04:21, 1 July 2021

2021-07-01T04:21:04Z

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{{Short description|American judge}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Don Willett
| image = Don Willett (7004180446) (cropped).jpg
| office = Judge of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]]
| appointer = [[List of federal judges appointed by Donald Trump|Donald Trump]]
| term_start = January 2, 2018
| term_end =
| predecessor = [[Emilio M. Garza]]
| successor =
| office1 = Associate Justice of the [[Supreme Court of Texas]]
| appointer1 = [[Rick Perry]]
| term_start1 = August 24, 2005
| term_end1 = January 2, 2018
| predecessor1 = [[Priscilla Owen]]
| successor1 = [[Jimmy Blacklock]]
| birth_name = Donny Ray Willett
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1966|07|16}}
| birth_place = [[Talty, Texas|Talty]], [[Texas]], U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = [[Baylor University]] ([[Bachelor of Business Administration|B.B.A.]])<br>[[Duke University]] ([[Master of Arts|M.A.]])<br>[[Duke University School of Law]] ([[Juris Doctor|J.D.]], [[Master of Laws|LL.M.]])
| party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse = Tiffany Willett
| children = 3
}}
'''Donny Ray Willett''' (born July 16, 1966) is a [[United States federal judge|United States Circuit Judge]] of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]].<ref name=FJC>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/willett-don-r|title=Willett, Don R. {{!}} Federal Judicial Center|website=www.fjc.gov|language=en|access-date=2018-11-22}}</ref> He was previously appointed by [[Governor of Texas|Texas Governor]] [[Rick Perry]] to serve as a Justice of the [[Supreme Court of Texas]] on August 24, 2005, when former Justice [[Priscilla Owen]] created a vacancy on that court by joining the Fifth Circuit.

== Early life and background ==
Willett was born and raised in [[Talty, Texas|Talty]] in [[Kaufman County, Texas|Kaufman County]]. His adoptive father died at the age of 40, when Willett was six, and he and his older sister, Donna, were reared by their mother, Doris, who waited tables to support the family.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Grissom|first1=Brandi|title=Justice Don Willett, the boy from Talty, takes Twitter by storm, and maybe SCOTUS, too|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2016/05/20/justice-don-willett-the-boy-from-talty-takes-twitter-by-storm-and-maybe-scotus-too|newspaper=Dallas News}}</ref> Neither of Willett's parents finished high school. Willett attended public schools in [[Forney, Texas|Forney]] in Kaufman County, graduating in 1984. He then became his family's first college graduate.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Severino|first1=Carrie|title=Who is Justice Don Willett?|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/451949/who-justice-don-willett|access-date=December 10, 2017|magazine=National Review|date=September 28, 2017}}</ref>

Willett received a triple-major [[Bachelor of Business Administration]] (economics, finance, public administration) from [[Baylor University]] in 1988. While at Baylor, he was a member of the [[Baylor University Chamber of Commerce|Baylor Chamber of Commerce]]. He received his [[Juris Doctor]] with honors, along with a [[Master of Arts]] in [[political science]], from [[Duke University School of Law]] and [[Duke University]], respectively, in 1992.<ref name="scotus"/>

After law school, Willett worked as a clerk for Judge [[Jerre Stockton Williams]] at the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]]. He then practiced employment and labor law in the [[Austin, Texas|Austin]] office of [[Haynes and Boone, LLP]] from 1993 to 1996. During that time, he also served as a senior fellow with the [[Texas Public Policy Foundation]]. Willett has also served as a non-resident fellow with the Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society at the [[University of Pennsylvania]].<ref name="scotus"/>

In April 1996, Willett joined then-Governor [[George W. Bush]]'s administration as Director of Research and Special Projects, advising on various legal and policy issues. In 2000–2001, Willett worked on the [[George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2000|Bush-Cheney presidential campaign]] and transition team. In the White House, Willett was Special Assistant to the President and Director of Law and Policy for the White House [[Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives]] (WHOFBCI). He drafted the first two executive orders of the Bush presidency, one creating the WHOFBCI and the other creating related offices in five cabinet agencies. In early 2002, Willett was appointed Deputy Assistant Attorney General for [[Office of Legal Policy]] at the [[United States Department of Justice]], where he helped coordinate the selection and confirmation of federal judges. He also supervised policy initiatives such as the [[PROTECT Act of 2003]] to combat child abduction and exploitation. Willett also led the development of an executive order to expedite U.S. citizenship for immigrant service members fighting in [[Iraq War|Iraq]] and [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|Afghanistan]].<ref name="scotus"/>

He returned to Texas in early 2003 to become Deputy Texas Attorney General for Legal Counsel in the office of newly elected [[Texas Attorney General]] [[Greg Abbott]]. As the attorney general's chief legal counsel, Willett led the agency's core legal divisions (opinion committee, open records, general counsel, public finance, intergovernmental relations, and litigation technical support). In addition to giving the attorney general legal advice on various issues, Willett also helped with select litigation, including efforts to protect the [[Ten Commandments]] monument on the [[Texas State Capitol|Texas Capitol]] grounds and also the [[Pledge of Allegiance (United States)|Pledge of Allegiance]] when it was challenged for including the words "under God."<ref name="scotus"/>

Willett was serving in this Deputy Attorney General position when he was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court in August 2005.<ref>[http://religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article_print.cfm?id=3188 Reprint from Austin American-Statesman Aug. 25, 2005] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927043144/http://religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article_print.cfm?id=3188 |date=September 27, 2007 }}.</ref>

Willett sits on the advisory board for the Honors College at his ''[[alma mater]]'', Baylor University, which named Willett a Distinguished Young Alumnus in 2005. He also served on the national steering committee for Baylor's proposal to secure the [[George Bush Presidential Library|Bush Presidential Library]]. Willett is on the national advisory board for ConSource (The Constitutional Sources Project), a free, online library of U.S. founding-era source material. For Constitution Day 2008, Willett authored a commentary in the ''[[Austin American-Statesman]]'' highlighting ConSource and its nonprofit educational mission to make these historical documents accessible to teachers, students, academics, lawyers and judges. Willett is a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, the Austin Bar Foundation, and is a member of the American Law Institute.

Willett was mentioned and quoted in a March 2008 column in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' by conservative commentator [[George F. Will]],<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/26/AR2008032602916.html Reprint from the Washington Post, George F. Will column of Mar. 27, 2008, p. A17]</ref> who favorably discussed a book review Willett wrote in the fall 2007 issue of the ''[[Texas Review of Law and Politics]]'', on whose advisory board Willett sits. Willett is also mentioned favorably in [[David Kuo (author)|David Kuo]]'s book, ''[[Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction]]'' {{ISBN|0-7432-8712-6}} (2006), which criticizes the Bush administration's pursuit of the president's faith-based agenda.

== Texas Supreme Court ==
=== 2006 election ===
Willett was one of five [[incumbent]] justices on the 2006 ballot, but he was the only one who faced opposition; his four colleagues were unopposed in both the March 7 primary and the November 7 general elections. In the March primary, Willett narrowly defeated former Justice [[Steven Wayne Smith]], who sought to regain the seat on the Court that he had lost in the 2004 Republican primary to Justice Paul Green. In the general election, Willett won 51% of the votes and defeated Democratic Party nominee [[Bill Moody (judge)|Bill Moody]], who got 45% (2.12 million votes to Moody's 1.87 million).

=== 2012 election ===
Willett defeated an intraparty challenge from Steve Smith in the May 29, 2012, Republican primary, but the contest attracted little attention. The publication ''Texas Conservative Review'' endorsed Willett and described the Smith campaign as "lackluster." ''The Review'' wrote that Smith seemed more intent in seeking "revenge for past losses than making a positive impact" on the high court.<ref>Marc Cowart, associate editor, ''Texas Conservative Review,'' edited and published by Gary M. Polland, [[Houston, Texas]], May 2012, p. 7</ref>

In the general election, Willett received 4,758,725 votes (78.8 percent) to 1,280,900 votes (21.2 percent) for the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian]] nominee, R. S. Roberto Koelsch.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://team1.sos.state.tx.us/enr/results/nov06_164_state.htm?x=0&y=8885&id=33|title=Texas general election returns, November 6, 2012|publisher=Texas Secretary of State|access-date=November 10, 2012}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

According to ''[[SCOTUSblog]]'', in the 2012 election "Willett embraced [[Twitter]] as a way to get his campaign message across, and Twitter embraced him back."<ref name="scotus">{{cite news |last1=Roberts |first1=Edith |title=Potential nominee profile: Don Willett |url=https://www.scotusblog.com/2018/06/potential-nominee-profile-don-willett/ |access-date=31 January 2019 |publisher=SCOTUSblog |date=June 29, 2018}}</ref>

=== Tenure ===
Willett authored several notable decisions over the course of his service on the Texas high court, all of which can be found on the Court's official website and on [[Google Scholar]].<ref>[http://www.supreme.courts.state.tx.us/ Official website for the Supreme Court of Texas] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219032210/http://www.supreme.courts.state.tx.us/ |date=December 19, 2008 }}</ref>
All Texas Supreme Court justices have liaison assignments to help improve different aspects of the civil justice system. Willett was liaison to the Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism, the Task Force to Ensure Judicial Readiness in Times of Emergency, and the Court Reporters Certification Board.

In May 2016, Willett appeared on presidential candidate [[Donald Trump]]'s list of potential U.S. Supreme Court justices.<ref>{{cite news|last1=COLVIN |first1=JILL |title=TRUMP UNVEILS LIST OF HIS TOP SUPREME COURT PICKS |url=http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GOP_2016_TRUMP_SUPREME_COURT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-05-18-14-08-40 |access-date=May 18, 2016 |agency=Associated Press |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160519104509/http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GOP_2016_TRUMP_SUPREME_COURT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-05-18-14-08-40 |archive-date=May 19, 2016 }}</ref>

In 2016, Willett received a [[Master of Laws]] from [[Duke University School of Law]].<ref name=FJC/>

== Federal judicial service ==
On September 28, 2017, President [[Donald Trump]] announced his intent to nominate Willett to an undetermined seat on the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170928222558/https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/09/28/president-donald-j-trump-announces-eighth-wave-judicial-candidates " President Donald J. Trump Announces Eighth Wave of Judicial Candidates" White House, September 28, 2017] {{PD-notice}}</ref> On October 3, 2017, Willett was officially nominated to the seat vacated by Judge [[Emilio M. Garza]], who took [[senior status]] on August 1, 2012.<ref>{{cite web |title=Presidential Nomination 1077, 115th United States Congress |url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/115th-congress/1077 |website=congress.gov |date=December 13, 2017 |publisher=[[United States Congress]] |access-date=June 30, 2018}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20171003221505/https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/10/03/eleven-nominations-and-one-withdrawal-sent-senate-today " Eleven Nominations and One Withdrawal Sent to the Senate Today" White House, October 3, 2017]</ref>

On November 15, 2017, a hearing on his nomination was held before the [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Senate Judiciary Committee]].<ref>[https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/11/15/2017/nominations United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nominations for November 15, 2017]</ref> On December 7, 2017, Willett's nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–9 vote.<ref>[https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Results%20of%20Executive%20Business%20Meeting%2012-07-17.pdf Results of Executive Business Meeting – December 7, 2017, Senate Judiciary Committee]</ref> On December 12, 2017, the Senate agreed to invoke [[cloture]] on his nomination by a vote of 50–48.<ref>[https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=115&session=1&vote=00314 U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 115th Congress – 1st Session United States Senate Vote Summary: Vote Number 314, United States Senate, December 12, 2017]</ref> On December 13, 2017 the full United States Senate voted 50–47 in favor of confirmation.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Quinn|first1=Melissa|title=Don Willett, who faced questions about A-Rod and bacon during confirmation hearing, confirmed to federal appeals court|url=http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/don-willett-who-faced-questions-about-a-rod-and-bacon-during-confirmation-hearing-confirmed-to-federal-appeals-court/article/2643421|access-date=December 13, 2017|magazine=The Washington Examiner|date=December 13, 2017}}</ref><ref>[https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=115&session=1&vote=00315 U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 115th Congress – 1st Session United States Senate Vote Summary: Vote Number 315, United States Senate, December 13, 2017]</ref> He received his judicial commission on January 2, 2018, and was sworn in the same day.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.chron.com/news/politics/texas/article/Willett-sworn-in-to-Fifth-Circuit-Court-of-12467167.php |title=Willett takes oath for 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals |last=Zelinski |first=Andrea |newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]] |date=January 2, 2018 |access-date=January 13, 2018}}</ref>

Willett was considered a potential Supreme Court nominee for President [[Donald Trump]].<ref>{{cite news | last1=Cohrs | first1=Rachel | title=Texas Judge Don Willett is Back Under Consideration to be Trump's Next Supreme Court Pick | url=https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2018/06/27/texas-judge-don-willett-back-consideration-betrumps-next-supreme-court-pick | date=June 27, 2018 | newspaper=[[The Dallas Morning News]] | access-date=July 2, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last1=Mears | first1=Bill | title=Tart Texas Talker Gets Serious Consideration as Potential Successor to Supreme Court's Justice Kennedy | url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/06/29/tart-texas-talker-gets-serious-consideration-as-potential-successor-to-supreme-courts-justice-kennedy.html | date=June 29, 2018 | publisher=[[Fox News]] | access-date=July 2, 2018}}</ref>

==Judicial philosophy==
According to ''[[SCOTUSblog]]'', "Willett views the role of judges as protecting individual liberty by striking down laws that infringe on it." In addition, "Willett's belief in the primacy of individual liberty makes him a defender of religious as well as economic freedoms." ''SCOTUSblog'' described Willett as "more inclined to defer to the legislature in cases that he does not view as impinging on individual economic or religious liberty." Like [[Neil Gorsuch]], Willett "has made a point of writing separately to declare his principles."<ref name="scotus"/>

In February 2019, ''[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]'' wrote that Willett had been "making a name for himself" in the area of criminal justice reform and that "it would appear that advocates of criminal justice reform have a new champion on the federal bench." ''Reason'' cited Willett's critique of the [[legal doctrine]] of [[qualified immunity]], which shields government officials from being sued for discretionary actions performed within their official capacity.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Root |first1=Damon |title=Liberty Has a New Champion on the Federal Bench |url=https://reason.com/archives/2019/01/12/liberty-has-a-new-champion-on |access-date=31 January 2019 |publisher=Reason |date=February 2019}}</ref> In August 2018, Willett concurred ''[[dubitante]]'' when the court found that the [[Texas Medical Board]] was entitled to qualified immunity for an unconstitutional warrantless search it made of a doctor's patient records, writing: "To some observers, qualified immunity smacks of unqualified impunity, letting public officials duck consequences for bad behavior."<ref>{{Bluebook journal |first=|last=Note| title=Recent Case: Fifth Circuit Holds Medical Board Investigators Are Protected by Qualified Immunity in Warrantless Search of Records| volume=132 | journal=[[Harvard Law Review|Harv. L. Rev.]] | page=2042 | url=https://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2042-2049_Online.pdf| year=2019}}.</ref><ref>{{cite court |litigants=Zadeh v. Robinson|vol=902 |reporter=F.3d|opinion=483 |court=5th Cir.|date=2018|url= https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11429370861168916271 }}</ref>

== Awards ==
Willett was named Outstanding Young Alumnus of Baylor University in 2005 and inducted into the [[Forney High School]] Hall of Honor in 2007. He has received the Faith and Integrity in Legal Services Award and the Austin Under 40 Award for Government and Public Affairs.

Willett received the [[Texas Review of Law and Politics]]'s 2014 Distinguished Jurist of the Year Award. Each spring, the Texas Review of Law & Politics awards its Distinguished Jurist of the Year award to an individual who has made valuable contributions both to the journal and to conservative causes of national importance.

== Personal life ==
Willett is a former rodeo bull rider.<ref name="scotus"/> He and his wife, Tiffany, married in 2000. They live in [[Austin, Texas]], and have three children. Tiffany served as litigation director for a member of the [[Texas Senate]], and in D.C. as education director for the [[President's Commission on White House Fellowships|White House Fellows]]. When they left the Bush administration in 2003 to return home to Texas, she worked for Texas CASA, which advocates for abused and neglected children in the court system.

Willett is known for his active [[Twitter]] presence, though he has not tweeted since his appointment to the federal bench.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/justicewillett?lang=en|title=Judge Don Willett (@JusticeWillett) {{!}} Twitter|website=twitter.com|language=en|access-date=2018-12-16}}</ref> The [[Texas House of Representatives]] named him "Tweeter Laureate."<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Benson|first1=Eric|title=Don Willett's Quiet Revolution|url=https://www.texasobserver.org/don-willett-trump-supreme-court/|access-date=December 22, 2016|magazine=Texas Observer|date=November 17, 2016}}</ref>

In 2017, Willett helped perform the [[Heimlich maneuver]] on a diner at [[Chick-fil-A]] who was choking.<ref name="scotus"/>

== Electoral history ==
;2006
{{Election box begin no change
| title = Texas Supreme Court – Place 2 Republican Primary, March 7, 2006<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist118_state.htm|title=Race Summary Report – 2006 Republican Party Primary Election|website=Office of the [[Secretary of State of Texas]]|publisher=[[Government of Texas]]|access-date=May 8, 2018}}</ref>
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| candidate = Don Willett ([[incumbent]])
| votes = 280,356
| percentage = 50.55%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| candidate = [[Steven Wayne Smith]]
| votes = 274,302
| percentage = 49.45%
}}
{{Election box majority no change
| votes = 6,054
| percentage = 1.10%
}}
{{Election box total no change
| votes = 554,658
| percentage = 100.00%
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin
| title = Texas Supreme Court – Place 2 Election Results, November 7, 2006<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist127_state.htm|title=Race Summary Report – 2006 General Election|website=Office of the [[Secretary of State of Texas]]|publisher=[[Government of Texas]]|access-date=May 8, 2018}}</ref>
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| candidate = Don Willett ([[incumbent]])
| votes = 2,135,612
| percentage = 51.05%
| change = −33.21%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
| party = Democratic Party (United States)
| candidate = [[Bill Moody (judge)|Bill Moody]]
| votes = 1,877,909
| percentage = 44.89%
| change = N/A
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
| party = Libertarian Party (United States)
| candidate = Wade Wilson
| votes = 169,918
| percentage = 4.06%
| change = −9.58%
}}
{{Election box majority
| votes = 257,703
| percentage = 6.16%
| change = −62.36%
}}
{{Election box total
| votes = 4,183,439
| percentage = 100.00%
| change = −8.69%
}}
{{Election box hold with party link
| winner = Republican Party (United States)
| swing = −33.21%
}}
{{Election box end}}

;2012
{{Election box begin
| title = Texas Supreme Court – Place 2 Republican Primary, May 29, 2012<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist160_state.htm|title=Race Summary Report – 2012 Republican Party Primary Election|website=Office of the [[Secretary of State of Texas]]|publisher=[[Government of Texas]]|access-date=May 8, 2018}}</ref>
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| candidate = Don Willett ([[incumbent]])
| votes = 644,807
| percentage = 56.82%
| change = +6.27%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| candidate = [[Steven Wayne Smith]]
| votes = 490,089
| percentage = 43.18%
| change = −6.27%
}}
{{Election box majority
| votes = 154,718
| percentage = 13.64%
| change = +12.54%
}}
{{Election box total
| votes = 1,134,896
| percentage = 100.00%
| change = +104.61%
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin
| title = Texas Supreme Court – Place 2 Election Results, November 6, 2012<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist164_state.htm|title=Race Summary Report – 2012 General Election|website=Office of the [[Secretary of State of Texas]]|publisher=[[Government of Texas]]|access-date=May 8, 2018}}</ref>
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| candidate = Don Willett ([[incumbent]])
| votes = 4,771,916
| percentage = 78.77%
| change = +27.72%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
| party = Libertarian Party (United States)
| candidate = RS Roberto Koelsch
| votes = 1,285,794
| percentage = 21.23%
| change = +17.17%
}}
{{Election box majority
| votes = 3,486,122
| percentage = 57.54%
| change = +51.38%
}}
{{Election box total
| votes = 6,057,710
| percentage = 100.00%
| change = +44.80%
}}
{{Election box hold with party link
| winner = Republican Party (United States)
| swing = +27.72%
}}
{{Election box end}}

== See also ==
* [[Donald Trump Supreme Court candidates]]
* [[List of justices of the Texas Supreme Court]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{FJC Bio|nid=4025356}}
* {{Ballotpedia|Don_Willett|Don Willett}}
* [https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Willett%20SJQ.pdf Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees] for the [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary]]
* [https://www.afj.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/AFJ-Willett-Report.pdf Nominee Report] from the [[Alliance for Justice]]
* [https://fedsoc.org/contributors/don-willett Contributor profile] from the [[Federalist Society]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110807084324/https://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagNews/release.php?print=1&id=1119 Statement of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on the appointment of Willett]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100704011356/http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=780 Willett's op-ed in the ''Austin American-Statesman'' on Constitution Day 2008]
* [http://www.baylor.edu/pr/news.php?action=story&story=37478 Website for Baylor Alumni Association article listing Outstanding Young Alumni for 2005]
* [http://www.texas-opinions.com/Tex-Willett-Opinions-Record-Texas-Supreme-Court-Justice-Don-R-Willett.html Website with links to some of Willett's opinions]

{{s-start}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Priscilla Owen]]}}
{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Associate Justice of the [[Supreme Court of Texas]]}}|years=2005–2018}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jimmy Blacklock]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Emilio M. Garza]]}}
{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]]}}|years=2018–present}}
{{s-inc}}
{{s-end}}

{{United States courts of appeals judges}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willett, Donny Ray}}
[[Category:1966 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:21st-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:21st-century American judges]]
[[Category:Baylor University alumni]]
[[Category:Duke University alumni]]
[[Category:Duke University School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:Federalist Society members]]
[[Category:George W. Bush administration personnel]]
[[Category:Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]]
[[Category:People from Austin, Texas]]
[[Category:People from Forney, Texas]]
[[Category:People from Kaufman County, Texas]]
[[Category:Texas lawyers]]
[[Category:Texas Republicans]]
[[Category:Justices of the Texas Supreme Court]]
[[Category:United States court of appeals judges appointed by Donald Trump]]
[[Category:United States Department of Justice lawyers]]

Don Willett - Revision history

Hembram Bakhul at 04:21, 1 July 2021