Jean Hudson Boyd
| Jean Hudson Boyd | |
|---|---|
| 323rd District Court, Presiding Judge | |
|
In office January 1, 1995 – December 31, 2014 |
|
| Preceded by | Hon. Scott D. Moore |
| Succeeded by | Hon. Timothy A. Menikos |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Lucy Jean Hudson August 26, 1954 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | John G. Boyd, D.D.S. |
| Relations | grandfather "Jack" Garrison (Mayor of Fort Worth, 1955–57) |
| Children | 1 |
| Residence | Fort Worth, Texas |
Jean Hudson Boyd is a retired judge in the United States of America who served as the Presiding Judge of Texas' 323rd District Court. The 323rd District Court serves Tarrant County, Texas, as its juvenile court. Boyd, a Republican, assumed office in 1995, but is known for her controversial 2013 probation sentencing of Ethan Couch, a 16-year-old who killed four people and injured 11 while driving drunk.
Boyd earned a Bachelor's degree from Texas Tech University and a law degree from South Texas College of Law. She practiced law as a juvenile attorney before becoming an Associate Judge of the 323rd District Court in 1987, and the Presiding Judge of the 323rd District Court in 1995. Boyd chairs the Juvenile Justice Committee of the Judicial Section of the State Bar of Texas, and was a member of the Board of the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission. She chaired the Juvenile Law Section of the State Bar of Texas from 1993 to 1994. Boyd served as President of the Fort Worth-Tarrant Count Young Lawyers Association in 1985, and as President of the Tarrant County Women Lawyer's Association from 1982–1983.
Boyd heard the case of Ethan Couch, a sixteen-year-old from a wealthy family who killed four people and injured nine people while driving drunk, in 2013. After accepting his guilty plea, Boyd sentenced Couch to ten years probation for his crimes, and also ordered him confined to a rehabilitation facility for treatment. Boyd's ruling outraged the families of the victims, and provoked national criticism, especially after news sources revealed that Couch's defense team argued that he was not culpable because he could not understand the consequences of his decisions because of his financial privilege, a condition an expert witness termed "affluenza." Boyd herself specifically claimed that the "affluenza" argument did not influence her judgment, but rather, that she merely felt Couch needed treatment and that given his parents' financial position, Couch could get better treatment in a rehabilitation center than in a youth detention center. Boyd did not comment regarding whether the punishment of ten years probation was appropriate to Couch's crimes of stealing alcohol, being a minor in possession of alcohol, consuming alcohol as a minor, driving drunk, and vehicular manslaughter of four individuals.
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