Tammy Kemp

Described creating and implementing Project Phoenix in an October 9, 2019 interview. The programme paired eligible young adults on probation with union apprenticeships and work preparation. A county resolution draft from 2014 also names Kemp, the Dallas AFL-CIO and Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas. It does not establish programme success rates.

October 9, 2019Supports Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties

Source: communityjournal.net

Ran the 204th Court's High-Risk Offender Court for repeat domestic-violence offenders on felony probation, according to a June 2024 article by Judge Nancy Mulder. It required 12 months of intensive individual and group intervention, with substance-use and mental-health treatment when needed.

June 19, 2024

Source: championllp.com

Initiated a contempt case against Dallas District Attorney John Creuzot over a television interview before Amber Guyger's trial. A visiting judge removed Kemp from that case on November 15, 2019 and set aside her order barring Creuzot's office from defending him. A January 7, 2020 report documented the final dismissal: Judge John McCraw found the interview did not violate the gag order.

January 7, 2020

Source: dallasobserver.com

Excluded David Armstrong's and Craig Miller's opinions that Amber Guyger's shooting was reasonable from the trial jury. In an October 7, 2019 interview, Kemp explained that self-defence used an ordinary person's standard and did not require expert opinions. The final conviction appeal did not decide this exclusion issue.

October 7, 2019

Source: fox2detroit.com

Hugged Amber Guyger and gave her a personal Bible after sentencing on October 2, 2019. Kemp said Guyger had requested the hug and raised religion. The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed an October 3 judicial-conduct complaint about religious instruction from the bench. The complaint is an allegation; an official final disposition was not recovered.

October 2, 2019

Source: fox2detroit.com

Sent Texas lawmakers a letter opposing two bills that would give public defenders priority in capital-murder appointments, as reported May 10, 2019. Kemp argued for judicial appointment discretion, separation of powers and lawyer qualifications. The report documents the advocacy; the original letter and the bills' final outcomes were not recovered.

May 10, 2019

Source: fox4news.com

Declined to appoint the Dallas County public defender in Emmanuel Kilpatrick's three death-penalty cases. On January 17, 2018, the appeals court denied Kemp's rehearing motion but replaced its earlier opinion and rejected the request to compel an appointment or written explanation. On April 25, the higher criminal court denied further relief; its concurrence described the governing law as unsettled.

January 17, 2018

Source: search.txcourts.gov

Barred permanent public-defender assignment to her courtroom in 2017, according to a January 10, 2018 Dallas Morning News editorial. County statistics for October 2017 separately list the 204th Court as having no public defender and no new public-defender cases. The broader assignment restriction was separate from the three Kilpatrick capital-case appointments; its original order and start date were not recovered.

January 10, 2018

Source: dallasnews.com

Allowed Amber Guyger's murder-trial jury to consider the castle doctrine, a self-defence rule about protecting a home, on September 30, 2019. Guyger had entered Botham Jean's apartment believing it was hers. The final November 17, 2021 appeal affirmed her conviction and held that the related mistake-of-fact instruction was not warranted.

September 30, 2019Unfavorable on Legal Competence

Source: texastribune.org

Added a probation condition barring Lisa Fineberg from contact with her biological children without a hearing. On October 3, 2018, Texas’s highest criminal court ordered the restriction removed because it denied proper process. Kemp removed it on June 13, 2019. On July 9, she restricted contact with the biological son again pending chaperone approval. The 2020 appeal was dismissed because the orders were not appealable. A 2022 request to compel her removal was denied because of unexplained delay; rehearing was denied April 4.

October 3, 2018Unfavorable on Legal Competence

Source: search.txcourts.gov

Served as a state prosecutor in Naim Rasool Muhammad’s capital-murder case. The May 23, 2013 judgment records a jury conviction and death sentence. The direct appeal was affirmed in 2015. The initial state petition for post-conviction relief was denied in part and dismissed in part in 2020. A federal court paused the intellectual-disability claim in 2023 for state fact-finding. The state court sent that claim back in 2024. Its October 9, 2026 order required the trial court to resolve remaining issues within 120 days. No final ruling on that claim was recovered.

May 23, 2013Favorable on Legal Competence

Source: txcourts.gov

Prosecuted Telisa DeAnn Blackman's 1998 murder case. A 2012 trial-court review found that Kemp had not disclosed witness-identification notes or a 911 recording and recommended a new trial. On October 10, 2012, Texas's highest criminal court denied relief because the evidence was not material to the result. A later federal petition failed on procedural grounds, and Supreme Court review was denied in 2019.

October 10, 2012Unfavorable on Legal Competence

Source: supremecourt.gov