Senior U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks dead at 86

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks leads tour of Austin’s federal courthouse in 2013.
Austin American-Statesman

Senior U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks, a sharp-witted jurist whose rulings shaped state and national policy for more than three decades, died late Wednesday. He was 86.

"Judge Sparks had a reputation for being tough, but his high standards applied to everyone across the board, including himself," said U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman, who confirmed Sparks' death. "He was larger than life, and he will forever be an important part of the history of the Austin legal community."

Born in Austin in 1939, Sparks stayed close to home for his education, earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas in 1961 and a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law two years later. He began his career as a clerk for Judge Homer Thornberry on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas before spending more than two decades in private practice in El Paso.

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush nominated him to a newly created seat on the same court, and after Senate confirmation that November, Sparks began a federal judicial career that spanned more than 30 years.

Sparks, who became a senior judge in 2017, presided over many of the most high-profile and consequential federal cases in Central Texas. He sentenced former Attorney General Dan Morales for mail fraud and tax crimes, oversaw the trial of Gary Paul Karr in connection with the murders of atheist leader Madalyn Murray O’Hair and her family, and ruled in a dispute involving Karl Rove’s consulting firm that allowed it to recover more than $180,000 in campaign expenses.

From blocking Texas’ attempt to require the burial or cremation of fetal remains, to striking down efforts to penalize cities that resisted federal immigration enforcement, Sparks left an imprint on hot-button debates that reached far beyond his Austin courtroom. In the 1990s, he rebuked the U.S. Secret Service for what he deemed a heavy-handed raid on the offices of Steve Jackson Games, a decision that became an early victory for the nascent digital-rights movement.

"Judge Sparks was a legend on the federal bench," U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra said. "He was a great friend and mentor to many. And he was a superb trial lawyer. I was honored to have known him."