Gonzales' record as a Texas Supreme court Justice was considered moderate on private property and consumers' rights, often siding with government rights over that of private citizens.
In a 2000 decision, FM Properties v. City of Austin, Gonzales supported the majority ruling that struck down a state law allowing certain private landowners to expempt themselves from municipal water-quality and other environmental ordinances.
In a 1999 decision, Fitzgerald v. Advanced Spine Fixation System, Gonzales wrote the majority opinion upholding state law that requires manufacturers of harmful products to indemnify sellers from litigation related to those products.
And in another 1999 decision, Texas Farmers Insurance Co. v. Murphy, Gonzales wrote the majority opinion holding that an innocent spouse could recover insurance proceeds when her co-insured spouse intentionally set fire to their insured home.
Alberto Gonzales' view of the June 2005 Supreme Court ruling in favor of using eminent domain for development that increases a city's tax base is unknown. Conservative Christian organizations are unhappy with that decision, fearing that churches, which pay no property taxes, will be subject to eminent domain seizure in order to spur local commercial development.
One such case, of mega-church Cottonwood Christian Center Southern California, is now working its way through the judicial system, and may land in the US Supreme Court. The church bought a 15-acre plot of land in Cypress, California in the late 1990s to build a new facility, but the city condemned it before construction commenced, to clear the way for a Costco retail store.
In summary
Non-profit watchdog group Austin-based Texas Watch described Gonzales tenure as Texas Supreme Court Justice by recounting that he "positioned himself in the middle of the court and as a swing voter in an overall conservative court."
It should be noted that in 2005, the New York Times quoted anonymous Republican officials as saying that Gonzales' appointment to Attorney General was a way to "bolster Mr. Gonzales' credentials" en route to a later Supreme Court appointment.
