A Progressive Constitutionalist for the People

Justice Meagan Hassan is one of the only civil rights lawyers ever elected to the Fourteenth Court of Appeals, and she works tirelessly to administer justice for all parties regardless of her personal feelings. She believes that the courts should serve as a vital and important check on the administrative and legislative branches of the government, and that the law should not favor any one interest or party over another, and it should not be a revolutionary idea to want the courts to apply the law to every party.

Since 2018, the current makeup of the Fourteenth Court of Appeals has been ideologically balanced and has led to stronger and more fair outcomes for all litigants of the Court’s ten-county jurisdiction. In such a diverse district, the litigants coming before the Court deserve to have faith that the judges of their cases are not beholden to any particular political party or special interest, but instead that they must come to compromises in order to make sure the work of the Court is completed.

Since 2021, Meagan has chaired the Fourteenth Court of Appeals Internship Program, which includes two summer sessions for law student interns. With her counterpart on the First Court of Appeals and partnerships with state and federal district court judges, the Houston Courts of Appeals Internship program has grown into a substantive learning experience for the law students that pass through the courts each year.

In addition to the State of Texas, Meagan is also licensed in all federal district courts in Texas, the Fifth Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.  She has filed cases in the Courts of Appeals at both the state and federal level, one of which established the important right of individuals to film the police (Turner v. Driver, 5th Cir. 2016).

Meagan obtained a certificate from the Berkeley Law AI Institute in October 2023 and has taught continuing legal education seminars on the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and criminal law, and on using Artificial Intelligence in legal research and writing.

Meagan is a native of Pennsylvania and graduated from Temple University School of Law in Philadelphia before moving to Texas to practice in Austin, but she got to Houston as fast as she could.  Meagan loves the rich and diverse culture in Houston and the Gulf Coast, the different foods and friendly people, and the fact that she never has to shovel snow again.  In her free time, she dabbles in carpentry and loves to take road trips with her family and two dogs.