A Dallas County judge is under the microscope after reportedly clinging to strict COVID-era rules in her courtroom, including mandatory masks and intrusive health questions, long after most of Texas moved on. Now the state’s top court wants answers, and fast.
Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock fired off a one-page letter to County Court at Law No. 1 Judge D’Metria Benson, pressing her to clarify or scrap any policy that conditions entry to her courtroom on masking or enhanced health screening. He gave her until 5 p.m. Friday, May 15, to respond, according to The Texas Lawbook. Blacklock wrote that he was aware of no legitimate basis for requiring people to wear masks or undergo heightened health checks just to be present in court and asked Benson to cite the legal authority behind her rules.
His letter follows a written complaint on behalf of attorney Scott Frenkel, who says he was denied entry to Benson’s courtroom and threatened with jail by a bailiff after he refused to wear a mask during a February trial. A sign on the courtroom door still declared that masks or face coverings were required, according to the complaint. “So basically, mask up, get out or go to jail are the three options for her courtroom,” attorney Brian Hail, who filed the complaint, told The Dallas Morning News. The filing states that one of Frenkel’s associates had to step in and try the case in his place.
The complaint, a 14-page letter to First Administrative Judicial Region Judge Ray Wheless obtained by The Texas Lawbook, says Benson’s standing order has been in place since March 2, 2023. It allegedly requires lawyers, witnesses, jurors and members of the public to wear masks and answer health-screening questions, including whether they have diarrhea. The letter argues that the order lacks any supporting legal authority and claims Benson exempted herself while enforcing the rules on everyone else. Frenkel’s lawyers also contend the mandate disrupted trial logistics and hampered jurors’ ability to judge witness credibility.
How the state can respond
Under Rule 10(f) of the Texas Rules of Judicial Administration, the Texas Supreme Court can order a trial court to revise or scrap a local rule, form or standing order if it finds the rule unfair or overly burdensome, according to Texas Courts. Separately, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct serves as the independent body that investigates allegations of judicial misconduct and can issue sanctions when appropriate.
Benson has served on Dallas County Court at Law No. 1 since 2006 but lost her March 3 Democratic primary race to challenger Erin Nowell. She will remain on the bench through the end of 2026, according to The Dallas Morning News. The clerk of the Texas Supreme Court did not immediately confirm whether Benson met the deadline to respond to Blacklock’s letter.
What happens next hinges on how, or whether, Benson backs down. If she refuses to withdraw the standing order, Frenkel’s legal team says it will push the regional administrative judge to act, and the state’s own rules give the Supreme Court several ways to force changes. Beyond this one courtroom, the dust-up spotlights a broader tension over how far local judges can go with their own house rules before they run headlong into statewide judicial standards.
