Samuel B. Kent

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For the 18th century British politician, see Samuel Kent.

Samuel B. Kent (born 1949, Denver, Colorado) is a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in the single-judge Galveston Division covering Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, and Matagorda Counties. He was nominated by George H.W. Bush on August 3, 1990, to a seat vacated by Hugh Gibson, confirmed by the Senate on September 28, 1990, and received his commission on October 1, 1990.

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[edit] Background

Judge Kent is a graduate of University of Texas and The University of Texas School of Law. Before his appointment, he was in private practice with the firm Royston Rayzor in Galveston, Texas.

[edit] Notoriety

Judge Kent has become well-known throughout the legal community for his humorous orders and judgments. Examples of his unique writing style include an Order of Transfer (suggesting that, for a district judge to have jurisdiction to hear a foreign nation's complaints, it is more proper if a restaurant serving the nation's food is in the district), an Order Denying Motion to Transfer, and his Opinion in Bradshaw v. Unity Marine Corp.

One of his opinions berated a lawyer for ineptly requesting a change of venue for a lawsuit (which involves transfer to a different federal district), when the lawyer simply wanted the case moved to another division within the same district. The judge not only pointed out the error in seeking the wrong remedy, he described the motion in his written opinion as "patently insipid, ludicrous and unequivocally without any merit whatsoever." He wrote that the "obnoxiously ancient, boilerplate, inane Motion is emphatically DENIED," and went on to disqualify the attorney who filed it from representing his client in the case any further, "for submitting such asinine tripe."[1]

Judge Kent's writing style and judicial demeanor have been criticized. In a 2001 article in the legal publication "The Green Bag" entitled "Bullying From the Bench," Northwestern University law professor Steven Lubet compared Judge Kent to a schoolyard bully who taunts lawyers, who are in no position to respond in kind. He noted that a quick computer search revealed numerous examples of Judge Kent referring to something as "asinine," "ludicrous," "ridiculous," and the like- in his relatively short time on the bench by 2001, he had used the word "asinine" 13 times; all US courts of appeal combined had used this word as a descriptor only 16 times since 1944.[2]

Law professor Ilya Somlin has reported that "In 2001, the Chief Judge of Southern District of Texas reassigned 85 cases away from Judge Kent, because the cases were being handled by Kent's best friend Richard Melancon and there were allegations that Kent was engaging in favoritism on his friend's behalf. In a 2002 decision, a Fifth Circuit panel removed Judge Kent from a case because he had demonstrated open bias against and 'hostility' towards one of the parties. Although it is not terribly unusual for litigants to assert that a judge is biased against them, it is relatively rare for appellate courts to accept such claims and remove the judge from the case."[3]

[edit] 2007 Misconduct Discipline

In August 2007, Chief Judge Hayden Head of the Southern District of Texas issued an order indicating that Judge Kent would not be hearing cases between September 1, 2007 and January 1, 2008.[4] Chief Judge Head declined to comment on the reasons for the order.[5] However, on September 28, 2007, an article in the online edition of the Texas Lawyer stated that the Judicial Council of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had that day issued an order reprimanding and admonishing Judge Kent, relating to "a complaint of judicial misconduct lodged against the judge on May 21 alleging sexual harassment toward an employee of the federal judicial system." [6] The article further stated that, "The council concluded the proceedings 'because appropriate remedial action had been and will be taken, including but not limited to the Judge's four-month leave of absence from the bench, reallocation of the Galveston/Houston docket and other measures.'"

The Galveston Daily News reported[7] on 23 September 2007 that the complainant was the judge's former case manager; she declined to comment for the story, adding she was not ready "at this point" to make her complaint against the judge public (the court can make most documents related to such cases secret, but complainants are allowed to make their complaints public if they choose). Three judges- two from the Fifth Circuit and the chief judge of the Southern District of Texas- traveled to Galveston to interview witnesses shortly before Kent took his leave of absence, according to the Daily News.

The Fifth Circuit did not reveal specific facts about any alleged misconduct, or even specify which canons of judicial conduct had been violated. However, an article[8] in the Houston Chronicle on 28 September 2007 said the Judicial Council had conducted a four-month investigation into "a pattern of sexual impropriety and abuse of power." The most recent incident involved "harassing and inappropriately touching" the case manager who made the complaint; she was later transferred to another job. The Chronicle's story stated it had learned the investigation centered not only on a single incident with the case manager, but allegations that it was "part of a larger pattern of sexual harassment by the judge" against the complainant and other employees; that the judge "sometimes appeared inebriated on the job;" and that he "inappropriately favored former colleagues and other favorites in his decisions and in overseeing settlement negotiations. In 2001, Kent was ordered to transfer all cases from his court that were handled by his best friend." The story quoted by name a former female employee who stated that as far back as 2000 Kent had harassed female employees and showed favortism to certain lawyers.

During Judge Kent's four-month leave of absence, he will continue to draw his $165,000 annual salary; he will not perform judicial work, with his cases instead allocated to other judges for handling.[9] The requirement of Article III that federal judges "shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office" may preclude action against his salary barring impeachment. If there are any more punitive measures imposed by the 5th Circuit, they have not been disclosed. The Daily News story reported that judicial discipline is extremely rare in the 5th Circuit; of 671 complaints filed in the preceding seven years against judges there, none resulted in formal discipline. Nationwide during the same period, 4,951 complaints resulted in just six formal punishments. The incident calls to mind another well-known incident of judicial discipline involving federal judge Manuel Real of California.

These incidents highlight that there are few means for dealing with judicial misconduct short of impeachment. A 2006 committee report[10] chaired by Justice Stephen Breyer noted that a judicial misconduct investigation system relying solely upon judges "risks a kind of undue 'guild favoritism' through inappropriate sympathy with the judge’s point of view or de-emphasis of the misconduct problem." Professor Somlin has recommended that Congress investigate Judge Kent's conduct, and give consideration to the possibility of impeaching him.[11]

[edit] Possible impeachment proceedings

In October 2007, US Representative Lamar Smith of Texas, ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, called the allegations against Judge Kent "very serious" and said the committee should conduct a preliminary probe, to determine whether a formal impeachment proceeding should be opened. Smith's statement followed public calls for inquiry by US Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, the National Organization for Women, and Judicial Watch. US Representative Nick Lampson of Texas, whose district includes part of Judge Kent's territorial jurisdiction, stated the matter should be left to the Judiciary Committee to handle.[12] On December 20, 2007, the 5th Circuit issued an order indicating that there was an ongoing Department of Justice criminal investigation into the allegations underlying the complaint to the Judicial Council. [13]

[edit] Personal life

Kent has been married twice. His first marriage was to Mary Ann Churchill from Houston, Texas, with whom he had two daughters, Maria and Hadley. Mary Ann Kent died in 2001.[citation needed]

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.greenbag.org/kent_scanned.pdf
  2. ^ Lubet PDF Reprint.book
  3. ^ The Volokh Conspiracy - The Ethical Cloud Over Judge Samuel B. Kent:
  4. ^ http://www.txs.uscourts.gov/district/genord/2007/2007-9.pdf
  5. ^ The Galveston County Daily News
  6. ^ Texas Lawyer - 5th Circuit Judicial Council Reprimands and Admonishes U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent
  7. ^ The Galveston County Daily News
  8. ^ http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/5172731.html
  9. ^ The Galveston County Daily News
  10. ^ Breyer Committee Report
  11. ^ The Volokh Conspiracy - The Ethical Cloud Over Judge Samuel B. Kent:
  12. ^ The Galveston County Daily News
  13. ^ http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/news/news/SK.Order.pdf

[edit] External links