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Brenda Sapino Jeffreys and John Council

Texas Lawyer

10-02-2007

The Judicial Council of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday issued an order reprimanding and admonishing U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent of Galveston, Texas.

The order relates to a complaint of judicial misconduct lodged against the judge on May 21 alleging sexual harassment toward an employee of the federal judicial system.

A former case manager for Kent, Cathy McBroom confirms she filed a complaint against the judge. She declines further comment. McBroom currently works in the clerk's office in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas.

Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Edith Jones, who signed the order dated Sept. 28, wrote that a Special Investigatory Committee appointed to investigate the complaint expanded the original complaint under Rule 9(A) of the Rules Governing Complaints of Judicial Misconduct or Disability, and investigated other "instances of alleged inappropriate behavior toward other employees of the federal judicial system."

The committee recommended a reprimand "along with the accomplishment of other remedial courses of action," and by a majority vote the judicial council accepted the recommendations.

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."

In August, Hayden Head, chief judge of the Southern District of Texas, signed an order noting that Kent would be absent from the bench from Sept. 1, 2007, to Jan. 1, 2008, and U.S. District Judge John Rainey of Houston would take over Kent's portion of the Galveston docket. In May, Head issued another order -- with Kent's consent -- that randomly reassigned 30 percent of Kent's docket to Rainey and U.S. District Judge Gray Miller of Houston.

As described in the Order of Reprimand and Reasons issued Friday, the council reprimanded Kent for the conduct described in the special committee's report. It also admonished Kent on the ground the actions described in the report violate the mandates of the Canons of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges and are "deemed prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts and the administration of law."

Jones wrote in the order that the special investigatory committee's Report, Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Recommendations, and the Response to the Report are confidential and will not be disclosed.

A home telephone number for Kent in Galveston could not be found, and a message left on the voice mail of Kent's assistant at his office at the U.S. District Courthouse in Galveston was not immediately returned.

Kent was nominated for the bench in 1990 by former President George H.W. Bush.

According to the 5th Circuit rules, anyone can file a complaint against a circuit, district, bankruptcy or magistrate judge, as long as the complaint isn't associated with a judge's court rulings, which are better dealt with in a mandamus action or on appeal.

Complaints can be filed with the clerk of the court and then are forwarded to the chief judge of the 5th Circuit. The chief judge can decide to dismiss the complaint for various reasons or appoint a special committee to investigate the complaint. The special committee consists of the chief judge and circuit and district judges and may hold hearings, take testimony and review evidence associated with the complaint. The committee gives notice of any hearings to the judge mentioned in the complaint and that judge can represent himself or have counsel represent him during those hearings.

The special committee then issues a report concerning the complaint to the Judicial Council of the 5th Circuit. The Judicial Council can dismiss the complaint or can issue an order of corrective action against the judge. The Judicial Council can censure a district judge publicly or privately or can stop the new assignment of cases to the judge for a period of time, among other things. The council is not limited to those corrective actions.

Disciplinary actions against federal judges are rare, says Tom Alleman, a shareholder in the Dallas office of Winstead who represented a party in an unrelated action against a federal judge in the late 1990s.

"This is an extraordinarily unusual situation," Alleman says. "The number of conduct problems on the federal bench is infinitesimal compared to the number of people who do that job."