U.S. District Judge Ada Brown may have the opportunity to join an extremely exclusive group of federal judges. Alas, it’s not a clique federal judges want to be part of.
Judicial investigators in the Fifth Circuit recommended stripping Judge Brown of her docket, claiming she’s “abandoned her post as a federal judge.” The judicial council has since temporarily barred her from hearing cases, and her cases have been reassigned. She’s facing two judicial complaints. In addition to allegedly treating attorneys, other judges, and judicial employees in a “demonstrably egregious and hostile manner” that included racial insults, Judge Brown’s conduct in recusing herself from over 40 cases since June 1 of this year with dubious or nonexistent justification led the investigators to state there’s a reasonable basis to believe that she’s suffering from a mental condition that is interfering with her ability to meet her judicial responsibilities.
Judge Brown has denied that she created a hostile work environment or mistreated judges and court staff. While denying misconduct, she has refused to participate in her judicial misconduct proceedings or attend meetings with Chief Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. According to Elrod’s order, Brown issued almost no court orders or decisions after August 10 in protest of a recusal letter not being docketed in a case. The court transferred Judge Brown’s cases to other judges on October 5, and she is temporarily barred from hearing cases.
Judge Brown’s alleged behavior and her unwillingness to cooperate with the investigating committee raise the specter of a possible impeachment. Although exceedingly rare, removing a federal judge is not unknown. But temporarily stripping her of case assignments does not end her lifetime appointment; removal through impeachment would require separate action by the House and Senate.
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Nominated by President Trump in 2019, Judge Brown previously served as an assistant district attorney and a state court judge. In addition to her Native American ancestry, the Emory University School of Law graduate was the Northern District of Texas’s first female Black judge. She has largely avoided cooperating with inquiries into her conduct, skipping a requested meeting with investigators on September 21 and refusing to answer certain questions on a questionnaire. According to a complaint filed on October 1 by Chief Judge Elrod, Judge Brown stated she would resign twice but rescinded the offer both times.
The two judicial misconduct complaints against Judge Brown both reference her alleged use of inappropriate racial claims and insults. One is from an attorney who appeared before her in court. While denying misconduct, Judge Brown acknowledged her communication with the lawyer could have been handled more delicately. The other complaint, identified by Chief Judge Elrod, lists further accusations of Judge Brown’s alleged transgressions. In addition to racial insult claims, it cites copious and bizarre emails, refusal to meet with chief judges to discuss her situation, the aforementioned recusal issues, and creating a toxic work environment.
The judicial investigators found a reasonable basis to believe that a mental condition was interfering with Judge Brown’s ability to perform her judicial responsibilities and ordered her to undergo an independent psychiatric evaluation by October 21. Judge Brown has maintained she isn’t suffering from any mental health issues and did not complete the psychiatric evaluation by the deadline, although she did send sealed files that included her own misconduct proceedings to about 140 judges, attorneys, and members of the press on October 20. In her email, she claimed that she was declining to participate in the judicial inquiry.
The investigating committee has ordered Brown to answer questions about the disclosures and the purported parallel investigation by October 27 and has urged her to participate in an October 30 hearing.
There’s No ‘Gabriel Thomas Porteous Jr. School of Law’ for a Reason
Chief Judge Elrod has insisted Judge Brown will receive due process through the judicial misconduct proceedings, and that some sort of equitable decision may be reached. But if not, will Judge Brown’s behavior lead to impeachment hearings?
Impeachment is an historically rare occurrence. Judges are expected to adhere to the “Good Behavior” stipulation from Article III of the U.S. Constitution, which is somewhat open to interpretation. To date, only 15 U.S. federal judges have been impeached for their behavior. From that group, only eight were convicted and removed from the bench, starting with John Pickering in 1804 (for “mental instability” and intoxication on the bench). The most recent was Gabriel Porteous Jr., who was booted in 2010 for corrupt conduct and perjury.
Congress carries the authority to impeach and convict federal judges. After the U.S. House of Representatives approves articles of impeachment by a simple-majority vote, the Senate requires a two-thirds vote of senators present to convict. The high vote threshold helps prevent partisan-fueled removals. Unlike a presidential impeachment, the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t preside over the Senate trial.
Whether the misconduct allegations against Judge Brown will lead to impeachment and removal remains uncertain. If the Senate convicted her, she would lose her judgeship. The Senate could also vote separately to bar her from holding future federal office.
