U.S. Courts

Abort Mission

Parish Predators: Trial Set in Molestation Case Against the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston

Stop the Presses!

Judge Sam Kent Indicted On Sex Charges (Begone, Mental Image, Begone!)

Judge (No, Not That One) Pleads Guilty To Sexual Assault

Human Smuggler Gets A Longer Sentence

This Just In: Sometimes Voters Aren't Very Informed About Candidates

Best Court Ruling

U.S. District Judge David Hittner

Fen-Phen Side Effects: Irritable Lawyers

U.S. District Judge David Hittner

Out of the Soup

Yes, the city's settlement of a lawsuit was a good deal -- for Helen Huey

Hanging the Judge

Lupe Salinas made a lot of friends on his journey from a Rio Grande Valley childhood to becoming a dogged prosecutor and respected state district judge. Until he was tapped for a federal judgeship, he never knew how many enemies he had.

Harassment Suits Against The Harris County Sheriff's Department Live Again

When Sean and Erik Ibarra sued attorney Lloyd Kelley in October over legal fees, one of the questions was what would happen to a separate civil-rights lawsuit with several plaintiffs, including the Ibarras and April Walker, against the sheriff's department and certain deputies.(The original suit, ho ... More >>

Into the Mystic (Book)

When Sean and Erik Ibarra sued attorney Lloyd Kelley in October over legal fees, one of the questions was what would happen to a separate civil-rights lawsuit with several plaintiffs, including the Ibarras and April Walker, against the sheriff's department and certain deputies.(The original suit, ho ... More >>

Pale Justice

In a '50s rerun, all-white grand juries return to Harris County

Houston Lawsuit Calls Foul On Those "Low-Tar" Cigarettes

Vincent Salazar, a Houston man, is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against Philip Morris and its parent company, Altria Group, in Texas, making the state one of four where similar lawsuits were filed in the last two days. The suits are seeking damages allegedly caused by years of advertising w ... More >>

Horror Show

Ruben Guerrero's plans to be a judge again are dashed, as local Democrats continue their inept ways

Taken to the Woodshed

A federal judge rips three city attorneys and their bosses for how they handled the Barbra Piotrowski lawsuit

Attacking the Taxman

James Farmer and Cliff Williams do their best to irk the IRS

News of the Weird

James Farmer and Cliff Williams do their best to irk the IRS

Enron's Judge Not

U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal abruptly recuses herself without explanation

Best Court Ruling Best Court Ruling

The Supreme Court's sodomy decision

Child Support

The same extreme measures that saved Sidney Miller at birth also severely disabled her 11 years ago. Texas courts are still trying to determine who should pay for it -- and could set a legal precedent in the process.

Murder, She Testified

A federal grand jury aims at a fledgling author's notes in a long-running murder probe

Rush to Judges

Texans long to secure seats on the bench

Home Sweet Cell

Finally, a David Allen house with four walls

Federal Judge Sam Kent Gets Less Than Three Years In Prison

You're a federal judge with a lifetime job, pretty much as untouchable as God. You decide to use your powerful position to procure cheap feels on secretaries working for you (and dreading it, no doubt).Somehow, someone has the sack to come forward, and you plead guilty, with all the usual BS excuses ... More >>

Judge Kent Ducks One Last Bit Of Shame

Sam Kent, the overly touchy-feely federal judge from Galveston who's in prison on charges relating to drunken sexual harassment of his female employees, resigned today.He apparently did it to stave off a conviction by the Senate, which along with the House had been fast-tracking his impeachment. Ken ... More >>

Sikh Woman Who Wanted To Wear Ceremonial Dagger To Her IRS Job Suffers Setback

​A Sikh woman -- one of the members of the family that was harassed by Harris County Sheriff's deputies late last year -- had her claims that she should be able to wear a ceremonial dagger to her IRS job rejected by a federal judge.The Examiner website reports that U.S. District Judge Sim Lake tos ... More >>

Judge Says No To Beards In The HPD

​The effort by some Houston police officers to wear beards on the job (and off the job, too, we guess) was dealt a setback when a federal judge threw their lawsuit out of court.HPD brass trumpeted the decision by U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal in a press release in which chief Harold Hurtt said ... More >>

Federal Judge Dismisses Suit Involving Alleged Spy Shot By HPD Officers

​In the court of law, it never really mattered whether Roland Carnaby was a spy, as he claimed just before police gunned him down along the highway following a high-speed chase. After all, his widow, Susan, was suing the City of Houston and a pair of its police officers in federal court for excess ... More >>

Lawsuit On KBR's Deadly Iraq Convoys Is Revived

​We have written before about the issues surrounding people who drove truck convoys for KBR/Halliburton in Iraq, including a 2004 feature story.Basically, it was a tough, tough gig. And when six civilian drivers were killed in an incident six years ago, they their survivors sued in federal cou ... More >>

Baylor Chooses A Sex-Obsessed Pornographer As Its New President

​Baylor has ended its search for a new president, and the straitlaced Baptist school has chosen a famous smut peddler.Kenneth Starr, the out-of-control special prosecutor who felt the need to salaciously include every last sordid detail about Bill Clinton's extra-marital activities, is the new ... More >>

Jeff Skilling Gets Even More Desperate To Prove Houston's Full of Hatahs

​Today is the big day before the U.S. Supreme Court for Jeff Skilling, former Enron exec, former Manhattan party animal, current federal inmate.Among other things, Skilling's lawyers are arguing that his federal trial should have been moved from Houston because we all were so affected by Enron tha ... More >>

Judge Who Set Aside $100 Million Award Against BP Went On Junket Partially Funded By The Company

​A Houston federal judge who set aside a $100 million verdict against BP on Tuesday has taken an all-expenses-paid educational junket that was partially funded by the oil giant.In 2008, U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt attended a three-day long program in Sedona, Arizona hosted by the George Ma ... More >>

Some Judicial Action In Those Bad-Faith Worker's-Comp Insurance Cases

​In 2008 we wrote about the problems with Texas Mutual Insurance, a company accused of bad-faith dealings with people who had filed worker's comp claims through them.Two recent court actions have advanced things a bit, including what could be an important showdown at the Texas Supreme Court.The fi ... More >>

Welcome to Arizona

Judge who helped BP went on junket party on their tab.

Bellaire Cop Found Not Guilty In Robbie Tolan Shooting

The Tolans say they'll move on to federal court​Jeffrey Cotton, the Bellaire police officer who shot Robbie Tolan in a controversial incident outside the Tolan home, was acquitted by a jury today after four and a half hours of deliberation.He had been charged with aggravated assault in the 2008 in ... More >>

Mail Carrier Stole Netflix DVDs, Leaving Spring Without A Chance To Appreciate Paul Blart, Mall Cop

The entertainment this man deprived Spring of, it boggles the mind​If you live in Spring and are wondering whatever happened to your promised Netflix delivery of Jennifer Aniston's The Bounty Hunter, there may be an answer. (And you're probably just as well off not seeing the thing anyway.)Rudolph ... More >>

Sonia Sotomayor Critiques The Chronicle

Reads the Chron's sports section, at least when it's cited in legal briefs​The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Enron honcho Jeffrey Skilling's trial should not have been moved out of Houston, no matter what he thinks. (Skilling did better on other arguments, but overall nothing much changed.)Son ... More >>

KPFT Knocked Off Air -- Not By The KKK This Time

No Elena Kagan hearings for KPFT listeners​Pacifica station KPFT-FM has been knocked off the air and may not be able to broadcast over the airwaves until tomorrow because of damage to its radio tower.Don't blame the KKK this time. Blame copper thieves.A group of what KPFT general manager Duane Bra ... More >>

Judge Samuel Kent: I Obstructed Justice In A Sex-Offense Case, But I'm No Sex Offender

Sam Kent, in prison and splitting hairs​U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent, currently imprisoned in Florida, is asking a federal court to overturn his sentence because, he says, the court treated him as a sex offender."All sexual allegations against Sam Kent were dismissed by the prosecutor...Sam Ken ... More >>

Federal Judge Jack T. Camp: Drugs & A Stripper Mean Our Sam Kent Has Been Topped

Judge Jack Camp tops Judge Sam Kent​We thought the Houston area could cruise for a while with the title of World's Dumbest, Horniest Federal Judge.U.S. District Judge Sam Kent of Galveston made heroic efforts to set the bar high, what with all his after-lunch drunken groping of female staffers.Lis ... More >>

Star Trek's Spock: The Texas Supreme Court Looks To Him For Guidance

Objection, your honor​Some judges are as well-known for their literary prowess as they are for monumental civil and criminal rulings."There is no surer way to misread any document than to read it literally," Appellate Judge Learned Hand wrote in a 1944 ruling. In 1927, Supreme Court Justice L ... More >>

FAIR-y Tales: Fantasy Voter Fraud

Objection, your honor​Some judges are as well-known for their literary prowess as they are for monumental civil and criminal rulings."There is no surer way to misread any document than to read it literally," Appellate Judge Learned Hand wrote in a 1944 ruling. In 1927, Supreme Court Justice L ... More >>

Red Light Cameras: Judge Won't Let Activists Join In Suit

It's the city vs. the red light camera company, no intervenors ​The city of Houston, which really doesn't want to give up red light camera revenue, will be the only party trying to convince a federal judge to stop the red light camera program as soon as possible. The people who really want re ... More >>

Texas & Nuclear Waste: Federal Judge Opens Path For Expansion

Nuclear waste in Texas: It's not just for Vermont anymore​Environmental groups are crying foul over a federal judge's decision to lift a ban on allowing a state commission to greatly expand Texas's ability to accept nuclear waste from other states. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks said Tuesday ... More >>

Eminem's Victory Over Label Could Have Far-Reaching Effects

Now a Recovery in more ways than one.​Eminem quietly scored a major victory in a case involving download royalties this week. The U.S. Supreme Court threw out an appeal filed by Universal Music Group, the world's largest music empire, against Eminem's former production company F.B.T. Productio ... More >>

Jamie Leigh Jones Finally Gets Her Day In Court Against KBR

Jamie Leigh Jones' fight finally finds a courtroom​After years of delays, today Jamie Leigh Jones is finally getting her day in court against Halliburton and KBR. Jones -- we've done a number of stories on her -- has become famous through her attempts to hold the company responsible for the g ... More >>

Red Light Camera Ban Tossed Out

Red light cameras: Status back to "up in the air."​A federal judge has thrown out the city's ban on red light cameras because it came from a referendum, not a charter amendment. U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes said the changes mandated by voters last November were not valid -- they could only ... More >>

Archie Bell Sues Legendary "Philly Soul" Duo Gamble & Huff

Marc BrubakerArchie Bell at the Continental Club, September 3​In certainly one of the more interesting local items to come in over courthouse.com, a Web site that reports on notable, unusual or legally significant filings in the federal courts, Houston songwriter and performer Archie Bell has ... More >>