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Federal Judge Gets Benchslapped -- AGAIN -- Over The Suspiciously Sexist Way He Runs His Courtroom

It's become a real issue.

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Benchslapped-01Whaddya know? Southern District of Texas Judge Lynn Hughes is at it again. This particular instance of fuckery dates back to 2018, and wow Hughes holds a grudge better than a Sicilian. But it all started when Hughes made some pretty inappropriate and sexist comments.

During the course of a hearing, Hughes seemingly attributed a female prosecutor’s mistake to the fact that she’s a “girl”:

“It was a lot simpler when you guys wore dark suits white shirts and navy ties . . . we didn’t let girls do it in the old days.”

And for his remarks, Hughes was on the receiving end of a benchslap when Fifth Circuit Judge Edith Brown Clement wrote, “such comments are demeaning, inappropriate and beneath the dignity of a federal judge.”

BUT IT DIDN’T STOP THERE.

Hughes retaliated against the female prosecutor, AUSA Tina Ansari. Since Hughes felt the Fifth Circuit’s sting, he’s — repeatedly — banned Ansari from his courtroom. When U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick asked what the hell was up, Hughes laid the blame back on the “girls” comments:

Hughes responded that Patrick had failed to withdraw a “dishonest brief” in the 2017 case that the judge said incorrectly quoted him as making the “girls” remarks to Ansari. Hughes said that in the past prosecutors have corrected mistakes when the court pointed them out, and Hughes claimed that Patrick and his staff had not followed suit.

The judge explained, “Ms. Ansari is not welcome here because her ability and integrity are inadequate,” according to a transcript.

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And Hughes wasn’t done extracting his pound of flesh. In an unrelated matter he issued an order permanently banning Ansari from his courtroom. Which… the Fifth Circuit promptly struck down.

The per curiam opinion vacating Hughes’s oral order relied on the fact that the district court judge never made a finding of bad faith for the decision. But Judge James Ho was not content to let this pattern of punishing the same attorney over and over continue without comment:

Now fast forward to the present case: That same district judge issued a verbal order from the bench, excluding that same AUSA from his courtroom—not only in this case, but in all future cases as well. By all accounts, the district judge issued the order to punish the AUSA for the USAO’s appellate briefing in Swenson.

The court today vacates that order. I concur.

It is apparent from the transcript of the proceedings that the district judge believes he has been falsely accused of discriminating against the AUSA based on her sex. But be that as it may, it’s hard to imagine a less persuasive way for a judge to rebut the charge that he discriminated against a female attorney than by expelling her from his courtroom—not just in one case, but in every case that she may bring for the rest of her career.

Judge Hughes has a long history of saying inappropriate things in court, and he just keeps racking up the Fifth Circuit benchslaps. But, you know, lifetime appointments man, aren’t they just a riot?

Unless, of course…

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Read the latest Fifth Circuit benchslap below.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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