Dallas, Texas: Federal Judge Ada Brown Fails to Appear at Misconduct Hearing

A federal judge in Dallas did not show up on Friday, October 30, for an under-oath interview she had been ordered to give to a special committee investigating her conduct, Reuters reported. U.S. District Judge Ada Brown had been directed to appear before a three-judge committee of the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council to answer concerns raised in two judicial misconduct complaints. After the committee waited half an hour, Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod closed the proceedings without hearing from Brown.

"Judge Brown has not arrived," Elrod said, according to a transcript cited by Reuters. "No one has appeared on behalf of Judge Brown. We have not heard from Judge Brown that she is running late, and we have been given no other reason to wait." Bloomberg Law also reported that Brown failed to appear for the investigative interview on Friday and that judicial investigators waited 30 minutes for her.

What the committee says it found earlier

The case is unusual for the federal courts, where judges hold their seats for life and misconduct inquiries are normally kept private. In an order released on October 19, the Fifth Circuit committee said it had determined that Brown had "abandoned her post as a federal judge" and likely suffers from a mental condition interfering with her ability to perform the responsibilities of her office, citing what it called "bizarre emails" and "racial insults," Reuters reported. Those are the committee's findings and allegations, and Brown has denied having a mental health issue in earlier responses reported by other outlets.

Acting on those concerns, the committee on September 21 took the rare step of ordering Brown to sit for a psychiatric exam within 30 days. On September 29 the judicial council ordered her cases reassigned temporarily and directed that no further cases be assigned to her, Reuters reported. Brown sits on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas. She was appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term. She could not be reached for comment, Reuters reported.

Brown told the panel she would not take part

Brown had previously told the investigative committee that she would not participate in the proceedings, saying her involvement would compromise an unspecified parallel investigation, Reuters reported. Elrod said the panel had urged Brown to reconsider, but she continued to decline to engage with the committee or submit further information. The committee had warned that her failure to participate could lead it to expand the scope of its investigation and to file a report on its findings and recommendations without the benefit of her response.

The committee's members are Elrod, who initiated one of the two complaints against Brown, U.S. Circuit Judge James Graves, and Chief U.S. District Judge Alia Moses of the Western District of Texas. Walt Green and Emma Looney of the law firm Phelps Dunbar, who are assisting the special committee, were also present at Friday's proceedings, Reuters reported.

What happens next now rests with the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council, which oversees judicial conduct for federal courts in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. The council can issue reprimands and other sanctions short of removal. Only Congress can remove a federal judge from office, through impeachment in the House and conviction in the Senate.