Attorneys, judges, sexism and sex crimes - #TexasValues

To impose sexual attentions on an unwilling person is a crime in all states of the United States, and under federal law.

In fact, there is a whole variety of sex crimes characterizing a variety of sexual criminal acts, from unwanted sexual touching to unwanted sexual intercourse.  They are all prohibited by law.

Lawyers, and, especially lawyers who are judges are supposed to (1) know that law and (2) abide by it.

Right?

Right.

For example, in November of 2015, an attorney was automatically disbarred in New York on conviction for rape.

Moreover, sexism and unwanted sex-laden remarks can also get employers, colleagues and especially attorneys into trouble - and judges are attorneys.

For example, occupational sexism in the workplace is a vigorously litigated civil rights violation.

Moreover, lawyers even sue their own law firms for sexism, like a Virginia attorney did this month, see her complaint here.

And, in January of 2016, in California, a male attorney was sanctioned and ordered to pay deposition costs plus a $250 fine for so much as telling a female attorney that it is not "becoming" for her as a woman to raise her voice.  Obviously, it would have been becoming had she been a man - like the speaker was.

And a Maryland attorney was disbarred for offering to find a "sugar daddy" for ex-girlfriend of his client in a child custody proceeding:

"Marcalus' client wanted the woman and their daughter to move into his school district. According to court records, during a discussion of settlement options, the woman jokingly said she would need a "sugar daddy" — a man to pay her bills in exchange for other services — to afford to live in that area.

The complaint accuses Marcalus of later trying to find the woman such a man in text messages, phone calls and face-to-face conversations. The woman testified Marcalus told her he had found a potential sugar daddy who would pay $125 to watch her masturbate."

Of course, that particular attorney was not disbarred immediately. 

Immediately disbarring a sexual predator is not within #MarylandValues.

He was first suspended, for a very short time each time, twice:

"Marcalus' first run-in with the Attorney Grievance Commission was in late 2006, when, according to court records, he was accused of sending a woman sexually explicit text messages and touching her leg suggestively while in a courthouse. He was briefly suspended and then reinstated in November 2007.

Less than two months later, Marcalus told police he had given a woman a Vicodin pill in exchange for a sex act. That incident resulted in a two-month suspension."

Note that selling drugs (giving a drug even for free constitutes a drug sale) in exchange for sex did not result in the lawyer's criminal prosecution.

As to judges and sexual misconduct, in 2012, a judge, Bryan Hedges, was taken off the bench in New York for sexual crime committed against a child before the judge even became a lawyer.  I provide that case only as an example of the position that the State of New York - at least allegedly - took a position that a judge who committed a sex crime should not be on the bench, even though that crime was never prosecuted and when civil and criminal prosecution was precluded by a statute of limitations.  


The real reasons behind that particular case was different, and I wrote about them here.

And, of course, recently Pennsylvania suspended Superior Court Judge J. Michael Eakin who reportedly "sent and received offensive email messages, some containing images of naked women and jokes mocking minorities, women, and others, that have "tainted the Pennsylvania judiciary in the eyes of the public,"  but at the same time suspending the State Attorney General Kathleen Kane who outed the judge and other "entertainers" like him.  Pennsylvania is also attempting to criminally prosecute her and oust her from office.

Those are #PennsylvaniaValues.

All of the above was just a foreword to the story of discipline - or rather - a bonus - that was given by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upon a federal judge of a Waco (Texas) federal court, Walter S. Smith, Jr. who was known in that court for years as an alcoholic and a sexual predator.

That story is intense, fact specific, and was not reported in the press in enough detail.

Moreover, the decision of discipline of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit minimized what happened and did not address the full scope of Judge Smith's misconduct.

I will try to provide full coverage of what Judge Smith and what his personnel did to cover up or even enable Judge Smith's sexual hunt.

Those, I understand, are #TexasValues?

For the full story of Judge Walter Smith, his misconduct and the federal court system's deliberate failure to address that misconduct and criminal behavior - stay tuned.