Legal News

Kent Resigns, Spares Himself Senate Trial

By Ashby Jones

The news that embattled federal judge Samuel Kent has resigned — he made it official on Thursday — struck us as both unsurprising and a bit disappointing. Kent had already been impeached by the House and was awaiting a Senate trial to determine whether he should be booted from the bench — a trial the likes of which we’d never seen before, and were, frankly, sort of eager to watch play out.

But Kent decided not to go through with the trial, which strikes us as an entirely sensible decision. Kent had already announced his resignation, slated to take effect next year. So all he would have been fighting for is another year’s salary — $174,000 — some of which would presumably have been eaten up by the cost of the trial itself.

Kent is currently in federal prison in Massachusetts, serving a 33-month sentence for lying about an investigation into claims that he sexually abused two female employees. Click here for the Houston Chronicle story.

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), who served as one of the House managers for Kent's impeachment, told the Chronicle on Thursday that he was "pleased to learn that Judge Kent has resubmitted his resignation, this time effective on June 30, 2009."

"Kent's realization that we would not allow him to take advantage of the system proves that the system works and justice has been served," Sensenbrenner said. "I hope this process reminds other judges that they are not above the laws they took an oath to uphold. I hope the women Mr. Kent assaulted will find some closure in this man being behind bars and no longer being able to serve on the bench or collect a taxpayer-funded paycheck."

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on June 26, 2009 (boomark / email).