U.S. Judge Reveals Details of Discipline Case, Seeks Release of Secret Dissent

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U.S. Judge Reveals Details of Discipline Case, Seeks Release of Secret Dissent

Posted Apr 15, 2008, 08:06 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

A New Orleans federal judge is revealing more details of the disciplinary case against him and is seeking release of a secret dissent to an impeachment recommendation.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Porteous has until Thursday to file a memo to address impeachment issues, the Times Picayune reports. Porteous’ lawyer, Lewis Unglesby, says his client shouldn’t be impeached. He says an argument for a lesser response was already made in a confidential 50-page dissent written by four judges.

"They can release everything,” Unglesby said. “Judge Porteous fears nothing regarding this process other than the process itself."

The 5th Circuit's disciplinary panel recommended impeachment in December, finding Porteous committed four categories of offenses in a brief six-page order. The 5th Circuit panel said the judge had made false statements under oath during his personal bankruptcy, engaged in deceptive conduct in securing a loan, accepted gifts from lawyers who appeared before him, and filed inaccurate financial disclosure statements.

Now Porteous has shed more light on the allegations.

The panel found Porteous and his wife filed for bankruptcy using the names G.T. Ortous and C.A. Ortous, the story says. The couple later amended the court papers and supplied their real names. He also was found to have concealed assets during the case, failed to identify gambling losses and omitted creditors. He continued to get short-term loans from casinos, the panel said.

The panel also found Porteous renewed a loan six months before he sought to discharge his debts by signing a form that said he was not contemplating bankruptcy.

Unglesby told the newspaper that the actions weren't appropriate but the bankruptcy judge eventually learned of them and discharged the case anyway. Unglesby said the misdeeds did not rise to federal criminal conduct and don’t justify impeachment. He also said the loan promise was an oversight. He is calling for a public reprimand rather than impeachment.

The U.S. Judicial Conference is currently considering the case and may take it up by mail ballot or telephone conference before its next meeting in September.

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Posted by Jennifer - 7 months, 2 weeks, 2 days, 23 hours, 4 minutes ago

So the judge has a gambling addiction. As a former consumer bankruptcy attorney, it doesn’t sound like he did anything wrong. The bk judge was correct in discharging all of the debt. Worst case scenario, judge could have obligated the judge to pay the debt for the renewal of the loan six months prior. If he did hide assets, the court can still liquidate…

If anything, they need to require gambiling addiction treatment.

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