Federal judge didn't answer questions, instead emailed sealed documents to over 100 people
According to a second federal appellate order involving a federal judge in Dallas, she sent 140 emails with sealed court documents to judges, lawyers and journalists.
The Oct. 20 order, written by the judicial council of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New Orleans, follows a Sept. 29 order, attached to a statement by judicial council of the 5th Circuit.
The Sept. 29 order claims that U.S. District Judge Ada Brown of the Northern District of Texas has been accused of behaviors including hostile treatment of others and making unsubstantiated claims that others are entering orders on her behalf—or altering ones that she has written—with criminal intent.
The committee determined that based on its observations of Brown’s behavior, there is a reasonable basis to conclude that she suffers from a temporary or permanent mental condition, according to the Sept. 29 order.
According to the Oct. 20 order, Brown sent the committee an email Oct. 17 at 1:26 a.m., writing that she declined to take part in the proceedings, waived confidentiality, and had shared certain orders with the press to make public. Two of those documents were sealed by court orders from other judges and appeared to be unrelated to complaints involving Brown, according to the order.
“The committee urges Judge Brown to reconsider her decision not to participate,” the order read.
Additionally, it directs Brown to answer three questions in writing by Oct. 27. Those questions involve:
• Specifying a parallel investigation that Brown referenced on multiple occasions in her complaint proceedings and why it constitutes good cause for her not to participate.
• Provide reasoning for disclosing sealed documents in her judicial conduct investigation.
• Answering whether she knew that the documents that she disclosed were sealed, and if so, what authority did she have to share them?
Brown did not immediately respond to an interview request that Bloomberg Law sent to her personal email, according to the wire service. Additionally, it reports that an email sent to her work email address was returned.
According to a 2021 news release from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Brown is a member of the Choctaw Nation and the first woman of African American heritage to serve as a judge in the Northern District of Texas. She was a Texas trial court judge and a Texas appellate judge before being appointed to the federal bench in 2019.
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.
