Samuel B. Kent

For the 18th-century British politician, see Samuel Kent (MP).
Samuel Kent
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
In office
October 1, 1990 – June 30, 2009
Appointed byGeorge H. W. Bush
Preceded byHugh Gibson
Succeeded byMarina Garcia Marmolejo
Personal details
Born (1949-06-22) June 22, 1949 (age 75)
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationUniversity of Texas, Austin (BA, JD)

Samuel B. Kent (born June 22, 1949)[1] is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, whose term ended in resignation in 2009 following charges of sexual abuse.

Kent served in the single-judge Galveston Division covering Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, and Matagorda Counties. A member of the Republican Party, he was nominated by President George H. W. Bush on August 3, 1990, to a seat vacated by Hugh Gibson, confirmed by the United States Senate on September 28, 1990, and received his commission on October 1, 1990. His tenure as a United States District Court judge was marred from 2001 on by a series of disciplinary actions, culminating in his impeachment and resignation in 2009.[2][3]

On May 11, 2009, Judge Kent was sentenced to 33 months in prison for lying to investigators about sexually abusing two female employees. Dick DeGuerin, Kent's attorney, said the judge would retire from the bench because of a disability, rather than resign, which would have enabled Kent to continue to receive his $169,300 annual salary for life.[4] That did not satisfy the leaders of the House Judiciary Committee, Representatives John Conyers Jr., (D-Mich.) and Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), who demanded that Kent resign immediately or face impeachment.[5][6]

Judge Kent submitted his resignation on June 2, 2009, with the provision that it would not take effect for a full year. This angered the membership of the House Judiciary Committee, which voted unanimously to send four Articles of Impeachment to the full House of Representatives on June 10, 2009.[7] The articles were passed on June 19, 2009,[8] making Judge Kent the first federal judge to be impeached since Walter L. Nixon, Jr. in 1989.[9] Kent thereafter submitted a new letter of resignation to the Senate on June 25, 2009, taking effect on June 30, 2009.[10][11] On June 30, President Barack Obama accepted his resignation.[12] On July 20, the House of Representatives passed a resolution[13] asking the Senate to end former Judge Kent's trial. Two days later, the Senate agreed to the resolution.[14]

  1. ^ "Today in Texas History: It's Judge Sam Kent's birthday". 22 June 2010.
  2. ^ "Samuel B. Kent". OpenJurist.org. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
  3. ^ "Kent, Samuel B. - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference chron20090224 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Flood, Mary; Powell, Stewart (11 May 2009). "Effort to impeach Galveston federal judge may start today". Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  6. ^ Suzanne Gamboa, House Approves Inquiry to Decide on Federal Judge's Impeachment Archived August 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Associated Press, May 13, 2009. Retrieved on June 24, 2009
  7. ^ Powell, Stewart (2009-06-11). "Full House to weigh firing Kent, stopping $174,000 salary". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2012-07-31. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  8. ^ Powell, Stewart (2009-06-19). "Judge Kent's impeachment came fast and furious". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2012-12-16. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
  9. ^ Miller, S.A. (2009-06-27). "Impeached judge Samuel B. Kent tenders his resignation". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on 2013-02-09. Retrieved 2009-10-27. The House last impeached a federal judge 20 years ago when Walter Nixon was ultimately removed as chief judge for the Southern District of Mississippi. He lied to a grand jury about helping get drug charges dropped against a business partner's son.
  10. ^ "Statement From Senate Leaders On Judge Kent Resignation Letter" (Press release). Senate Democratic Caucus. 2009-06-25. Retrieved 2009-06-25. After being served with a summons to file an answer to the articles of impeachment, Judge Kent signed a letter of resignation effective June 30th, 2009.
  11. ^ Olsen, Lisa (2009-06-25). "Judge Kent resigns amid impeachment proceedings". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2013-04-19. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
  12. ^ Gamboa, Suzanne (2009-06-30). "White House accepts convicted judge's resignation". AP. Archived from the original on 2010-03-26. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  13. ^ Paschenko, Chris (2009-07-22). "Congress wrapping up business on Kent". Galveston County Daily News. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2009-07-22. On Tuesday, the House approved without objection a resolution to end impeachment proceedings against Kent, who was on the bench in Galveston for almost 20 years.
  14. ^ Gamboa, Suzanne (2009-07-22). "Congress ends jailed judge's impeachment". AP. Archived from the original on 2009-07-23. Retrieved 2009-07-22.