President Obama, through White House Counsel Gregory Craig, accepted Kent’s resignation. This means no disability-based resignation and no pension/retirement benefits related to Kent’s former judgeship. The House impeached Kent on June 19. Kent’s resignation will almost certainly forestall a Senate trial on the impeachment. Hard to impeach someone who has already resigned. The Houston Chronicle carries Suzanne Gamboa’s AP story here.
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Here is a fuller, and excellent, treatment of the Kent sentencing by the Houston Chronicle’s Mary Flood. I earlier incorrectly reported that Kent had not yet retired. The impeachment proceedings being planned for him are part of an effort to force Kent to resign, rather than retire on disability, so that he will not receive any pension. Kent is blaming his years of sexual harassment and misconduct on alcoholism, which he is also claiming as his disability.
Mary Flood and Lise Olsen of the Houston Chronicle have the story here on chron.com. Kent pled guilty to avoid a long and embarassing trial, according to his attorney Dick DeGuerin. The trial would have covered charges related to sexual harassment/abuse of his employees as well as obstruction, and the judge admitted (without pleading guilty) to unwanted sexual contact as part of the plea agreement. The sex-related charges were to be dismissed pursuant to the deal. The entity obstructed was the judicial panel investigating sexual harassment charges against Kent–charges filed by his own federal court employees. Senior Judge Roger Vinson of Florida, who presided, left intact a broad gag order on parties, witnesses, and their attorneys. To leave such an order in place after a guilty plea is an obvious and outrageous abuse of judicial discretion. Kent also “retired” although he is not yet eligible to do so, absent medical necessity. The retirement was an effort to stave off impeachment and keep his judicial pension. That isn’t likely to wash. Kent was appointed by George Herbert Walker Bush in 1990, which means in reality that he was a Phil Gramm appointee. Rusty Hardin represented victim Cathy McBroom and Terry Yates represented victim Donna Wilkerson.
White collar cirme is our focus, but America is our beat. Besides, judicial arrogance and official incompetence are always white collar issues. So here is a column from one of DC’s local treasures, Washington Post Saturday columnist Colbert King–a one-man crusader against official arrogance, corruption, and incompetence.
King’s column concerns Jonathan Magbie, a first-time possession of marihuana offender who also happened to be a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic. According to King, the prosecutor didn’t want Magbie to go to jail, but DC Superior Court Judge Judtih Retchin imposed a 10 day sentence. Then the DC jail’s assistant medical director called the judge and requested that she amend Magbie’s sentence so that it it could be served in a hospital, since the jail was not equipped to handle Magbie’s medical condition. Judge Retchin refused to amend her order. Magbie died four days into his sentence, because he could not get access to a ventilator. Read King’s column and weep.