Congratulations to Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. (E.D. La.), our latest Judge of the Day. As a two-time winner (he was previously honored in here), Judge Porteous now joins the JotD Hall of Fame. Along with his fellow inductees — Chief Judge Edward Nottingham, and Judges Samuel Kent and Elizabeth Halverson — he is no longer eligible for recognition as a Judge of the Day, having transcended the award.

Here’s why Judge Porteous is a Hall of Famer. From the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

A panel of the nation’s highest judiciary found substantial evidence that U.S. District Judge Thomas Porteous committed perjury, accepted gifts from lawyers and violated other criminal and ethical standards, according to its impeachment recommendation sent to Congress.

The U.S. Judicial Conference, led by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, decided unanimously Wednesday to forward the misconduct investigation to the U.S. House of Representatives. The action could set the stage for the first Senate impeachment trial of a federal judge in 19 years.

When judges discipline themselves, they tend to go easy. If the Judicial Conference has unanimously voted to turn a matter over to Congress, you know it stinks to high heaven.

More discussion, after the jump.

* Who says lawyers can’t be stylish? [Fashionista]

* Guess this makes Judge Porteous officially worse than Judge Kent. [New Orleans Times-Picayune]

* Should federal judges be barred from reading blogs? [Volokh Conspiracy]

* Of course not. Unless they’re written by robots. [Overlawyered]

The clean-cut and appealing Brian Branch, a recent graduate of Loyola Law School in New Orleans, looks pretty happy in the picture at right. We’re guessing it was taken before his lawsuit got dismissed. From the ABA Journal:

A New Orleans federal judge has tossed a lawsuit by a Loyola University New Orleans law grad who sought the refund of tuition that enabled him to receive free classes at another law school.

Plaintiff Brian Branch, now a Louisiana lawyer, took advantage of an offer made after Hurricane Katrina to attend classes at Southern Methodist University for free as long as he paid Loyola tuition. Loyola accepted Branch’s SMU credits, and he graduated without delay, according to the opinion by U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr.

Branch’s class-action lawsuit had sought the refund of tuition paid for the fall 2005 semester when the school was closed because of Katrina damage. He alleged breach of contract and unjust enrichment.

But Porteous noted that Branch would have had to pay a higher rate of tuition at SMU if he did not participate in the visiting students program and said Branch himself would be unjustly enriched if Loyola were forced to reimburse his tuition payments.

An SMU education for Loyola tuition? Maybe not a bad deal. SMU is #46 in the U.S. News rankings, while Loyola - New Orleans is Tier 3. And Loyola’s tuition is lower by a few thousand dollars a year.

Also, welcome back to Judge Porteous. He has returned to the federal bench, after the conclusion of what the New Orleans Times-Picayune called “the long criminal investigation into his personal bankruptcy and possible misdeeds while a federal and Jefferson Parish jurist.”

Excerpts from the opinion are collected at TaxProf Blog by Professor Paul Caron.

Loyola Law Grad Irked by Katrina Accommodation Loses Suit [ABA Journal]
District Court Grants Summary Judgment in Lawsuit by Former 3L Displaced by Hurricane Katrina [TaxProf Blog]

Congratulations to Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr., a past winner of ATL’s prestigious Judge of the Day award. He’s now back on the federal bench. From the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

After a year away from the bench, U.S. District Judge Thomas Porteous Jr. will regain both his criminal and civil dockets next month, signaling an end to the long criminal investigation into his personal bankruptcy and possible misdeeds while a federal and Jefferson Parish jurist.

Chief Judge Ginger Berrigan said Thursday that Porteous will return to the U.S. District Court, Eastern District [of Louisiana], in mid-June after spending the past year secluded from friends and under the weight of grand jury hearings into his actions….

Porteous’ attorney, Kyle Schonekas, said federal prosecutors told him a few weeks ago that they didn’t intend to indict Porteous. He said the court then asked Porteous to resume duties at the court.

Isn’t it great to have indictment-free judges? We live in one helluva country.

(But if you’re a Louisiana citizen hoping for your legislators to be indictment-free too, you may be asking for too much.)

Judge Porteous returns to the bench [NOLA.com]
Federal judge returning to bench [New Orleans Times-Picayune]
Nation Shocked at Jefferson Indictment [Wonkette]

Earlier: Send That Robe Out for Dry Cleaning
Judge of the Day: G. Thomas Porteous Jr.

You may recall Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr. (E.D. La.), recently named an ATL Judge of the Day. He’s currently the subject of a federal criminal investigation, and he’s on an extended leave from the bench (to focus on the investigation and to mourn his recently deceased wife).

Judge Porteous has now applied to extend his leave for six more months. From the Times-Picayune:

When Porteous left six months ago, [Chief Judge Ginger] Berrigan divided his docket of 248 cases among the other federal district judges in New Orleans. A deputy court clerk said at the time that those cases could be returned to Porteous once the leave expired, but many of them could be settled by the time he returns next year.

Porteous was hearing only civil cases at the time he left, having recused himself from presiding over criminal matters after The Times-Picayune reported allegations that the judge had accepted fence repairs and other gifts from Bail Bonds Unlimited, the corrupt bail bonds company that was brought down in the federal Wrinkled Robe investigation.

The “Wrinkled Robe” investigation? Pretty awesome code name.

Does the new probe into Judge Porteous have a name yet? If not, may we suggest “Soiled Robe”?

Trying times keep judge off bench [New Orleans Times-Picayune]

Earlier: Judge of the Day: G. Thomas Porteous Jr.

Judge Thomas Porteous Jr., of the Eastern District of Louisiana, is no stranger to bad publicity. We’ve written about this New Orleans judge before (see item 2(b)).

Well, Judge Porteous’s exploits continue. From the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

In 2003, a seaman named Robert Hanna sued his employer, an offshore drilling company, after stairs on one of its ships collapsed beneath him and dropped him several feet to the floor.

His case against the Rowan Companies went to trial in U.S. District Court in New Orleans in August 2005. Within two days, attorneys announced they had agreed to a settlement, the judge dismissed the jury and everyone appeared to walk away satisfied.

What Hanna might not have known, however, is that while his personal injury suit was pending, well before trial began, Rowan treated the presiding judge, Thomas Porteous Jr., to a $1,000 hunting trip.

This calls to mind Justice Antonin Scalia’s controversial duck-hunting trip with Vice-President Dick Cheney. What is up with all these federal judges going hunting with litigants?

Now, let’s not overreact. The Times-Picayune puts the latest allegations in context:

There is no evidence that Porteous showed Rowan favorable treatment in court. Nor is the trip known to be a subject of the lengthy criminal investigation into the judge’s conduct, including a personal bankruptcy case he and his wife filed in 2001, under false names; his handling of a hospital suit involving several of his friends; and his relationship with former bail bonds magnate Louis Marcotte III, who pleaded guilty to corrupting two state judges at the Gretna court, where Porteous was a jurist until 1994.

In other words: “Sure, this looks bad. But hey, the judge has done worse stuff before!”

The article then quotes a bunch of legal ethics experts who opine that it probably wasn’t a great idea for Judge Porteous to accept a free hunting trip from a litigant appearing before him. We won’t bother excerpting them here — anyone who’s passed the MPRE could tell you that.

Company Facing Suit Took Judge Hunting [New Orleans Times Picayune]
UTR News and Views: August 23, 2004 [Underneath Their Robes]
G. Thomas Porteous Jr. [FJC]