A panel of judicial investigators said a federal judge in Dallas abandoned her role and recommended that she be temporarily removed from her role, according to internal court documents shared with Bloomberg Law.
U.S. District Judge Ada Brown of the Northern District of Texas faces judicial misconduct proceedings over several allegations, including mishandling her docket and treating other judges and court staff “in a blatantly egregious and hostile manner,” those documents state.
A panel of forensic investigators found there is a “reasonable basis” to believe that Brown “suffers from a mental disorder that currently interferes with his ability to carry out the responsibilities of his office,” according to the documents.
Brown is refusing to participate in the proceeding against her by the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council, she said Saturday in an email to investigators and court staff seen by Bloomberg Law.
Brown, appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, faces two complaints of judicial misconduct, the documents show. One was submitted by an attorney who appeared before the judge, and the second was identified by Chief Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Elrod’s complaint and an order from the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council outline the allegations and the investigation into Brown, including Elrod’s creation of a judicial panel to review the allegations.
Elrod and Judge Reed O’Connor, chief judge of the Northern District of Texas, did not immediately comment Saturday. Brown did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Judicial findings
The committee made its decision on Brown’s alleged mental state based on 10 reasons given. These include Brown’s alleged refusal to handle his docket, his recusal from more than 40 cases since June 1 without giving reasons or “unusual” reasons, his “racist slurs toward judges and court staff,” sending “copious and bizarre emails to court staff and judges,” and refusing to meet with Elrod and O’Connor about his role, according to the order.
Brown was ordered by the board to undergo an independent psychiatric evaluation by Oct. 21, the board’s order states. The board reviews complaints of misconduct against circuit judges.
The committee also found that Brown “abandoned his position as a federal judge,” according to the order. The committee said Brown did not respond when asked when she planned to return to work.
Brown has issued virtually no orders since Aug. 10 to “protest” a letter of recusal that was not entered into the record in a case that has since been assigned to another judge, according to an order from Elrod.
Brown was informed that the committee recommended that her role be temporarily removed, but the judge did not file a response, per the board’s order.
Brown, born in 1974 in Oklahoma City, graduated from Spelman College in 1996 and Emory University Law School in 1999. She worked as an assistant district attorney in Dallas and as a state court judge before her appointment by Trump in 2019.
Lawyer’s complaint
The attorney’s complaint alleges that Brown made inappropriate racist allegations about him in court.
Brown, in a written response seen by Bloomberg Law, denied any wrongdoing but acknowledged that the way she communicated with the attorney “could have been handled more delicately.” She also rejected the allegation that she might be suffering from a mental problem.
“I would never want my actions to give anyone the feeling or fear that I am biased in favor of one race or another,” Brown said. “I am so proud of my black, white and indigenous ancestors. Likewise. And I want everyone who comes into my court to feel comfortable and treated with kindness and courtesy.”
Brown is the first black woman to serve as a district judge in the Northern District of Texas and one of the few federal judges of Native American descent.
She is a member of the Choctaw Nation through her mother, according to a 2021 article posted on the federal judiciary website. She can also trace her ancestry through her father to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, but that tribe revoked membership from former slaves in 1979, according to this article.
Elrod — who serves on the investigating committee — identified his complaint against Brown in an Oct. 1 order, a day after the judicial council ordered Brown to temporarily stop hearing cases.
O’Connor transferred Brown’s cases Oct. 5, and she is no longer listed on the court’s case assignment order.
Elrod’s complaint says there is “probable cause” that Brown “treated other judges and court employees in a blatantly egregious and hostile manner.”
Elrod also found probable cause that Brown “created a hostile work environment” for court staff, repeatedly delayed making decisions and abandoned his role, and refused to cooperate in the investigation of the attorney’s complaint, according to the order.
Brown twice said she would resign from the court, but she later reversed her decision, according to the order.
“The court is committed to ensuring a fair and impartial proceeding,” Elrod said in his order identifying the complaint. She said Brown would receive due process in the proceeding and that the identification of a complaint “does not reflect an opinion on the underlying merits of the allegations” contained therein.
The investigating judges asked Brown to meet with them on September 21 and respond in writing to several questions about his alleged conduct, according to the board’s order.
Brown did not attend that meeting, saying “his attorney advised him to testify only under oath due to the parallel investigation into these matters,” the order states. Brown declined to tell the committee what other investigation she was referring to, which she also appeared to reference in her Saturday email to court staff and investigators.
Brown also did not respond to questions about concerns unrelated to his role and staff turnover, according to the board’s order.
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