U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent, who has appeared in the pages of this blog before both for his recent conviction on obstruction charges and his witty court opinions, announced his retirement today, but apparently he's in no rush to leave the bench.
In his letter to President Obama, Kent declares that he will step down on June 1, 2010, almost precisely one year from now. In roughly two weeks, however, Kent will report to prison to begin his sentence for the obstruction conviction, which begs the question of why he's waiting so long to quit. It all boils down to money. As long as Kent oficially remains a judge,
he continues to draw his $174,000 a year judicial salary. Kent and his
lawyer, famed attorney Dick DeGuerin, are hoping that by delaying his
retirement Kent can avoid the public disgrace of an impeachment hearing
and continue to get paid for another year - which could be the length
of time it would take Congress to impeach him anyway.
Kent had
originally tried to claim that he was retiring because of a disability,
which would have entitled him to continue to pull his salary for life.
The 5th Circuit disagreed,
however, stating that the criminal investigation and public shame
contributed to his inability to perform his judicial duties, not the
"mental instability" and alcoholism cited by Kent.
Moreover, 5th Circuit Chief Judge Edith Jones wrote, "a claimant should not profit from his own wrongdoing by engaging in
criminal misconduct and then collecting a federal retirement salary."
Jones
followed that statement up with a recommendation that Congress impeach
Kent. A task force from the House Judiciary Committee begins that
process tomorrow by hearing testimony from the two known victims of
Kent's sexual assault.
Kent and DeGuerin may feel like his
plan to collect a salary for a year while in prison was a win-win, but
members of the Committee don't seem to see it that way.
According to House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R - TX), "[e]nsuring that a corrupt judge does
not receive another penny of taxpayer dollars is one of the most
important jobs for this Congress and a priority for the Judiciary
Committee."