Harassment Complaint Against Federal Judge Calls for Congressional Inquiry

Released on November 6, 2007

On October 31, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) formally requested that the House Judiciary Committee open an investigative file on U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent, of Galveston, Texas, regarding sexual harassment complaints. Kent was reprimanded by and suspended from the bench by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on September 28, 2007, but that suspension ends on January 1, 2008.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) applauds Congresswoman Jackson Lee for taking this crucial step, noting as a member of the Judiciary Committee that it is their “obligation as members of the U.S. Congress to do all in our power to prevent all forms of sexual harassment, especially in the judicial arena, which is entrusted to administer these very laws which have allegedly been violated and over which we have oversight.”

National Organization for Women Foundation Opposes Southwick Nomination

Released on October 24, 2007

The National Organization for Women (NOW) Foundation opposes the nomination of Leslie Southwick to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and we are proud to stand today with the Congressional Black Caucus and many allied organizations to ask the U.S. Senate to reject this nomination.