Houston Federal Judge Bars Female Prosecutor From Trial, Sparking Standoff With U.S. Attorney’s Office

U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes.

A federal judge banished a female prosecutor from his Houston courtroom last month, sparking a rare standoff between the new U.S. Attorney and a jurist with a history of sniping at lawyers, government officials and litigants, reports the Houston Chronicle.

“U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes, a 77-year-old appointed by President Ronald Reagan, has been criticized in the past for making comments perceived as racist or sexist in court, write the Chronicle‘s Gabrielle Banks and Lise Olsen.

Hughes has twice ejected Assistant U.S. Attorney Tina Ansari before trials, claiming she lacked ability and integrity, records show.

Ansari was involved in a 2017 court session in which Hughes said, “It was a lot simpler when you guys wore dark suits, white shirts and navy ties… We didn’t let girls do it in the old days.” The 5th U.S. Circuit of Appeals found his remarks to be “demeaning, inappropriate and beneath the dignity of a federal judge.”

Read the Houston Chronicle article.