Houston judge accused of racist remarks
Widely known in the local federal courthouse for his tendency to say what he thinks about some of the cases brought before him, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes has found himself under fire again for remarks that a Texas civil rights group claims are racist.
The Texas Civil Rights Project has gone so far to ask for Hughes' resignation over comments he made during a hearing last November in a lawsuit brought by a state employee who claimed he was discriminated against when he was laid off. The comments came to light when the plaintiff, J.T. Shah, filed a recusal motion against Hughes, asking that the case be reassigned to another judge.
"His personal beliefs, which he has made clear on a number of occasions, are incompatible with his duties and responsibilities, at least in this type of discrimination case," Amin Alehashem, who heads the organization's Houston office, said of Hughes. "And it makes one wonder how such beliefs could bleed into other types of cases as well."
Alehashem said his group, which does pro bono legal work for low-income Texans who believe they have been victimized by illegal discrimination, became aware of Hughes' comments when they recently were cited in a post on a popular legal blog, Above the Law. The group filed a formal complaint against Hughes on Tuesday in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, complaining of his comments in three cases that amounted to "a demonstrated pattern and practice of bias and prejudice against alleged victims of discrimination."
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-judge-accused-of-racist-remarks-4254180.php
District Judge Lynn Hughes
[font color=green]Doesn't he remind you of a slightly younger Dick Cheney?[/font]
