THE TORTURE OF JUDGE SAMUEL KENT

Samuel Kent was a long-time federal judge based in Galveston. He was in the habit of groping and otherwise sexually harassing his female staff members. Their complaints were ignored for years but finally His Honor got his just dues. Apparently prison doesn’t sit too well with the former judge who was also known for bullying those appearing before him.

Kent has complained of mistreatment by his guards and prison administrators. His attorney compares it to torture. Kent has petitioned the courts to have his 33-month sentence vacated and adjusted on the grounds he has been subjected to inhumane and unfair treatment
　
Here are some of the tortures poor old Sam has had to endure:
　
__ He was locked up "wearing only a smock and carrying only a single sheet in a filthy ... completely empty cell where the temperature was kept at 60 degrees. The only bed in the room was a raised concrete slab with no mattress and the light was kept on constantly,"
　
__An unidentified sergeant forced him to "strip naked and perform a painful and repetitive series of humiliating exercises. Once Sam Kent was too tired and in too much pain to perform the exercises any more, the sergeant confiscated Sam Kent's wedding ring and used it to ridicule him."
　
__He spent 16 days in solitary, where he claims the first night he helplessly listened to the "continuous screams of a man being violently raped in the next cell" and "was horrified to observe that the guards ignored the man's screams and only came to remove the man from the cell after the attack had finally ended."
　
__Such "abusive psychological and physical conditions" have "jeopardized his ongoing recovery from severe depression and alcoholism."
　
Now, everybody put your hankies away because here are two takes on Judge Kent’s predicament from Hair Balls:
　
JUDGE SAMUEL KENT: I OBSTRUCTED JUSTIEC IN A SEX-OFFENSE CASE, BUT I’M NO SEX OFFENDER
By Richard Connelly
　
Houston Press Hair Balls
August 3, 2010
　
U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent, currently imprisoned in Florida, is asking a federal court to overturn his sentence because, he says, the court treated him as a sex offender.

He also complains about losing sleep because a guy was being violently raped in the next cell.

"All sexual allegations against Sam Kent were dismissed by the prosecutor...Sam Kent pled guilty to Obstruction of Justice, a non-sexual offense," the court document reads.

The charges were dropped as part of a plea bargain to settle a case involving charges Kent, a federal judge in Galveston, sexually harassed and assaulted females on his staff.

Persons who are convicted of obstruction of justice, Kent argues, are usually sent to minimum-security prisons. Instead, he says; the feds have "subjected [him] to substantial time in solitary confinement."

"Contrary to the public interest," the motion says, "the Federal Bureau of Prisons has subjected Sam Kent to abusive psychological and physical conditions that have jeopardized his ongoing recovery from depression and alcoholism."

Hmmm..."Abusive psychological and physical conditions"? Sounds like Sam Kent's courthouse office.

The motion includes some details:

__On the day Sam kent resigned his position as U.S. District Judge, BOP [Bureau of Prisons] staff locked Sam Kent -- wearing only a smock and carrying only a single sheet -- in a filthy, completely empty cell where the temperature was kept at 60 degrees.

__In Florida during a transfer, he says, state guards "forced Sam Kent to strip naked and perform a painful and repetitive series of humiliating exercises." One guard also "cruelly ridcule[d]" Kent about his wedding ring.

__Once he reached his cell, "he was forced to try to sleep the first night helplessly listening to the continuous screams of a man being violently raped in the next cell."

　
JUDGE SAM KENT: HIS FIVE OTHER COMPLAINTS ABOUT PRISON
By Richard Connelly
　
Houston Press Hair Balls
August 5, 2010
　
As we recounted Tuesday, former federal judge Samuel Kent is not a happy man in prison.
　
Among his complaints: a "filthy" cell kept at 60 degrees, being given only a single sheet, and not being able to talk to his wife often enough. Oh, and being kept awake much of one night because of the screams of an inmate being violently raped in the next cell.
　
All those were contained in a motion to have his sentencing overturned; we've since possibly learned that he filed an addendum addressing a few other issues with his confinement. (As with the original filing, the former judge's lawyers refer to him as "Sam Kent" throughout the document.)
　
1. FAR TOO FEW SECRETARIES TO DRUNKENLY GROPE
　
"Sam Kent entered a guilty plea based on the fact he would plead guilty only to obstruction of justice in a sexual-harassment case, not to sexual harassment itself. It was Sam Kent's belief that inmates convicted of obstruction of justice would be provided intimidated, frightened secretaries whom he could feel up after coming back from a liquid lunch. Sam Kent has been very disappointed to find this is not true."
　
2. RAPE VICTIMS CAN BE QUIETER, DAMMIT

"While Sam Kent was drunkenly groping his secretaries, they never screamed. Sam Kent believes this is because, like most women, they really mean 'yes' when they say "Please, judge, no...really, no' or words to that effect. No screaming involved. It is Sam Kent's belief that inmates being violently raped in the next cell should just shut up and take it."
　
3. INMATES SHOULD BE TREATED WITH RESPECT, LIKE LITIGANTS

"While Sam Kent was on the bench, he treated all before him with the utmost respect. (The many, many articles that say otherwise, like "Bullying From the Bench," all mistake lighthearted jocularity for petty, preening, egomaniacal humiliation of already cowed attorneys.) Since Sam Kent never, ever went out of his way to abuse his position of power, he sees no reason why prison guards can't give him two sheets for his bed. (Minimum 750-thread count, may it please the court.)"
　
4. THE FOOD
　
"Frankly, Sam Kent thinks it sucks. Sam Kent would be willing to provide, at no cost, the recipes for several of the items at Gaido's." [Gaido’s is a famous Galveston seafood restaurant.]
　
5. NOT TO BEAT A DEAD HORSE, BUT THE LACK OF GROPEABLE WOMEN

"Judge Sam Kent realizes he has mentioned this issue previously in the document, but Sam Kent knows that judges' eyes often glaze over as they quickly skim petitions from federal prisoners about their treatment, should they bother to read them at all. So Sam Kent will resort to all-caps: THERE ARE NO WOMEN TO DRUNKENLY GROPE IN PRISON. Sam Kent wishes this issue to be addressed immediately."