Judge Nikita Harmon Judge Jim Wallace
But the vast majority of the talk around the Criminal Civil Courthouse this week has centered around a confrontation between two judges that occurred on Monday morning. The dust-up occurred between Republican Judge Jim Wallace of the 263rd District Court and Democratic Judge Nikita Harmon of the 176th District Court around mid-morning. As with most courthouse gossip, the original details are a little spotty.
According to witnesses, Judge Harmon had arrived to the courtroom first and had taken the bench. Later in the morning, there was a lull in the activity in the courtroom, and Judge Wallace indicated that he needed to take the bench to take some pleas for the 263rd. The initial reports were that Judge Harmon refused to leave the bench, and that Judge Wallace threatened to have one of his bailiffs arrest her if she didn't leave. On Monday, there wasn't a lot of clarity about what happened after that. When I was leaving the courthouse, I heard that Administrative Judge Susan Brown was on her way to mediate the situation.
As I've mentioned before, all of the criminal courts are doubled up and sharing courtrooms in the civil courthouse. How the different courts are handling working around each other has been left to the individual judges. In some courtrooms, judges are running both dockets at the same time, with the courtroom filled with both staffs. Other courts have agreed to split the dockets into morning and afternoon shifts, which also works well, as long as everyone is given advance notice. Several Defendants and attorneys showed up for morning courts on Monday, only to be told that their dockets weren't being held until the afternoon.
Apparently this docket confusion played a large role in the conflict.
Last week, as the courts were moving from the wrecked Criminal Justice Center to the Civil Courts, Judge Wallace was on a pre-planned vacation out of the country. As courts were being paired up and dockets organized, he was unavailable to submit his preferences for when his docket would be held. A preliminary schedule released by the Harris County Criminal District Courts' Facebook page on Saturday, September 9th left the 263rd docket time blank.
I spoke with Judge Wallace this afternoon, who told me that when his court staff and Judge Harmon's court staff were moving into the shared court on Friday, Judge Harmon's staff stated that they were going to claim the morning docket. Judge Wallace stated that no one from his staff agreed to this and an argument ensued.
By Monday, September 11th, an official schedule was provided by District Clerk Chris Daniel, telling people where the new courts were meeting and when.
Accordingly, Judges Wallace and Harmon were scheduled to be sharing a courtroom for a morning docket as of Monday, September 11th.
According to all accounts I've heard, Judge Harmon was first to take the Bench on Monday morning, and had been presiding well over an hour before this incident took place. All accounts that I've heard also indicate that Judge Wallace had several Defendants waiting to plead in his court, and that there was a lull in activity for Judge Harmon.
Judge Wallace said that at approximately 11 a.m., he entered the courtroom and approached Judge Harmon, indicating he wanted to take the Bench to take the pleas for his court. He stated that his bailiff was with him as he approached, and that Judge Harmon became angry. Judge Wallace said that Judge Harmon told him: "You're not going to tell me to get off my bench."
Judge Wallace said that when it became clear that Judge Harmon had no intention of leaving the Bench, he said: "You could be arrested for impeding courtroom proceedings." He stated that he then left the courtroom to ask Judge Brown to resolve the conflict. Judge Wallace adamantly denies ever raising his voice or ordering his bailiff to arrest Judge Harmon.
Judge Wallace said that Judge Harmon remained on the bench for some time, but got up to leave. He said at that time, his staff tried to take the awaiting pleas, but that Judge Harmon's staff refused to leave. Judge Wallace said that although he has not been back to the courtroom since, his staff has reported additional problems with the 176th. Judge Wallace said that the176th staff had been overheard telling Defendants on the 263rd's docket to leave the court and come back in the afternoon.
The situation between the two Judges does not show any signs of de-escalating.
As word quickly spread through the CJC, it did not take long before the altercation between the two judges was being portrayed as a racially motivated incident, with defense attorney and HISD School Board trustee Jolanda Jones comparing Judge Harmon to a modern day Rosa Parks. However, I'm not so sure that this isn't more of a "black robe" issue than a black/white issue. Regardless, a press conference and protest has been scheduled for tomorrow, September 15th at 11:00 a.m. in front of the Civil Courthouse. Additionally, a judicial grievance has been filed against Judge Wallace.
In the meantime, Judge Wallace's 263rd District Court is being moved to share a court with Judge Marc Carter in the 228th District Court. Incoming Judge Kristin Guiney's 232nd District Court will now be paired with Judge Harmon in the 176th.
14 comments:
A few thoughts:
1) There is absolutely no way one could misinterpret "I'm going to have you arrested...". Either Judge Wallace said it or Judge Harmon lied about him saying it. The fact that he flatly denied making the threat means that one of them is a liar.
2) Jolanda Jones needs to STFU. She lied while serving as an elected official when she said students at Lanier Middle School sent her emails regarding threats they received. A simple open records request proved she was lying. Judge Harmon doesn't need an advocate like Jones in her corner.
3) In the aftermath of one of the most massive catastrophes in the history of this city, when countless people lost so much, and others have sacrificed so much to help others, we have this. Both of these folks need to grow the bell up.
First of all, a disagreement or conflict between persons of different races is not automatically a racial issue. Be wary of grandstanding, publicity seeking charlatans who reflexively jump to that conclusion. Especially when they were not eyewitnesses to the exchange between the 2 judges. It does a disservice to the cause of racial justice to engage in such nonsense.
What is sad, however, is the number of fine African-American attorneys who have apparently jumped on the failed Survivor's bandwagon. Be careful with whom you align yourself. You worked hard to earn your good reputation around the courthouse.
This issue is about black robe disease, plain and simple. Apparently the insecure former municipal court judge is predisposed to not working together. Sources say she feels that it is all about her when she is in her own court so clearly she wouldn't care how it affects the court with whom she is sharing in this situation.
1. Ask Judge Harmon and her supporters if she ever reached out to Judge Wallace to hammer out the details of a sharing agreement like all the other judges seem to have done? Or did she assume Judge Wallace would be content with the decisions she made for him? I wonder what the answer to that would be.
2. Ask Judge Harmon and her supporters if any of her court staff reached out to their counterparts on the other court staff for input on how to work together? Or did she and her staff assume Judge Wallace would be content with the decisions they made for his staff.
Bottom line: The 11th is not Judge Wallace's court. Nor is it Judge Harmon's court. They are guests of Judge Hawkins. Judge Harmon has no greater right to the bench than Judge Wallace. Too bad the former municipal court judge and her misguided supporters don't realize that.
Imagine that...it turned into a race issue. I am so sick of this. Why can't you just disagree with someone? When things don't go MY way, I don't say "it's because I'm white". I was taught to respect everyone. Quit pulling the race card. Maybe that is a lesson that Harmon aka Mrs. Parks needs to learn
Jolanda Jones is a bigoted anti white loudmouth .
When Jolanda Jones takes your side, you already lost credibility. This had nothing to do with race but with Harmon feeling the world revolves around her.
Poor Kristin, what did she do to deserve this?
That was his mistake. If you want Judge Harmon to do something, the last thing you should ever do is ask her to do it. Ain't nobody gonna tell her what to do.
This ain't racial but it sure isn't all on Judge Harmon either. This ain't Judge Wallace's first rodeo.
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/columnists/falkenberg/article/An-officer-of-the-court-should-behave-like-an-7182988.php
I've tried several cases in Wallace's court over the years and can say that overall he's been an impartial and fair jurist. But catch him when he's in a bad mood and he can act unprofessional and browbeat both prosecutors and defense attorneys. I have a good idea how this incident went down and would bet he wasn't thrilled about having to negotiate with a black woman who had the gall to stand her ground. All of you, deep down in your gut, know this is how it went down.
These bench wars and black-robe diseased egos are nothing new. I was in Keel's court alongside Judges Ted Poe, Belinda Hill, and one other judge (Campbell?) after Allison. They put 4 judges per felony court at first. Poe insisted on having his old courtroom, which was the largest in the old courthouse. He also took the best offices in the back and even kicked out prosecutors, who were negotiating pleas during trial in offices he didn't occupy, when he was in a pissy mood. He was the worst judicial personality in the group. I love Belinda Hill, but she insisted on near complete silence when she was on the bench and had an old bailiff who threatened anyone who spoke. So much for negotiating pleas while she was on the bench! Eventually, we ended up spreading out and getting 2 judges to a bench. Nevertheless, when you get 2 judges with the wrong temperaments, things don't work well. These two need to take a lesson from preschool: share!
JoJo wants to make is racial, shocking. Harmon has no clue what she is doing and has the black robe disease.
I could be wrong but that article points to Judge Phillips being the antagonist from what I can tell.
If judges can't settle disputes among themselves, how can they be qualified to settle the disputes of others? What makes this particular pissing contest more than merely mundane is that it's between two judges rather than between the judge and the attorneys who practice in their court.
Being a judge, like a soldier or a peace officer - it's a career that will inevitably attract the wrong kind of people to intermix with the right kind. Nothing will come of this, whoever was wrong. Over and over again we find the spoils of elected office strong enough to withstand offences worthy of impeachment, much less this obvious pettiness. The wicked prize itself buys out the law.
Who do these people think they are, FEDERAL judges or something?
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