A Trump-appointed judge was ordered to undergo a psychiatric examination as part of an ongoing judicial misconduct investigation after she called a Latino attorney a “White savior” who was intimidated by “Black excellence” due to his “White mediocrity” during a hearing.
U.S. District Judge Ada Brown of the Northern District of Texas, who is Black and Native American, was temporarily removed from her docket by the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council earlier this month, following a May judicial-conduct complaint filed by attorney Ezra Young, whose permission to practice before Brown had previously been revoked.
The complaint centered on Brown’s rhetoric toward Young during his appearance for a show-case hearing, in which he was facing sanctions over allegations from Brown that he shared sealed court filings online. Young represented a Black law professor who sued Southern Methodist University, alleging she was denied tenure because of discrimination. He joined the case in 2022 and appeared before Brown before the judge barred him from practicing in her courtroom.
During the April hearing, Brown railed against Young, accusing him of “bullying” the Black attorneys on the case.
“You’re the White savior, come to save all the stupid Black lawyers in Texas who need your help from New York,” Brown later said, according to the transcript obtained by Bloomberg.
Brown repeatedly brought attention to Young’s skin color, calling him “White presenting” and “fair-skinned” after Brown told her that he was a Latino.
“I think what’s happening here, quite candidly, is you are very intimidated for some reason, Mr. Young, with Black excellence, in light of your White mediocrity. Yeah. Right?” Brown said. “You should write that down. I mean, you — I’m — you look like a White man, right?”
She also called Young a “Chad” which she said is the male version of “Karen.”
“It’s someone who calls the manager when they don’t get their way. They stomp their foot when the rules are supposed to apply to them, right?” Brown said.
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Brown also accused Young of sensationalizing the case after reading a news article that quoted his brief and referenced another law professor’s comparison of the Black professor’s treatment in the tenure dispute to a “lynching.”
“And so when I read a headline — a sensationalized, very racialized headline that says, ‘it’s like I’ve been lynched,’ and it’s literally got no connection to this case, I have to ask you, Mr. Social Media, Main Character Chad, White Hero, Savior, Loves to Help Black People Be An Ally, where the lynching in this case came from?” Brown said.
The release of the April court hearing transcripts comes as Brown shared with lawyers, judges and several media outlets via email of Young’s complaint and her response.
Meanwhile, in a July 28 filing responding to Young’s complaint, Brown stood by her conduct.
“I do not believe my demeanor was inappropriate at any time, especially during the candid conversations about race,” Brown wrote.
“I take to heart the lessons I have learned from this experience and I ask the Chief Judge to weigh this candor, as well as my commitment to being mentored by senior judges with more experience in such situations when determining an appropriate disposition,” Brown wrote. “I realize the importance of public confidence in the judiciary and take to heart my role in fostering the public’s faith in it.”
President Donald Trump appointed Brown to the federal court in Texas in March 2019. She is the first Black woman to serve in that court.