Winner of the 2021 IRE Book Award
Winner of the 2022 Texas Institute of Letters Carr P. Collins Award for Best Book of Nonfiction
In the age of #MeToo, learn how brave whistleblowers have dared to lift the federal court’s veil of secrecy to expose powerful judges who appear to defy laws they have sworn to uphold
Code of Silence tells the story of federal court employee Cathy McBroom, who had to flee her job as a case manager in Galveston, Texas, after enduring years of sexual harassment and assault by her boss—US District Judge Samuel Kent. Following a decade of firsthand reporting at the Houston Chronicle, investigative reporter Lise Olsen charts McBroom’s assault and the aftermath, when McBroom was thrust into the role of whistleblower to denounce a federal judge.
What Olsen discovered by investigating McBroom’s story and other federal judicial misconduct matters nationwide was shocking. With the help of other federal judges, Kent was being protected by a secretive court system that has long tolerated or ignored complaints about corruption, sexism, and sexual misconduct—enabling him to remain in office for years. Other powerful judges accused of judicial misconduct were never investigated and remain in power or retired with full pay, such as US Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski and Kozinski’s mentee, Brett Kavanaugh.
McBroom’s ultimate triumph is a rare story of redemption and victory as Judge Kent became the first and only federal judge to be impeached for sexual misconduct. Olsen also weaves in narratives of other brave women across the country who, at great personal risk, have reported federal judges to reveal how sexual harassment and assault occur elsewhere inside the federal court system. The accounts of the women and their allies who are still fighting for reforms are moving, intimate, and inspiring—including whistleblowers and law professors like Leah Litman, Emily Murphy, and novelist Heidi Bond, who emerged to denounce Kozinski in 2017. A larger group of women—and men—banded together to form a group called Law Clerks for Accountability, which is continuing to push for more reforms to the courts’ secretive complaint review system.
Code of Silence also reveals the role the press plays in holding systems of power in check. Kent would not have been charged had it not been for Olsen’s reporting and the Houston Chronicle’s commitment to the story.
“Olsen describes a serious oversight problem with vigor and credibility . . . A well-documented exposé of a broken system for policing errant federal judges.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“A dismaying and deeply reported exposé . . . This is an enraging and eye-opening account of corruption and abuse within the halls of justice.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A beautifully written, disturbing-as-hell example of how the American experiment fails when it lets men set themselves up as kings.”
—Houston Chronicle
“A long overdue exposé on how the judicial system suppresses claims of sexual harassment against judges . . . Essential reading.”
—Anita Hill
“One of journalism’s finest investigative reporters exposes what goes on in the most secret of chambers, showing how far too often, and for far too long, federal judges have been able to abuse their extraordinary power with impunity. . . . The result is a story of shameful failure in the highest reaches.”
—Ken Armstrong, Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter and coauthor of Unbelievable
“At once heartbreaking, infuriating, and heroic, Code of Silence is a masterpiece of #MeToo investigative journalism that takes apart gross injustice within the court system and the judges who rule over it—and likewise rule over the women who support them. Olsen’s writing is as propulsive as it is informative. . . . This new entry in the #MeToo genre is not to be missed.”
—Donna Freitas, author of Consent: A Memoir of Unwanted Attention
“A classic story of villainous oppressors and vulnerable targets. You would think it was a fairy tale, except it is wrenchingly true. Lise Olsen, one of a growing class of heroic journalists who acted when agencies of governance failed, tells the story of the men who routinely sexually abused and harassed the women in their power, and, wait for it, they were judges. Who will judge the judges, indeed? Thanks in part to Olsen, the women got some justice in the end. A riveting and eye-opening read.”
—Linda Hirshman, author of Reckoning: The Epic Battle Against Sexual Abuse and Harassment
“Lise Olsen is a masterful investigative reporter and storyteller. She was the first to uncover the full story of Judge Samuel Bristow Kent and the victims he harmed. Her book goes right to the heart of judicial corruption—and the complaint system that protects federal judges. Harrowing and redemptive.”
—Skip Hollandsworth, author of The Midnight Assassin and executive editor of Texas Monthly
PROLOGUE
The Tip
PART I: CASTES OF THE COURTS
CHAPTER 1
An Awkward Encounter
CHAPTER 2
Flight
CHAPTER 3
Kings of the Courts
CHAPTER 4
Chambers and Secrets
CHAPTER 5
The Reluctant Whistleblower
PART II: THE SECRET SYSTEM
CHAPTER 6
The Complaint
CHAPTER 7
Her Honor
CHAPTER 8
A Botched Investigation
INTERLUDE
The Exposé
CHAPTER 9
A Corrupt Judge
PART III: JUDGMENT DAY FOR JUDGES
CHAPTER 10
The Keeper of Secrets
CHAPTER 11
A Criminal Probe
CHAPTER 12
Person B
CHAPTER 13
The Path to Impeachment
CHAPTER 14
Another Encounter with Judge Kozinski
CHAPTER 15
Calls for Reform—and a Backlash
EPILOGUE
The Quilter
Acknowledgments
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
- “Announcing the 2021 IRE Award Winners,” IRE, book announced as award winner
- “Exposing sexual misconduct by judges, & synth-pop duo Space Kiddettes,” Houston Matters, interview
- “Bench Report: The New Book Exposing Flaws in Judicial Misconduct Reporting Plus a Biden Nominee Gets Deadlocked in Committee,” National Law Journal, Q&A
- “Code of Silence Reveals How Courts Systems Protect Federal Judges Accused of Misconduct,” Texas Observer, excerpt
- “Texas Monthly Recommends: A Trip to the Renaissance Festival,” Texas Monthly, recommended reading roundup
- “A federal judge’s crime and how a former San Antonian touted for the Supreme Court minimized it,” San Antonio Report, write-up
- “Code of Silence,” Literal Magazine, write-up
- “Buzz Books Fall/Winter Preview: Nonfiction Part 2,” Publishers Marketplace, book included in Buzz Books Fall/Winter nonfiction preview