Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Edith Jones says she will relinquish the “chief” title on Oct. 1, three months before her seven-year term was scheduled to end. Fifth Circuit Judge Carl Stewart will replace Jones as chief. Judges become chief based on seniority. “I don’t really have much to say. I’ve tried to do what the job of chief judge requires. And I’m very happy to remain a regular active judge on the court,” Jones says. She notes that she sent a letter on Sept. 25 to U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. to notify him of her decision to step down as chief citing “family problems.” Jones declines to explain further. Appointed by then-President Ronald Reagan, Jones has served on the 5th Circuit since 1985. She replaced Judge Carolyn Dineen King as chief in 2006. In addition to handling administrative matters for the 5th Circuit, as chief Jones has dealt with high-profile disciplinary matters that involved former U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent of Galveston and former U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. of New Orleans. As for her feelings about turning over the chief judge’s position, Jones says: “I’ve told several people the story about the boat owner. The day he buys the boat is his happiest day until the day he sells it.”
Wacky World of Sports
Bob Latham’s job as an intellectual property partner in Dallas’ Jackson Walker takes him all over the country. And his position as an International Rugby Board judicial officer and former stint on the U.S. Olympic Committee’s board of directors have taken him all over the world. So he makes the best of his time away from the office by writing about sporting events around the globe. On Oct. 2, Greenleaf Book Group Press will release Latham’s book “Winners & Losers: Rants, Riffs & Reflections on the World of Sports.” “It’s written from a fan’s perspective,” Latham says. “But there’s also commentary about the absurd in the world of sports, like when FIFA president Sepp Blatter appointed Henry Kissinger and Plácido Domingo to a Soccer Counsel of Wisdom.” FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association, the international governing body of soccer. Latham also writes about what it’s like to visit the cryogenic facility in Scottsdale, Ariz., where the body of baseball legend Ted Williams is stored — a visit Latham made while taking depositions in that city. “I did not get to see Ted himself, but he’s reportedly in two different containers. His head is in one container and his body in another. And no, they didn’t point out which one was which.”
