Half of the 80 active judges who serve on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the federal district and bankruptcy benches in Texas took one or more trips paid for by law schools, think tanks and other groups, according to the judges’ financial disclosure reports for 2011.
The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 requires federal judges to disclose the sources and amounts of their own income, other than their judicial salaries. They also must disclose the sources of their spouses’ non-investment income. And the judges are required to report reimbursements for trips, as well as gifts and debts incurred by themselves, spouses and dependent children.
