Kent's Impeachment Marches On While Kent Marches into a Massachusetts Slammer

Judge Samuel Kent received some good news and some bad news yesterday.  Well, it was really a case of bad news and it-could've-been-worse news.

Kent, you may remember, is the federal district court judge from Galveston, Texas who pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice related to the investigation into allegations (which he later admitted were true) that he had non-consensual sexual contact with courthouse employees.
The bad news for Judge Kent is that the House Judiciary Committee voted 28-0 to impeach the judge and remove him from his lifetime appointment and $174,000 salary.  The Houston Chronicle reports that the full House is expected to approve impeachment proceedings before the July 4 break.  After that it falls to the Senate to conduct a trial.

The it-could've-been-worse news is that Kent will be reporting to a federal prison in Massachusetts on Monday, not a prison near Galveston populated by inmates whom Kent had personally put away.  Kent will be spending the next 33 months, give or take, at the Federal Medical Center at Devens, which specializes in inmates with medical or mental health issues. 

Kent requested treatment for alcohol abuse, which is likely why this prison was selected.  That and the aforementioned possibility of the other inmates wanting to kill or inflict grievous bodily injury upon him were he to serve his time in a prison near Galveston.

So, on the one hand, Kent can be glad that he'll be going to a safe(r) prison where he can receive treatment for his alcohol abuse, and a prison where there are intramural sports and a music practice room.

On the other hand, it is, after all, still prison.

See Also:
House Committee Votes 28-0 to Boot Kent from Judiciary (WSJ Law Blog)