Chief Judge Sought to Move New Appointee Out of Texas Courthouse

The chief judge of a Texas federal trial court sought to move a newly appointed judge out of her courthouse over a personal issue, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The dispute, which has played out privately for weeks, saw Chief Judge Alia Moses attempt to move Ernest Gonzalez out of the Western District of Texas’s Del Rio division he was appointed to, said the two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic. Moses’s attempt to have Gonzalez serve out of the courthouse in Austin upset the state’s two Republican senators who negotiated with the White House to appoint him to the Del Rio seat, one source said.

Gonzalez was confirmed last month 88-7 and is set to be sworn in this week.

Moses, who also sits in Del Rio, said in an interview Monday that she considered reassigning Gonzalez to the Austin courthouse, but that it wasn’t personal. Rather, Moses said, she was wary of a potential conflict of interest with Gonzalez’s brother, a supervisor in the El Paso division of the US Attorney Office for the Western District of Texas. Moses said the issue was resolved in an agreement between Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Priscilla Richman and the US Attorney’s office: Gonzalez’s brother won’t handle cases in Del Rio once Gonzalez takes the bench, she said.

“Everything is going to be fine,” Moses said. “I’m not sure why everyone’s making it such a huge battle.”

Moses said she supported another candidate for the job that went to Gonzalez. She called the candidate, Magistrate Judge Matthew Watters, “perfect for the job.” But Moses denied having a problem with Gonzalez, who she said prosecuted criminal cases in her court from 2005 to 2008.

“My concern was the conflict of interest and apparently that’s been taken care of,” she said.

Spokespeople for Texas Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz didn’t respond to requests for comment, nor did representatives for the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, where Gonzalez’s brother works. Richman, the Fifth Circuit chief judge, also didn’t respond to requests for comment. Gonzalez couldn’t be reached for comment.

Judicial nominations can be hardball negotiations, particularly when a Democratic president is looking to appoint judges in a red state like Texas. The Austin division where Moses wanted to send Gonzalez is especially political: It’s where the Biden Justice Department and liberal groups typically file challenges to conservative Texas policies, and where the sole active judge is a Democratic appointee.

Cornyn and Cruz negotiate with the Biden White House on district judges that sit within their state, and recommended Gonzalez for the Del Rio vacancy.

Legal experts say that chief judges can move judges within a district. However, they said doing so for a personal reason can raise ethical issues.

“Does the chief judge have the legal authority to move a judge around within a district? I think probably so, unless the court had adopted rules to the contrary,” said Jeremy Fogel, a former US district judge. “Should that be done for a personal reason is an ethical matter. I would think not, because it’s aligning your personal preferences to override your job, which is to be the administrative leader of the court.”

Gonzalez has also spent his career in criminal law, meaning he would bring little practical experience to hear the kinds of complex civil cases that fill the Austin docket. In Del Rio, located near the Mexican border, he’ll largely be presiding over criminal drug and immigration matters. Gonzalez is scheduled to be sworn in this week, Moses said. The ceremony is in the Eastern District, where he lives, and not in the Western District where he’ll be a judge. The date Gonzalez will relocate to Del Rio hasn’t been determined.

Moses, who became chief judge in late 2022, said she believes authority to move judges belongs to her, even at this early stage before Gonzalez takes the bench in the courtroom where the senators intended.

“It’s always been a court matter,” she said. “We decide where we need the help.”

Katherine Macfarlane, a law professor at Syracuse University who studies case assignment procedures, said it’s concerning that such a decision can be made by the chief judge individually with little oversight. Chief judges are not chosen or elected but rather are elevated to the position if they meet certain criteria set by federal law, including being under the age of 65. Still, many courts make decisions on matters like case assignment through consensus, rather than divisive votes.

“It’s absurd to give that much power to one person in the federal system,” Macfarlane said.