“Mean Spirited” Colleagues Don’t Faze Fifth Circuit Chief

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has been riddled with controversy, faces Draconian budget cuts, and has endured prolonged vacancies. But an ABA Journal profile paints its chief judge, Carl Stewart, as the calm eye of the storm. Appointed in 2012, Stewart has faced rancor from other judges – including “mean-spirited” and “wholly disrespectful” internal memos – but Stewart “doesn’t bring a partisan basis to cases and he doesn’t react to others trying to provoke him – and believe me, those efforts are there,” said Judge Patrick Higginbotham, appointed to the Fifth Circuit in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan. “Carl does not ever initiate controversy,” said Judge Carolyn King, who served as the Fifth Circuit’s chief judge from 1999 to 2006. “Carl doesn’t have an angry or overtly aggressive bone in his body, which is incredible, especially when dealing with fellow judges who can be very high-maintenance and get angry over the littlest things.” The profile details Stewart’s rise from Shreveport, La. to law school, the military, and the Department of Justice leading up to his current position.