Code of Silence
Winner of the 2022 Investigative Reporters and Editors' Book Award.
Winner of the 2022 Texas Institute of Letters' Carr P. Collins Award for Best Book of Nonfiction.
"A long overdue exposé on how the judicial system suppresses claims of sexual harassment against judges. In this new era of reckoning with sexual assault and harassment, Code of Silence is essential reading. "
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Code of Silence tells the story of federal court employee Cathy McBroom, who had to flee her job as a case manager in Galveston, Texas, after enduring years of sexual harassment and assault by her boss-US District Judge Samuel Kent. Following a decade of firsthand reporting at the Houston Chronicle, investigative reporter Lise Olsen charts McBroom's assault and the aftermath, when McBroom was thrust into the role of whistle-blower to denounce a federal judge.
What Olsen discovered by investigating McBroom's story and other federal judicial misconduct matters nationwide was shocking. With the help of other federal judges, Kent was being protected by a secretive court system that has long tolerated or ignored complaints about corruption, sexism, and sexual misconduct-enabling him to remain in office for years. Other powerful judges accused of judicial misconduct were never investigated and remain in power or retired with full pay, such as US Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski and Kozinski's mentee, Brett Kavanaugh.
Lise Olsen is a senior investigative reporter whose work has appeared in the Texas Observer, Inside Climate News, and the Houston Chronicle, as well as in documentaries on CNN and A&E.
Author Lise Olsen is continuing to speak about Code of Silence to womens' groups, legal groups, students and book clubs in 2023. For more information or to arrange an event, email: liseolseninvestigates@gmail.com
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