Janis Jack Federal

Janis Jack, a U.S. District Judge in the Southern District of Texas who had overseen a long-running federal lawsuit over Texas's foster care system for roughly 14 years, was removed from the case by a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in October 2024. The panel cited Jack's "intemperate conduct on the bench" and "highly antagonistic demeanor" toward the defendants during a December 2023 contempt hearing, finding she had become "too personally involved in the proceedings." As one example, the panel cited Jack's dismissive response of "nobody cares" when a state's lawyer explained that a state health commissioner's health problems prevented her from testifying. The appeals court also reversed Jack's most recent and most punitive order against state child welfare officials and vacated $100,000-per-day fines she had imposed over the state's failure to keep intellectually disabled foster children safe. The Fifth Circuit affirmed its own removal decision on rehearing in February 2025.