Sim Lake | |
---|---|
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas | |
Assumed office July 5, 2019 | |
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas | |
In office August 12,1988 –July 5,2019 | |
Appointed by | Ronald Reagan |
Preceded by | Ross N. Sterling |
Succeeded by | Drew B. Tipton |
Personal details | |
Born | Simeon Timothy Lake III July 4,1944 Chicago,Illinois |
Education | Texas A&M University (B.A.) University of Texas School of Law (J.D.) |
Simeon Timothy Lake III (born July 4,1944) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. His notable trials include the trial of Enron Chairman Ken Lay and former Chief Executive Officer Jeff Skilling.
Lake was born on July 4,1944,in Chicago,Illinois. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas A&M University in 1966,where he participated in the MSC Student Conference on National Affairs committee. He received a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law in 1969,graduating number one in his class. [1] He was in private practice of law in Houston,Texas from 1969 to 1970. He was in the United States Army from 1970 to 1971 as a Judge Advocate General's Corps prosecutor in Vietnam. He was in private practice of law in Houston from 1972 to 1988,with the law firm of Fulbright &Jaworski LLP. [2]
Lake was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on March 30,1988,to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas vacated by Judge Ross N. Sterling. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 11,1988,and received commission on August 12,1988. He assumed senior status on July 5,2019. [2]
Besides the Enron cases,Lake has participated in other notable cases:
On October 23,2006,Lake sentenced Enron executive Jeffrey Skilling to the minimum possible sentence under federal guidelines,24 years,with significantly less time actually expected to be served by Skilling. Lake imposed this rather lenient sentence despite federal laws that would have allowed for a significantly longer prison sentence.
In April 2013,Judge Lake ruled [4] that videos showing cruelty to animals are protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution despite laws against cruelty to animals and evidence that cruelty to animals can be a precursor to cruelty to human beings [5] [6] [7] as well as murder. [8] A petition has been launched to reverse this ruling.[ citation needed ]
Jeffrey Keith Skilling is an American businessman and convicted felon who was the CEO of Enron Corporation during the Enron scandal. In 2006,he was convicted of federal felony charges relating to Enron's collapse and eventually sentenced to 24 years in prison. The US Supreme Court heard arguments in the appeal of the case March 1,2010. On June 24,2010,the Supreme Court vacated part of Skilling's conviction and transferred the case back to the lower court for resentencing.
Blakely v. Washington,542 U.S. 296 (2004),held that,in the context of mandatory sentencing guidelines under state law,the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial prohibited judges from enhancing criminal sentences based on facts other than those decided by the jury or admitted by the defendant. The landmark nature of the case was alluded to by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor,who characterized the decision as a "Number 10 earthquake".
The trial of Kenneth Lay,former chairman and CEO of Enron,and Jeffrey Skilling,former CEO and COO,was presided over by federal district court Judge Sim Lake in 2006 in response to the Enron scandal.
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