David Hittner

Hittner was born in Schenectady, New York, but moved with his family to Brooklyn, New York when he was a year old. His father, J. George Hittner, was an electrician and a member of the Masons fraternal service organization. His mother, Sophie Moskowitz Hittner, was a bookkeeper and homemaker. Hittner was a Boy Scout, earning 81 merit badges and attaining Eagle Scout rank. He followed his hometown team, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and met his childhood hero, Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play major league baseball.

Hittner received his undergraduate degree from New York University, serving as the president of his graduating class.{{Cite journal |last=Rosenthal |first=Lee H. |date=2005 |title=Judge David Hittner: A View through Chambers, A Tribute to United States District Judge David Hittner |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/stexlr46&id=574&men_tab=srchresults |journal=South Texas College of Law - Law Review |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=557}} Hittner received his Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law. He passed the New York bar exam, and served two years in the Army as an infantry captain and paratrooper. Hittner then moved to Houston to pursue his legal career.

After passing the Texas bar, Hittner joined a private firm, gaining expertise in litigation and courtroom procedure. Hittner also developed an interest in family law and in 1975 was among the first class of Texas lawyers certified as family law specialists.{{Cite web |title=Certification Matters |url=https://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=articles&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=38575 |access-date=2023-06-21}}

Hittner twice campaigned for election to judgeships in Harris County's Courts of Domestic Relations. Those races were unsuccessful, but in 1978 Democratic Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe appointed Hittner to the 133rd Judicial District Court of Harris County. He subsequently won election twice, serving until 1986.

On April 22, 1986, President Reagan nominated Hittner to succeed Judge George Edward Cire on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Hittner was confirmed by the U. S. Senate on June 6, 1986, and he received his commission on June 9, 1986. He assumed senior status on November 11, 2004, and initially maintained a full-time caseload. In addition to his regular duties as a state and federal judge, Hittner became an expert in summary judgments, a teacher and a mentor. From 1981 until 2007, he conducted a continuing legal education program for state and federal court practitioners entitled "Saturday Morning in Court", with the focus on the critical minutiae of trial practice. The program prompted a laudatory note from Chief Justice Warren Burger, who recalled overseeing a similar project early in his legal career.Nov. 3, 1982 letter from Chief Justice Warren Burger to David Hittner, Judge of the 133rd Judicial District Court based in Houston Hittner has been an adjunct professor at South Texas College of Law Houston.http://www.stcl.edu {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}

Racial Gerrymandering: Hittner was a member of a three-judge panel that held three of Texas' 30 Congressional districts, as drawn by the state legislature in 1990, were unconstitutional. They were drawn based on racial minority populations in an effort to influence election results. The panel's decision was twice affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.{{Cite news |last=Verhovek |first=Sam Howe |date=1994-08-18 |title=Redraw Lines Of 3 Districts, Texas Is Told |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/18/us/redraw-lines-of-3-districts-texas-is-told.html |access-date=2023-06-21 |issn=0362-4331}}

The Sleeping Lawyer. In 1995, Hittner blocked the execution of death row inmate Calvin Burdine and ordered a new trial. Burdine's court-appointed counsel in state court had dozed off during significant parts of the proceedings. Hittner's decision was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the decision further.{{Cite web |title=Best Court Ruling 2002 |url=https://www.houstonpress.com/best-of/2002/people-and-places/best-court-ruling-6604307 |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=Houston Press |language=en}}

Houston City Hall Bribery Trials, 1998–99. The jury deadlocked in the first trial, involving two city councilmen, two former city councilmen, a former port commissioner and a lobbyist. The second trial focused on one of the former city councilmen and the former port commissioner; both served prison terms after they were convicted of bribery and conspiracy. The third trial for the two city councilmen and the remaining former city councilman—charges against the lobbyist had been dismissed—also ended in a hung jury and mistrial. Prosecutors declined to try the case again."Justice Department Declines Third Trial for Houston City Councilmen," Department of Justice, May 26, 1999. https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/1999/May/215crm.htm Retrieved April 21, 2020.

Also, "Judge Ends Houston Bribery Trial," by Pauline Arrillaga, AP. https://apnews.com/037c5dbbabdc3781dbe9b8bdd5d5707d Retrieved April 22, 2020.

Cross Burning. In 2001, Hittner sentenced Matthew Marshall to 10 years in federal prison for leading a group that burned a cross in the front yard of an African-American family in the Houston suburb of Katy.{{Cite news |title=Ringleader gets 10 years for Katy cross burning |newspaper=Chron |url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/ringleader-gets-10-years-for-katy-cross-burning-1993409.php |access-date=2023-08-03}}

Enron. In 2004, Hittner presided over criminal proceedings against former Enron assistant treasurer Lea Weingarten Fastow, the wife of Enron executive Andrew Fastow. She eventually pleaded guilty to filing a false federal tax return and served one year in federal prison.{{Cite web |title=Lea Fastow gets the maximum: one year in prison |url=https://www.chron.com/business/enron/article/lea-fastow-gets-the-maximum-one-year-in-prison-1981501.php |access-date=2023-08-03}}

Financial Fraud. Hittner sentenced R. Allen Stanford to a total of 110 years in federal prison for orchestrating a 20-year investment fraud scheme.{{cite news|date=June 14, 2012|title=Allen Stanford jailed for 110 years for $7bn Ponzi|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18450893}} Stanford, the former chairman of Stanford International Bank, was found guilty of misappropriating more than $7 billion from his bank and financial institutions to finance his personal business and lifestyle. During the six-week trial in 2012, Stanford was convicted on 13 of 14 counts of conspiracy, fraud, obstruction and money laundering. The jury also found that 29 financial accounts located abroad—worth approximately $330 million—were proceeds of Stanford's fraud and should be forfeited.{{Cite web |date=2012-06-14 |title=Office of Public Affairs {{!}} Allen Stanford Sentenced to 110 Years in Prison for Orchestrating $7 Billion Investment Fraud Scheme {{!}} United States Department of Justice |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/allen-stanford-sentenced-110-years-prison-orchestrating-7-billion-investment-fraud-scheme |access-date=2023-08-03 |website=www.justice.gov |language=en}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2009-11-18 |title=Finra's flaws exposed: Special report on Madoff and Stanford scams calls for reform |url=https://www.investmentnews.com/finras-flaws-exposed-special-report-on-madoff-and-stanford-scams-calls-for-reform-24328 |access-date=2023-08-03 |website=InvestmentNews |language=en-US}}

At the time, the Stanford trial was the largest financial fraud case ever tried to a jury in federal court.{{Cite web |last=Cohn |first=Scott |date=2019-02-20 |title=Victims of that other Ponzi scheme—Allen Stanford's—say they have been short-changed |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/20/allen-stanfords-ponzi-scheme-victims-say-they-have-been-short-changed.html |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=CNBC |language=en}}

Sex Trafficking. In 2016, Hittner sentenced the organizer of a sex-trafficking ring that operated in Houston's East End to life in federal prison. Hortencia "Tencha" Medeles, then 70, was the leader of an international sex-trafficking ring that forced women, including minors, into prostitution. During the trial in 2015, jurors learned that Medeles owned a three-building complex in southeast Houston. Hidden doorways and staircases led from a downstairs cantina to a brothel upstairs where 17 rooms were rented out for sexual activities. Evidence presented in the case showed rooms were rented out 64,296 times during a 19-month period ending in 2013.{{Cite web |title=Sex trafficking brothel madam heads to federal prison |url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Madam-of-sex-trafficking-brothel-heads-to-federal-6771822.php |access-date=2023-08-03}}

Sandra Bland. In 2016, Hittner granted the agreed dismissal of a wrongful death civil rights lawsuit filed by the family of Sandra Bland, an African-American woman who died in a Texas county jail days after a traffic violation and controversial arrest. Her death was ruled a suicide. Following a judge-approved mediation, the lawyers representing Bland's family told Hittner that a legal settlement, $1.9 million, had resolved their claims.{{Cite web |date=2016-11-02 |title=Judge formally dismisses Sandra Bland lawsuit after deal |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-sandra-bland-lawsuit-dismissed-20161102-story.html |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=Chicago Tribune}}

Drag Ban. In 2023, Hittner ruled that Texas Senate Bill 12, legislation that criminalized drag performances in the presence of minors, was unconstitutional on five counts. He issued a permanent injunction against SB12.{{Cite magazine |date=2023-12-06 |title=The Drag Queens Fighting Performance Bans in Texas |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-southwest/the-drag-queens-fighting-performance-bans-in-texas |access-date=2023-12-11 |magazine=The New Yorker}}{{Cite web |date=2023-09-26 |title=Judge rules Texas' drag ban unconstitutional |url=https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/news/2023/09/26/judge-rules-texas--drag-ban-unconstitutional |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=Spectrum News 1}}

• State Bar of Texas' Presidents' Award as the Outstanding Lawyer in Texas (1984).{{Cite web|last=|first=|title=SDTX Bench Bar Conference bio, DavidHittner|url=https://www.txs.uscourts.gov/page/sdtx-bench-bar-conference-bio-judge-david-hittner|url-status=live|access-date=August 24, 2021|website=United States District & Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Texas|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825015840/https://www.txs.uscourts.gov/page/sdtx-bench-bar-conference-bio-judge-david-hittner |archive-date=2021-08-25 }}
• Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and recipient of the Lola Wright Foundation Award for the Enhancement of Legal Ethics (1985).{{Cite web |title=Lola Wright Foundation Award – Texas Bar Foundation |url=https://txbf.org/awards/lola-wright-foundation-award/ |access-date=2025-02-24 |language=en-US}}
• Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists' Civil Judge of the Year (1988).{{Cite web |title=TACTAS Awards |url=https://www.tactas.org/awards.html |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=www.tactas.org}}
• American College of Trial Lawyers' Samuel E. Gates Award recognizing improvement of the U.S. litigation process (1989).
• Houston Press Criminal Judge of the Year (1999).Best of Houston Awards, 1999, Box: 3, Folder: 25. Infernal Bridegroom Productions and The Catastrophic Theatre Records, 2017-013. University of Houston Libraries Special Collections. https://findingaids.lib.uh.edu//repositories/2/archival_objects/294702 Accessed February 24, 2025.
• Order of the Coif (honorary), the highest academic recognition for American law school graduates (2001).{{Cite journal |last=Criado, Kling & Jablonski |date=2014 |title=Briefcase: UHLC 2013 Annual Report |url=https://www.law.uh.edu/news/briefcase/v32n01.pdf |journal=University of Houston Law Center |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=22}}
• Texas Bar Foundation's Outstanding 50-Year Lawyer Award (2015).{{Cite web |title=Outstanding 50 Year Lawyer Award – Texas Bar Foundation |url=https://txbf.org/awards/outstanding-50-year-lawyer-award/ |access-date=2025-02-24 |language=en-US}}

• "Summary Judgments in Texas: State and Federal Practice," 12 recurring law review articles 1981 to 2023.{{Cite web |title=Judge Hittner Lynne Liberato Publish Updated Summary Judgment Guide |url=https://www.haynesboone.com/news/press-releases/judge-hittner-lynne-liberato-publish-updated-summary-judgment-guide |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=www.haynesboone.com |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=Hittner |first=Judge David |last2=Liberato |first2=Lynne |date=2015-02-09 |title=Summary Judgments in Texas: State and Federal Practice |url=https://houstonlawreview.org/article/3982-summary-judgments-in-texas-state-and-federal-practice |journal=Houston Law Review |language=en |volume=52 |issue=3}}
• "Federal Civil Procedure Before Trial - Fifth Circuit," a three-volume treatise, first published in 1991 and updated annually.{{Cite web |title=Federal civil procedure before trial : 5th Circuit edition {{!}} WorldCat.org |url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/federal-civil-procedure-before-trial-5th-circuit-edition/oclc/78057111 |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=search.worldcat.org |language=en}}
• Contributing author to the State Bar of Texas' "Texas Civil Trial Handbook," first published in 1985.{{Cite web |title=Digital Collection |url=https://www.sll.texas.gov/library-resources/collections/digital-collection/?subject-id=386&subject-name=civil-procedure&list=all-titles |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=www.sll.texas.gov}}
• Contributing author to the State Bar of Texas' "Texas Collections Manual," first and second editions published in 1987.{{Cite web |title=Digital Collection |url=https://www.sll.texas.gov/library-resources/collections/digital-collection/?subject-id=386&subject-name=civil-procedure&list=all-titles |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=www.sll.texas.gov}}
• Contributing author to the 15-volume treatise, "Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts," first, second, third, fourth, and fifth editions; initially published in 1998 and updated annually.{{Cite web |title=Book Review: Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, Fifth Edition |url=https://issuu.com/sanantoniobar/docs/sal-marapr23-mmc_digital/s/20874857 |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=Issuu |language=en}}
• Creator of "Saturday Morning in Court," a continuing legal education lecture series, presented nationwide from 1981 to 2007.{{Cite news |last=Gorham |first=Marilynne |date=July 2006 |title=Judicial Profile: Hon. David Hittner Senior U.S. District Judge, Southern District of Texas |url=https://www.fedbar.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/HittnerJuly2006_3-pgs-pdf-3.pdf |work=Federal Bar Association Judicial Profile |pages=3}}{{Cite journal |last=Davidson |first=Mark |date=2005 |title=Judge David Hittner-Last and Best of His Kind |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/stexlr46&id=581&collection=journals&index= |journal=South Texas College of Law - Law Review |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=571}}
• Law school and college lecturer at schools throughout the country, including Harvard Law School, the University of Texas School of Law, Tulane Law School, University of Houston Law Center, South Texas College of Law, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Hittner has three children, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.{{Cite journal |last=Rosenthal |first=Lee H. |date=2005 |title=Judge David Hittner: A View Through Chambers |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/stexlr46&id=578&men_tab=srchresults |journal=South Texas College of Law - Law Review |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=562}}

He is a Master Mason, a member of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry and the Shriners - embracing a family tradition that included his father and later his son. Masonic honors include the Thirty-Third Degree (1991); the Sam Houston Medal, the highest recognition of the Grand Lodge of Texas (2004); and the Thirty-Third Degree with Grand Cross - the rarest honor in Masonry (2019).{{Cite web |last=Daughtery |first=Deon |date=June 29, 2012 |title=Stanford Judge David Hittner opens up about his history, memorabilia and his favorite president |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/2012/06/federal-judge-david-hittner-opens-up.html |website=Houston Business Journal}}

Hittner became a Cub Scout in 1947 and has maintained his membership in the Boy Scouts of America throughout adulthood. He has been a scoutmaster and for more than 40 years he has served as a member of both the Sam Houston Area Council Board of Directors and the National Jewish Committee on Scouting. He has been a voting delegate on the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. His adult recognitions include the Silver Beaver Award (1974,) the Silver Antelope Award (1988) and the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (1989).{{Cite web |title=Distinguished Eagle Scout Award — Sam Houston Area Council |url=https://shacbsa.org/distinguished-eagle-scout-award |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=shacbsa.org}}{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=Edith H |date=2005 |title=In Honor of David Hittner: A Tribute to United States District Judge David Hittner |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/stexlr46&div=30&g_sent=1&casa_token=&collection=journals |journal=South Texas College of Law - Law Review |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=553-556}}

Among Hittner's other activities outside the courtroom:

During his career he has met six presidents of the United States.

He is a member of the American Legion, the Association of the United States Army and the 82nd Airborne Division Association.

Prior to his military service, he was a competitive flatwater canoeist and later served as a regional officer of the American Canoe Association.

He is the founder and former president of the Brooklyn Dodgers Fan Club of Houston.https://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/a-tale-of-two-home-runs-and-lessons-for-a-1483791.php

Hittner has played the acoustic 12-string and electric bass guitars in the Texas Barflies, a country-western band.

{{Reflist}}

• {{FJC Bio|nid=1382211}}
• "Judge Sentences AWOL Juror to 10 Days," by Harvey Rice, Houston Chronicle, April 26, 2005. https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Judge-sentences-AWOL-juror-to-10-days-1940530.php Retrieved April 22, 2020.
• "Judicial Profile," by Marilynne Gorham, Federal Bar Association, July 2006. https://www.fedbar.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/HittnerJuly2006_3-pgs-pdf-3.pdf Retrieved April 22, 2020.
• "Houston Judge Presides Over Wedding Court as Former U.S. Attorney, Teacher Marry," by Gabrielle Banks, Houston Chronicle, January 30, 2020. [https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-judge-presides-over-wedding-court-as-15015344.php https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-tex]{{Cite web |last=McConnico |first=Patricia Busa |accessdate= January 18, 2023 |title="Certification Matters" |url=https://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=articles&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=38575 |website=texasbar.com}}[https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-judge-presides-over-wedding-court-as-15015344.php as/houston/article/Houston-judge-presides-over-wedding-court-as-15015344.php] Retrieved April 22, 2020.
• "Judge David Hittner: All in the Family," by Lynne Liberato, 46 S. Tex. L. Rev. 573 (2004-2005), https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/stexlr46&div=33&id=&page= Retrieved April 22, 2020.
• "Treasure Hunter Who Tried to Google Gold Loses Bid," by Mary Flood, Houston Chronicle, April 27, 2009. https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Treasure-hunter-who-tried-to-Google-gold-loses-bid-1748948.php Retrieved April 22, 2020.
• "Profile: Judge David Hittner – Federal Jurist Sets Different Bar for Himself," by Alan Bernstein, Houston Chronicle, October 19, 2003. No electronic link available.

{{United States 5th Circuit senior district judges}}

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Category:1939 births

Category:Living people

Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas

Category:New York University School of Law alumni

Category:United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan

Category:United States Army officers

Category:21st-century American judges

Category:People from Schenectady, New York

Category:New York University alumni

Category:Texas lawyers