Sam A. Lindsay Judge
Sam A. Lindsay (born 1951, San Antonio, Texas) is a United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, with chambers in Dallas, Texas.Lindsay was raised in South Texas. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in History and Government from St. Mary’s University in 1974, graduating magna cum laude. In 1977, he earned his J.D. degree from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin. From 1977-79, he was a staff attorney for the Texas Aeronautics Commission. In 1979, he joined the Dallas City Attorney's office, where he progressed through various posts until being named City Attorney in 1992. On November 8, 1997, Lindsay was nominated by President Bill Clinton to be a federal judge for the Northern District of Texas. He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on March 11, 1998. Lindsay was the first African American to serve on the federal District Court in Dallas.On May 21, 2007, Judge Lindsay issued an order blocking enforcement of an ordinance approved by the citizens of Farmers Branch, Texas. The ordinance would have authorized fines against property managers who rented to illegal immigrants.On January 22, 2015, Judge Lindsay sentenced Barrett Brown for his role in a December 2011 Anonymous hack of Texas-based Stratfor. Brown pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact, interfering with an FBI investigation, and threatening an FBI agent. At the time of sentencing, he had been in jail about 2.5 years. Judge Lindsay sentenced Brown to a total of 63 months in jail and fined him almost $1 million, with the money to be paid to Stratfor and other companies targeted by Anonymous. Jeremy Hammond, who was responsible for the Stratfor breach, pleaded guilty to one count, illegally accessing computer systems. In 2013, Judge Loretta Preska, US district court for the southern district of New York, sentenced Hammond to 10 years, the maximum allowed; news reports make no mention of Preska imposing a fine. Judge Lindsay is a Trustee of the Center for American and International Law (CAIL). Among other things, CAIL trains law enforcement officers, including FBI personnel.
