TEXARKANA, Texas — United States Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven is retiring from a federal bench in Texarkana after 24 years of service.
Craven was selected to be a magistrate in the Eastern District of Texas in May 1998. She has been involved in countless federal civil and criminal cases during her tenure. She intends to hang up her robe and immerse herself in “the family business” operated by her husband.
“No law at all,” Craven mused, when asked what’s next for her. “I’m ready to get back to being Caroline.”
Before beginning her work as a judge handling pretrial matters in all kinds of civil cases and a variety of duties associated with criminal matters in the Eastern District of Texas, Craven worked as a law clerk for retired U.S. District Judge David Folsom. Craven clerked for Folsom during the time he presided over a landmark lawsuit against Big Tobacco filed in Texarkana.
Craven said that as a judge she has weighed in on a wide range of legal actions from cases involving dog bites, to slip-and-falls, to patent disputes and corporate conflicts. Craven struggles to recall all of the cases she’s had a hand in but a few come to mind, like a criminal case involving a New Boston, Texas, woman who sent letters laced with poisonous ricin to the U.S. President and others.
Like Craven, the defendant in the case had red hair.
“I got chased leaving the courthouse,” Craven said.
Photojournalists hoping for a shot of the defendant mistook Craven for the accused.
“It has been a great 24 years. Texarkana has been a great place to have a career,” the Hot Springs native said. “I have loved working in downtown Texarkana and getting to work in such a special building.”
Craven spoke nostalgically of watching visitors pose for pictures at Photographer’s Island, the place to go if you want to stand with one foot in Texas and another in Arkansas in front of the only federal building in the country that straddles a state line. Craven wonders if her law clerk has broken the record for number of times crossing a state line in a single day in a single building.
Craven said Texarkana’s unique geography provided her the opportunity to preside over matters in Arkansas as well as in Texas. Craven, like the magistrate serving the Western District of Arkansas in Texarkana, is cross designated, meaning she could step in when needed in a federal case across the hall and across the state line.
The job came with unique opportunities.
“I slow-danced once with Scalia. I think it was to Frank Sinatra,” Craven said. “That’s one benefit of being a female judge.”
Craven said her work has been rewarding for many reasons.
“I’ve met lawyers and made friends from coast to coast,” Craven said. “I’ve worked with so many great people and for so many great judges. But it’s the taxpayers I served. I am really grateful to them.”
Craven said she and the other judges officing in Texarkana’s downtown federal building strive to do “sophisticated work at a servant’s heart level.”
Craven officially retired on May 25.