Is your job guaranteed for life?

Probably not, unless you’re a federal judge. They’re appointed by the president.

But what if they mess up on the job, really badly?

That’s the controversy unfolding right now involving one powerful judge who some say pushes the limits too far.

Investors fighting with the Landry’s restaurant chain; developers fighting to build houses in sensitive areas; families of workers suing BP after a deadly explosion: They are real-life legal battles that ended up in the U.S. District Court in Galveston in the courtroom of Federal Judge Samuel B. Kent.

A man who people said, “was a bigger-than-life kind of guy,” “a real charmer, smart, he had a photographic memory,” and a “fair judge held in high regard.”

But these days, if you go behind the courthouse you will find the judge’s parking spot empty.

That’s because Judge Kent is himself the subject of a federal court order -- an order of reprimand.

A panel of his peers has put him on a four-month leave of absence. Why?

A female court employee alleged Judge Kent sexually harassed her, and other employees complained of the judge’s inappropriate behavior.”

In the world of the federal judiciary, this is a very big deal.

“It’s very unusual,” said James Alfini is the dean of the South Texas College of Law and wrote the book on judicial ethics. “Like the clergy, it’s expected they’ll be beyond reproach. And what we have here is a judge that obviously is not beyond reproach. And the question becomes: well, what do we do with him?”

Some in Congress have suggested investigating him further because at this point, nothing has been revealed officially about exactly what he’s accused of doing to the employees.

So 11 News sought others for their opinions by tracking down people who knew Judge Kent, people who had worked around him or appeared before him in his courtroom here in Galveston.

But getting people to talk about him wasn’t easy.

None would go on camera, but one of the same people who had kind words for him also said: “I felt uncomfortable, afraid around him. You never knew what to expect.”

Another who said she witnessed him being what she considered being verbally abusive:  “I would have filed a grievance against him, but I was afraid. He’ll hold you in contempt.”

But it wasn’t just people in Galveston who felt this way:

Like Judge Judy on TV, Judge Kent has gained a national reputation for what one law professor called “Bullying from the Bench.” One article picked apart an opinion Judge Kent wrote about a case involving a seaman who was seriously injured when he fell from a tugboat at a dock.

Judge Kent made references to a “long walk on a short legal pier” and how the lawyer’s brief smelled “like a wet dog.”

The article said the judge was not only being insensitive to the injured seaman but was lowering the civility of the courts.

“By belittling the lawyers who appear before him, Judge Kent used his authority to humiliate people ...There is a name for this sort of behavior .... it’s bullying,” the article read.

It may make for entertaining TV shows, but in a real courtroom?

“A judge runs that risk of crossing the line of offending people, of looking less than impartial,” Alfini said.

Judge Kent lives outside Galveston down a road blocked by a gate. 11 News was unable to talk to him, and a call to his attorney was not returned.

As things stand, Judge Kent is due to return to the bench in January.