Longtime federal judge Brieant dies

NEW YORK, July 27 (UPI) -- Charles L. Brieant Jr., a former chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, has died. He was 85.

Brieant died last week in Manhattan, The New York Times reported Sunday. His son, Charles Brieant III, said his father died of cancer.

Brieant presided over a bevy of controversial cases, including ones involving race and gender discrimination and whether Alcoholics Anonymous is akin to a religion.

His most controversial decision came in January 1986 when he ruled that oil giant Texaco did not have to post a $12 billion bond in a Texas court case brought by Pennzoil.

Legal observers thought it unusual that a federal judge would intervene in a state court case.

In all, Brieant presided over more than 15,000 cases in his 36 years as a federal judge. He was appointed to the federal bench by President Richard Nixon and remained a judge until last year.

Besides his son, Brieant is survived by his wife of 60 years Virginia, daughters Cynthia Hendricks, Julia Clavette and Victoria Brieant, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.