Catherine Crier
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
The Dan and Gail Cook Lecture
"Opportunity in America: Is the Playing Field Level?"
An Emmy, duPont-Columbia, and Gracie Allen Award-winning journalist and
the youngest state judge to ever be elected in Texas, Catherine Crier joined
Court TV's distinguished team of anchors in November 1999. She serves as
Executive Editor, Legal News Specials, in addition to hosting Catherine
Crier Live, a fast-paced, live daily series that premiered in February 2001
and addresses the legal perspective of the day's front-page story. Catherine,
a Texas-bred independent with a spirited passion for justice, released her
first book, the New York Times Bestseller The Case Against Lawyers on October
8, 2002. In this eye-opening and plainspoken treatise on the law, Catherine
shares her outrage at the state of the justice system and calls American
citizens to demand reform.
Catherine previously anchored Crier Today, which debuted on the network January 10, 2000. In addition, she has hosted Court TV's signature prime time series The System and numerous other specials such as Court TV Investigates: The Laci Peterson Murder, Serial Sniper: The Investigation, The Skakel Jury Speaks with Dominick Dunne and Catherine Crier, Osama bin Laden on Trial and Safe Passage: Voices from the Middle School, part of the network's public affairs initiative Choices and Consequences. Crier's work on The System documentary The Interrogation of Michael Crowe was recognized with a duPont-Columbia Award, and Crier has received two Gracie Allen awards (presented by the Foundation for American Women in Radio and Television) for Outstanding Program Host and for the Catherine Crier Live special, Grandmothers: Voices from Oklahoma City.
Prior to joining Court TV, Crier anchored The Crier Report for Fox News Channel, a live, one-hour interview program airing nightly, during which she interviewed the leading newsmakers of the day and celebrities. Crier joined Fox News after spending three and a half years at ABC News. There, she served as a correspondent and as a regular substitute anchor for Peter Jennings on ABC's World News Tonight, as well as a substitute host for Ted Koppel's Nightline. She also worked as a correspondent on 20/20, the primetime news magazine program. She was awarded a 1996 Emmy for outstanding investigative journalism for her work on the segment The Predators, which examined nursing home abuses throughout the United States.
Prior to her accomplished career in television journalism, Catherine presided over the 162nd District Court in Dallas County, Texas as a State District Judge. When she took the bench in 1984, she became the youngest elected state judge in Texas history. From 1982 to 1984 Crier was a civil litigation attorney in Dallas and before that, an assistant district attorney and felony chief prosecutor for the Dallas County District Attorney's office from 1978 to 1981.
Catherine, a native of Dallas, earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and international affairs from the University of Texas. She received a Juris Doctor in two and a half years from Southern Methodist University School of Law. Catherine lives in Westchester County, New York.