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Catherine Crier

Broadcast Journalist/Former Justice
Graduate of Richardson High School, Richardson

Catherine Crier joined the Court TV network in November 1999 and is host of the legal news program Crier Today. An experienced former judge, Crier offers insightful commentary and analysis on legal news and current issues.

Crier, an Emmy-award-winning journalist, anchored The Crier Report for the Fox News Channel prior to joining Court TV. Crier came to Fox News following a three-year stint at ABC News. As a news correspondent for World News Tonight, she provided comprehensive coverage of major news stories and reports on the American political scene and was a regular substitute anchor for Peter Jennings. In addition, she was a fill-in host for Ted Koppel on Nightline.

Before her assignment with World News Tonight, Crier was a correspondent on ABC’s 20/20, the network’s prime-time news magazine program. Her examination of nursing home abuses throughout the United States in the segment “The Predators” won Crier a 1996 Emmy for outstanding investigative journalism.

Crier began her distinguished career in television journalism at CNN. She was co-anchor of both Inside Politics, a daily examination of the 1992 political process, and The World Today, the network’s premier evening newscast. In addition, she hosted Crier & Company, a live news talk show.

Before her career move in 1989, Crier was a Texas state district judge, presiding over the 162nd District Court in Dallas County. She became the youngest elected state judge in Texas history when she took the bench in 1984. Unopposed in her reelection bid, she served a total of five years before resigning to begin her new duties at CNN.

From 1982-84, Crier was a civil litigation attorney with Riddle and Brown in Dallas. She was assistant district attorney and felony chief prosecutor for the Dallas County District Attorney’s office from 1978-81.

She has been a speaker and author for American, state, and local bar associations and a trial advocacy instructor for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and Southern Methodist University School of Law. She was an American Bar Association National Committee Chair for the Litigation Section and served two terms on the Texas State Bar Litigation Council, as well as on numerous state, local, and judicial committees.

Crier has received numerous awards and honors throughout her prestigious career. In 1996, she received the Les Femmes du Monde Award, sponsored by the Dallas Council on World Affairs. The Ex-Students’ Association of The University of Texas at Austin awarded her the 1990 Outstanding Young Texas Ex Award. She was recognized as one of TV Guide’s “Dynamite Dozen”; and The American Bar Association’s Barrister magazine honored her among their “Twenty Young Lawyers Who Make a Difference.”