Catherine Crier

Background

Catherine Crier was born on November 6, 1954 in Dallas, Texas, United States to the family of a banker William Crier and a horse breeder and homemaker Ann Crier. Catherine has two sisters.

Education

Catherine studied at Richardson High School. As a child, she was enchanted by film portrayals of crusading lawyers like Clarence Darrow and Atticus Finch. Thus, after graduation, Catherine went to the University of Texas where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and international affairs. In a couple of years, Crier also earned a Juris Doctor from Southern Methodist University School of Law.

Career

Crier worked as the assistant district attorney and felony chief prosecutor for the Dallas County District Attorney’s office from 1978 to 1981, and then as a civil litigation lawyer with Riddle & Brown from 1982 until 1984. After that she became the youngest state judge ever elected in Texas, where Crier presided over a district court in Dallas County.

However, a chance meeting with a television news executive changed totally Crier's career path, and she entered broadcast life. First, she was hired as an anchor for Cable News Network. That was followed by American Broadcasting Companies and Fox News where Catherine worked on television shows including Nightline, ABC Weekend News, World News Tonight, Fox Files, The Crier Report, Crier Today and Catherine Crier Live. In 2007 Crier joined Cajole Entertainment as a managing partner.

In an interview with Mimi Swartz in Texas Monthly, Crier commented on her journalistic style, saying that she looks "for grays, even though black and white make for better television."

Achievements

• Catherine Crier was the youngest state judge to ever be elected in Texas. When Crier entered broadcast career, she became an Emmy and duPont-Columbia Award-winning journalist.

Works

More photos

• book

  • A Deadly Game: The Untold Story of the Scott Peterson Investigation

    (Catherine Crier offers a riveting and authoritative accou...)

    2012
  • Patriot Acts

    (Catherine Crier presents an incisive, unbiased analysis o...)

    2011
  • Final Analysis: The Untold Story of the Susan Polk Murder Case

    (In October 2002, Susan Polk, a housewife and mother of th...)

    2009
  • The Case Against Lawyers

    (It is both an angry indictment and an eloquent plea for a...)

    2002

Views

Crier has been one of the most outspoken voices on the need to reform the American justice system. She has spent several decades informing and educating the general public about the U.S. legal system through her work as a journalist, media personality, and best-selling author.

The Case against Lawyers contains stories about what is wrong with the U.S. legal system. According to Crier, there are too many rules, entitlements and lawsuits. She criticizes plaintiffs’ attorneys, who she blames for inflated damage awards, for class-action suits designed to pay lawyers a lot, but plaintiffs only a little, and for warning labels that, for example, remind mothers to remove their children before folding up their strollers. Crier also charges that there is too much political correctness, U.S. public schools are horrible, governmental groups are over-powerful, and politicians don’t truly want finance reform. She critiques both the Left and the Right, including comments on George Bush, Jr.’s Enron connections and on Bill Clinton's relationship with China.

Off screen, Crier advocates for greater gun control, objective military reporting, increased assistance to American troops, and greater participation of every day citizens in the American justice system.

Membership

• Soldiers For The Truth , United States

• PAX , United States

Personality

Crier's friends describe her as a funny, ambitious, self-centered, caring, sensitive, and very private person.

Quotes from others about the person

• Cheryl Jerome, a lawyer, Crier's close friend: "She’s one of the nicest, most insecure people you’ll ever meet. She thinks she’s ugly. She doesn’t know how she ever did modeling. She doesn’t think she’s bright. She has this bizarre view of herself, but I don’t know where it comes from."

Interests

• Working with Arabian horses

• Sport & Clubs

  Golf, scuba diving

Connections

In 1978 Catherine got married to Michael Barrett. However, after 9 years, they separated. Since 1994 she has been married to Christopher Wilson. He works as a shipping broker and is the owner of an import gallery.

Father:

William Crier

Mother:

Ann Crier

husband:

Christopher Wilson

Ex-husband:

Michael Barrett

colleague:

Cole Thompson

colleague:

Victoria Principal

Friend:

Anne Packer

Friend:

Cheryl Jerome