THE ROBING ROOM

Unfortunately, passed away within the last few months. Seems to be a large divide between how criminal and civil practitioners evaluate him. Having practiced before him for about forty years as a federal prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer, if he perceived or learned of government overreaching, he would demand full and effective inquiry to expose lack of fairness. In my opinion, one of the most intellectually-honest judges on the federal bench. Tried the McVeigh - Nichols cases, and restored national respect and dignity to the courts, after the folly of the O. J. Simpson case in CA. Administered some of the most challenging cases in the District of Colorado (e.g. Aryan Brotherhood murder of talk show host Alan Berg, Denver school desegregation case) without concern about the public's or media's reaction. Though all practitioners probably faced his scorn on occasion, he demanded preparedness and attention to the relevant issues. He was usually two-to-three steps ahead of the litigants in evaluating the issues. We have lost a great one.