It can be great theater when an unpopular lame duck has confirmation fights with an opposition congress.

Shouldn't it be three-quarters capacity?

A. Person -- last I checked, 10/15 is kinda like two thirds.

idiot

No, two-thirds: Fifteen authorized judgeships, five of which are vacant, ten of which are fulled. 10/15 = 2/3

Truly a testament to a different era of judging, Judge Widener liked to call himself "just a country lawyer," but he was a terrific jurist for decades on the Fourth Circuit. He will be sorely missed.

How can this "source" be correct? The timeline doesn't support the accusation. Assuming Judge Widener was born in 1924 and appointed in 1963, under the "rule of 80" (once you reach 65 you are eligible for senior status the year in which your age plus years of service equals 80) he was eligible for senior status in 1989, when he was 65.

12:04, you are right that Judge Widener could have taken senior status long before George W. Bush became president, but I know that Judge Widener announced his intent to take senior status once his successor was confirmed, but that dragged on for several years and still hasn't happened.

I have also heard from more than one source that Judge Widener had wanted to take senior status for years, but said he would stay active until a replacement was ready. That he stayed on long after he wanted to is a testament to his sense of duty.

He was a good judge. Not fancy or showy, but fair.

I tender an offer of judgment in the amount of $38.75 for the retard's pants. Case over. 100K what the fuck?

Good f'n grief. You think they could vote in a few f'n nominees instead of spending every damn day manufacturing scandals at the DOJ. I'm so sick of these politicians...

On second thought, maybe we needed a tragedy to kick some sense into the obstructionist types. Now, the pressure will be greater than ever to hold some votes. Anyone who thought this country could afford to sit back and let the federal judiciary continue to disintegrate for 18 more months is insane. Partisanship has its limits, and we've just hit a brick wall.

you don't really think that the passing of a well respected and overworked judge would lead to easing partisan fighting over judicial appointments do you?

I was a relatively recent clerk for Judge Widener.

The man loved being a Judge, and was a dedicated public servant- he was proud of almost never missing work, including taking only a handful of days off following a very serious car accident that required him to have surgery to deal with a hematoma in his brain.

As others here have said, Judge Widener was a judge of a rapidly passing era (the blame for which lies at everyone's feet, including my own)- I began my clerkship excited at the prospect of being "in" on the great legal issues of the day, and all that other sort of things that only a new law school graduate can think. Instead, Judge Widener spent considerable amounts of time paring back sweeping pronouncements and paying close attention to the facts of the case; the narrower the holding, the better the result in his mind.

Although regularly counted among the "conservatives" of the circuit, he, again, displayed a conservatism of a greater, passing era; notably in my interview, he pointedly asked whether I was ready, willing and able to help him prepare opinions (1) striking down prayer in public schools (2) upholding the basic abortion rights spelled out in Casey and (3) upholding capital sentences where warranted. He recognized that these issues had been settled by a court higher than his, and did not try to undermine them, even where it was obvious his disagreed. Likewise, he displayed a concern for the interests of the average litigant fading from the upper echelons of our legal culture, where few if any members of the younger generation have represented individual workers compensation claimants or criminal defendants, as Judge Widener had done.

Above all else, though, Judge Widener was perhaps one of the most important historical figures from Abingdon since the early days of the town, when it supplied governors and generals to the Old Dominion. And yet, somehow, he seemed completely removed from those pretensions, and often would deny that he was of any note, despite the fact that his home was near "Widener Valley," named after some of the first settlers of the region, and that one of his ancestors was the Washington County delegate to Virginia's convention that ratified the Constitution. He was a man who had a glass goblet on his desk that had once belonged to Francis Scott Key that he kept pencils in (it was a gift to him as a boy from Key's grand-niece, or some other similar relation).

Even over the past year and a half, as Judge Widener battled increasing health problems such as lung cancer and serious injuries to his back, he continued to work, quietly, without complaint. Even at the end, as his health was rapidly declining, he kept the information quiet from his former clerks. He was always a private man in such regards.

I will miss him, and our judiciary is poorer for it. Sic transit gloria mundi legis.

Sic transit gloria mundi legis.

means I am a douchebag in Latin.

HEW Clerk -

Thank you for the wonderful tribute. The glory of this world is fleeting indeed. My condolences.

--Kentucky lawyer

"Try cases, not causes."

"If it ends in 'ly', it does not belong in the opinion."

"If you write the facts in your brief from the other side's point of view and the court adopts your fact section wholesale in its opinion, then you will know you have arrived."

"I think the idea that the lawyers doing pro bono should get special awards for doing so is utter crap. It is what lawyers are SUPPOSED to do."

He was from a different era, when small town lawyers took on small cases and big ones, and were just as likely to get paid in something bartered as they were to be paid in money. He believed in the system. He believed the facts were paramount. He believed in fundamental fairness.

He would hate that we are writing about him, hate the fuss, hate the tears. Sorry, Judge.

There are a lot of us, maybe even more than 100, on whom you left your indelible mark, as lawyers and as people. Today we just can't help but make a fuss.

"Sic transit gloria mundi legis.

means I am a douchebag in Latin."

Oh, it's Latin. I thought that guy fell asleep while writing.

1:42: Way to go, dude.

Judge Widener was a wonderful person and a great mentor. Serving for him was truly a learning and wonderful experience. His stories of how "real" law was practiced and what a good lawyer should do taught me a lot.

Judge Widener was never one to get outraged or angry even by most asinine legal arguments. He would have every side have their say, and he would listen patiently. He may not have agreed with you, but he was always courteous and polite in his disagreements. That is often missing from today's lawyers. The strongest rebuke that Judge Widener could have inserted into an opinion was a statement that "proceeding in this manner does not add weight to the argument." Never, in an opinion, would he call something "ridiculous" or "outlandish." Unlike many judges, he did not write "for the books." He wrote for the litigants, i.e., the people who sought his help in resolving complicated legal issues.

And of course, Judge Widener has a tremendous sense of duty. Despite his deteriorating health, he continued in active service almost to the last day. He continued to teach his seminar on the Federalist Papers, even though it required 3 hours of travel each way. He worked daily, almost never taking time off or leaving early. He never turned down an additional assignmnet of an emergency appeal, or extraordinary petition. He continued to carry full load of cases, just like every other judge on that court, despite being in a much worse state of health.

Judge Widener will be sorely missed.

This judicial gridlock is absurd. One of the 4th Circuit seats has been open since 1994. That's 13 years of political posturing. Both parties are just as guilty. Sa da tay, sa da tay.

I took HEW's Fed Papers seminar. I was struck by his geniality and the importance he gave the historic origins of our judicial system (and the entire government); it mattered to him, when he considered his own proper role, that Edward Coke and Francis Bacon were archenemies...seemed like a really nice guy. And he gave me an A.

I'm sure whoever Presidenty Hillary appoints to fill his seat will be a fine jurist.

This is a sad event for the federal judiciary, HEW will be sorely missed.

With regard to the nominations on the CA4, James you can blame J. Harvey Wilkinson, who, as chief judge, testified before Congress that the Fourth Circuit didn't need the vacancies filled during the Clinton administration, and Jesse Helms, who blue-slipped every nominee from NC during Clinton's 8 years (thus, NC has one member, whereas SC has three, and had four until Wilkins retired).

Bush has had three nominees confirmed to the CA4 (Gregory, Shedd, and Duncan), and then he started putting up hacks (Claude Allen -- why does every Duke Law grad other than Judge Duncan embarrass us so?) and people he knows he can't get confirmed (you know who you are). Now he has no political capital, and too much pride to "bow" to dems by appointing someone who is both qualified and not a policy wonk. If the CA4 has too many openings, the blame rests squarely with Republicans.

As a former HEW clerk of somewhat ancient vintage, I second HEW Clerk's comments. While the Judge's political views were somewhat more conservative than mine, he was always a gentlemen of the greatest fairness, decency and integrity and his passing is a real loss for the 4th and the federal judiciary generally.

For much of his time on the court, the Judge's closest friend was Donald Russell of SC. Judge Russell never took senior status and continued to serve until he died in 1998 at age 92 after 27 years on the 4th. Judge Russell's views on senior status undoubtedly influenced HEW's.