Judge katzmann good afternoon. I am chief judge of the u. S. Court of appeals for the Second Circuit. With us today along with the judges of the court of appeals are three distinguished justices of the Supreme Court. Our cherished circuit Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg, our beloved colleague, former colleague, Justice Sonia sotomayor who for many years was a member of this court. Last year she graciously launched our 125th Anniversary Program from the bench. Justice elena kagan a great friend of the Second Circuit who participated in our 125th Anniversary Program on Thurgood Marshall. Judicial colleagues, staff, members of the bar, and friends of the Second Circuit it is an honor to welcome you here this afternoon to this special session of court as we bring to a close our courts year long retrospective marking 125 years of the u. S. Court of appeals the Second Circuit. For all of us, it has been special always to be in this historic courtroom where so many noteworthy cases have been adjudicated. As chief judge, i serve with superb colleagues. To the fairitted and Effective Administration of justice. We have been fortunate to have the great advocacy of those who have argued in this courtroom. When i proposed a project for the 125th Year Anniversary of our court, i did so not for selfcelebration but because any institution, if it is to do its work well, should from time to time reflect on its past to better resolve the present and to meet the challenges of the future. To that end, my colleagues agreed to pursue a wide range of activities relating to the 125 Year Experience as we had done some 30 years ago. Dont worry, there will not he another one 5 years from now. [laughter] that committee consisted of a dedicated group of judges, Court Administrators, court staff, members of the bar, law school educators, and law students. To each of whom on behalf of our court i extend my deep gratitude. As we look back on the 125 Year Anniversary project, resulting are some remarkable products. For example, a book of biographies of judges of the Second Circuit published by the cornell law review. An exhibit on the cases of the Second Circuit. A series of programs in the courthouse including sessions with Thurgood Marshall and others covered by cspan. A lecture on ulysses. A series of lectures on star cases under the leadership of others. And todays program, with Columbia Law School and our Anniversary Committee. At this event, we have a wonderful circuit justice, ruth bader ginsburg. For more than 23 years, Justice Ginsburg has been our guardian, our guardian angel, any of the major proceedings we have are not complete without her. Her appearance at the Second Circuit conference is what we look most forward to each year and that she is with us at a difficult time in her court work every year at the circuit conference is more amazing. She is a special place in all of our hearts. This great human, this path making lawyer and jurist. All. Caring friend to us Justice Ginsburg well knows in this courthouse, having served for judge palmieri, i know others in this courtroom 18 years ago that Justice Ginsburg swore me in with the wonderful Marty Ginsburg present. I will always be grateful for her many acts of caring and kindness over so many years. Her, i woulducing note that as the Holiday Season is fast approaching, for your gift ideas i recommend my own ginsburg, the wonderful collection of her writings. Justice ginsburg. [applause] Justice Ginsburg it is a delight to be with all of you for this celebration. I am going to start my remarks with a brief remembrance of things past. What was the Second Circuit like 19591961, the years i served for judge palmieri and how did those days compare with the circuit today . The most evident difference is the size of the court. It has grown. Composition in 1959 was six active judges, four seniors, all were male. So, too, were all of the district judges. Today there are 11 active judges, 10 seniors in service. Of the 11 active judges, seven are male and four of them are female. Three are not caucasian. , two allrkship years federal greats served the court simultaneously. In 1959, it was the year Henry Friendly was appointed and senior circuit judge learned hand was still hearing cases. The caseload in july 1959june 1960, the court of appeals disclosed 554 cases. 2015 to 25th to 2016, where case dispositions amounted to. Amounted to 4743. The District Court bench in 1959 numbered 32 active judges and eight seniors. Today, district judges in the circuit include 52 active members and 51 seniors. Bankruptcy judges did not exist, although as i recall district judges were aided by expert bankruptcy referees. And there were no magistrate judges, only parttime commissioners with authority to issue search and arrest warrants and set bail bonds. The most notable decision 57 years ago was in the appellation conspiracy case. It was argued on appeal in june and decided in november of 1960. The case stemmed from a gathering of some 58 men, most with italian surnames. The men used a village in new yorks and the estate of a man long suspected of leading illegal gambling in upstate new york. Departing from the meeting, many of the participants were questioned by the Police Awaiting them before they hit the main road. Each answered independently. Their accounts of why they were there varied, but none default none divulged the purpose of the gathering. Charged by presiding judge irving townsend, the court convicted 20 of conspiracy to obstruct justice and commit perjury. Convicted defendants served terms running from 35 years. I sat in on parts of the trial, as did many others. It was quite a show. In an opinion by judge lombard, the court of appeals roundly reversed the convictions. With no evidence of the meetings purpose, the government cannot create a case by indicting attendees for conspiracy to lie for the reason about the gathering. It was entirely likely, the court of appeal said, that each defendant decided for themselves to not discuss what they knew about the meeting. The message conveyed suspicion in the social desirability of sending bad men to jail is no substitute for proof of crime. Without reaching any constitutional question, the Second Circuit cautioned the government against shotgun conspiracy charges and admonished trial judges in deciding the government had to make a case to go to the jury to analyze the evidence and each defendant with meticulous care. Judge fox stated, a prosecution framed on such a doubtful basis should never have been initiated or allowed to proceed so far. For in america, we still respect the dignity of the individuals. Even an unsavory character is not to be imprisoned except on definite proof of specific crimes. An instructive judgment for prosecutors and judges to this day, dont you agree . Let me turn that to the remarkable man were celebrating this remarkable year. D two yearsble die before i entered law school. He was a man who thrived on the District Court but understood the importance of collegiality on an appellate bench. It was written on his passing, harmoniously combining discipline and compassion, he was one of those rare persons who made virtue attractive and nobility convincing. We can draw inspiration from he gave to lawyers in 1951, not the best of times for our nation. Fears and concerns about the individual, no matter how inconspicuous. We are not the first to be in dire straits, he recalled. And we may be very sure we will not be the last. What we can do, he said, is to set out resolutely to understand this mysterious age and to contribute at least one more voice of reason to a distracted world. Good advice for our time. Isnt that so . Fortune favored me. In the last years, when learned hand graced the federal bench from 1959 to 1961, i clerked in those years. For a wise and kind Southern District judge, judge palmieri. Block up fromne judge hands. He regularly drove the revered elder judge home at the end of the day. Many times i rode uptown with them, seated in the back of judge palmieris mercedes. I was treated to extraordinary entertainment. Poetry,nd would recite or seeing gilbert and sullivan ballads and sometimes songs of the sea when he was in a sober mood, calvinist hymns. His vocabulary was large and uninhibited. He more than occasionally used words my mother never taught me. [laughter] any other judge, including those who served on the Supreme Court, i wanted to clerk for the man his friends affectionately called b, for billy. Why i asked from my backseat, why dont you engage women . From what i hear you say in this law the presence of a woman clerk would not force you to censor your speech. Young lady, he answered, im not looking at you. [laughter] Justice Ginsburg and that is how it was then. In pretitle 7 days. Most of what i know from judge hand comes from a biography of learned hand, 25 years of a work in progress. The book was at last published in 1994, trimmed down to 680 pages. At my washington, d. C. , welcoming circuit in 1980 i asked my teacher at columbia before going west to stanford to convey something from the pages advice fitting for a new judge. He chose and delivered words from judge hands 1939 memorial tribute to Benjamin Nathan cardoza. Of him, judge hand said, he never disguised the difficulties as lazy judges do who win the game by sweeping all the opposing chess pieces off the table. He would often start by stating the other side better than his adversary had stated it himself. At times, to those of us who the anguish which had preceded the hard decision was apparent. He wrote his opinions with his very blood, but he knew it was the judges duty ultimately to decide, not endlessly to debate. His expression here, as in other tributes to colleagues he respected, tell us at least as much about hand as they do about the colleague. In his 52 years on the federal bench, hand contributed enormously to jurist rudiments which still guides us. Long before the Supreme Court reversed course, he was a leading critic. While still a district judge, he developed an approach protective of politically unpopular speech. His opinion in that case may have cost him an appointment to the next vacancy on the appellate bench. The Second Circuit reversed learned hands decision but 8 years after his death, the Supreme Court embraced and stated in deportation cases he revealed another already. Compassion and caring. Appreciation that Court Decisions affect the lives of everyday people. If appointed to the Supreme Court bench, chief justice taft feared he would pair with brandeis. And become a dissenter. Ultimately it rested on his power to persuade and persuade others he had to persuade himself. The biography tells for example how learned hand was agonized over cases, drawing diagrams, raging pens, pencils, and equals to represent the positions of ships and ears. Sometimes he reached the exasperation point. It was reported, when i told him the judges 13th draft still did not get it quite right. Learned hand hurled a paperweight in his direction and then consoled the distraught clerk with an affectionate pat on the head. It is comforting to know that learned hands eloquent opinions did not spring from the head as zeus. Recalled the in the touching portrait of learned hand published by the federal bar council in 1983, he was never sure about anything except the importance of searching for the truth. More expansively, my Dear Colleague david suter wrote learned hands necessities saw every judges common obligation. Suspicion of the easy cases, skepticism about clearedged categories, modesty and place of candor and playing one worthy principle against another. Best known of learned hands public addresses, the remarks he made at mayor laguardias request, at central park on may 21 in the war year 1944. To an audience of over 1. 5 million including 150,000 newly naturalized citizens, learned hand spoke of liberty not as an ideal written on parchment, but as a spirit lodged in the hearts of men and women. This, iis, to end will quote learned hands famous words. What end is the spirit of liberty . I cannot define it. I can only tell you my own faith. The spirit of liberty is a spirit which is not to surely it is right. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the mindset of other men and women. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their interest alongside its own without bias. In a kingdom where that spirit prevails, learned hand said, the least shall be heard and considered sidebyside with the greatest. To that, may we say amen. [applause] thank you for that very special remembrance Justice Ginsburg, we are so grateful for those words. At our Opening Program last year, i made a comparison of the court to an orchestra. A great orchestra, like the great court, depends upon a shared view and deep commitment to the values and purposes of the enterprise. Its players, though they may come with different perspectives, though they may play different instruments, read from the same score. Labor in an ongoing and noncompetitive relationship with one another, respect one anothers strengths, forego ego for the greater good, on her patients and recognize the excellence of the combined energies, experiences, and insights of the full complement of players. Our conductor for our 125th Anniversary Program has been judge Richard C Wesley call now to review the year past and discuss those who made this year possible. A former judge, a former elected legislator, richard is a person of substantial talent and ability as a jurist and colleague. He has been the perfect chair of our committee. Working closely with our Court Administrators and their teams. Director of legal affairs, our clerk of court, all the teams. All who have worked on this project which has so fully captivated and engaged our judges, court, staff, barter, scholars, and law students. To all i say thank you and bravo. Judge wesley, as the final movement of our Concert Series is played, will you please take the podium . [applause] wesley you notice out karen is always reminding me to do something . I think she is the spirit of betty wesley reincarnated, who passed away 12 or 13 years ago. A personal thank you for your kind words. I deeply respect and appreciate the trust you place in me and i hope the efforts we put forth up have been worthy of that trust and respect. I am honored by the people i mentioned to you tonight. I am honored to hold this responsibility you entrusted to me. It is hard for me to believe that three years have passed the chief asked me to chair the 125th anniversary. We are here tonight to conclude the final celebration of the 125th anniversary year. What a spectacular year it has been. Chief, would like to personally thank you for the confidence you placed in me for this assignment. We assembled a committee of circuit judges, respected members of our bar, and began this journey on october 20 6, 2016 and it concludes tonight. The planning for those events began in midoctober 2014 and took over two years before we launched our very first event. During the course of planning and presenting of the events, the members of the committee learned a great deal. A great deal about the men and women who brought the cases to this great court and about those who have labored here. I think all of us agree this was time very well spent. We have published two publications. The circuit judges biographical anthology published by that great school which happens to be my alma mater, the cornell law review and now the cornell press. And a volume of seven substantive articles on key areas of Second Circuit jurisprudence by the florida law review. And they were well received by scholars and judges and lawyers alike. I believe the two deans of those institutions are with us today. There they are. Gentlemen, please rise. [applause] judge wesley it did not take any time at all to respond to the request. Their editorial boards responded with great enthusiasm. It was a joy for the judges of the court to work with both members of the staff and the authors who wrote the articles. It was a tremendous collaborative effort and i think the students enjoyed it greatly and i know the judges enjoyed it greatly. There were a few judges that were not hot on giving us their biographies, what i ultimately wore them down. It was a wonderful expense. All of us benefited from it. If you go around the country or sit on the committee, talking about what we were doing and the Second Circuit to some of my colleagues around the country, i said we are publishing an anthology, biographies of the judges and also a group of seven articles about the jurisprudence and the seventh circuit. Silence. None of the other circuits have gone to the extent we have gone to celebrate the joy of 125 years in our court. I did promise judge katzmann i would be brief and i know he knows that was a false promise. But one of my purposes is a set of tha