Second court of appeals in new york city. It is about two hours. Im Robert Katzman and i am chief judge of the United States courts of appeal of the Second Circuit. Today is a very special day. Here in thiss are unprecedented gathering in four courtrooms of the Thurgood Marshall courthouse to celebrate an american hero. Thurgood marshall, whose memory dedicated,ouse is the courthouse where he served in the Second Circuit. Our gathering is at the intersection of two initiatives, which have engaged the courts of the Second Circuit the last two years. Which i had the privilege of proposing, which have taken life because of the creative and dedicated work of remarkable colleagues, of the bench, bar and our court staff. The first demo the 125th Anniversary Commemoration of the second court of appeals, wonderfully chaired by richard c wesley, has several components, including scholarly volume and public events. As we take stock of our past, to better understand how our work has evolved, so to better meet the challenges of the present and the future. Initiative, justice rall, courts and the community, is a project of all the courts of the Second Circuit, a project which, through a wide range of ongoing Civic Education activities, seeks to bring courts and communities closer together. To promote public understanding of the courts and to help courts better understand the communities we serve. Early in the new year, we will be going live with our Civic Education website, which can be be able which you will to find on the court of appeals website and we invite you to explore it. Thurgood marshalls life is very much a part of both of these initiatives. As to our courts history, a 1961, president john f. Kennedy appointed Thurgood Marshall as a circuit judge on this Court President kennedy appointed Thurgood Marshall as the circuit judge on this court where he sat in this very court until 1965 when president johnson appointed him first as solicitor general of the United States and then as an associate justice of the United StatesSupreme Court, the first African American appointed to that highest court in our land, in a career on the court that spanned 32 years. In this building, Justice Marshall occupied chambers on the 20th floor. His successor in that space, our beloved Wilford Kleinberg also occupied that space succeeding Justice Marshall. Over the years, judge feinberg had the opportunity to move to bigger quarters as he gained in seniority. But he never left Justice Marshalls chambers. As he said to me, if it was good enough for Thurgood Marshall, it is good enough for me. Second circuit judge marshall wrote 98 majority opinions, eight concurrences, and 12 dissents as our staff attorney noted in his article for the 125th anniversary collection of biographies of judges of the Second Circuit published by the cornell law review. In the last few years, we have taken steps to assure that Thurgood Marshalls legacy is appropriately honored here in this courthouse. Two years ago, gilbert king, Pulitzer Prize winning author, delivered the lecture of our court about marshalls courageous defense in 1949 of the four young black men accused of raping a white woman. In our lobby, as you no doubt observed, everyone who enters this building will see the photographs of various aspects of Justice Marshalls incredible career. In development with deep appreciation to circuit judge ralph winter and Southern District judge Paul Engelmayer, both marshall clerks, and our terrific library team, is an exhibit about the extraordinary life and times of Thurgood Marshall is a courageous civil rights leader who worked tirelessly to rid this country of the scourge of segregation and racism. As the executive director of the naacp legal and education defense fund, is a plague is attorney in brown v. Board of education, as solicitor general, as a jurist on the Second Circuit and on the Supreme Court, you will be able to see the videos and hear Thurgood Marshalls voice arguing in the Supreme Court. You will have a sense of the impact on the worlds with which he interacted. Students will be able to explore further the legacy of Thurgood Marshall when this spring we inaugurate on the fifth floor of this courthouse a stateoftheart Learning Center, a Civic Education initiative. And you will be able to see in permanent ways the life of Thurgood Marshall. That is a project which i cochair with judge Victor Marrero of the Southern District of new york. Today, we are graced by representatives of the marshall family. His son, thurgood, jr. , thurgoods wife, and his grandson. With great thanks to ira feinberg, we have an outstanding we have his former clerks. The program we are about to witness consists of a stellar assemblage, many of them are friends of mine of longstanding who took time from their busy schedules to participate and who i think most warmly. Elena kagan, a supremely talented and brilliant Supreme Court justice, like her former boss, also a former solicitor general, and before that the dean of the harvard law school. Martha minow, a renowned scholar of public policy. Ricky revesz, the director of the Law Institute and former dean of the nyu school of law and leading expert on environment to law. Gregory diskant, a highly regarded litigator. Sheryll cashin, a distinguished scholar of social policy. And judge Paul Engelmayer, a superb judicial colleague of the Southern District of new york. Without further delay, i turn the proceedings over to judge wesley who has magnificently overseen this 125th anniversary celebration. Judge wesley. [applause] judge wesley three seats left. [laughter] i have to say, i am a little nervous standing in the well with such a distinguished panel. I am glad i have not been a lawyer for 30 years arguing. I dont know how i would fare with the group i am facing. A bit of administrative staff. Please turn off your cellphones. Please turn off your cellphones. If they ring, i will be very unhappy. Thank you for your kind introduction. In 2014, the Second Circuit result present a series of programs during the 201617 term to commemorate the 125th anniversary of this great court. To that end, Court Personnel and lawyers were appointed to plan a number of events and publications that would tell the story of the Second Circuit as reflected in its jurisprudence, its impact on the cultural and economic climate of our nation, and the lives of the judges who have labored here. The names of those folks who have served on that committee are on the back of your program. Todays Panel Discussion is the fifth in a series of programs planned by the committee and executed through the hard work of the court family and its friends. In the next few months, Court Personnel will reenact several famous appeals heard at the court. A distinguished scholar will deliver a lecture on the memorable First Amendment case. A panel of lawyers and judges will explore the circuits relationship with the state high court cousin with regard to certified question procedures. And much, much more. A copy of the calendar of events was given to you and is available at the Registration Desk and also available on our website. Todays program focuses on a man who during his time before he came to the bench played an active and vital role in the fight for equal justice for African Americans during the 20th century. I suspect Many Americans could tell you Thurgood Marshall was the attorney who successfully argued brown versus board of education. But i fear few have a sense of marshall as an historic figure. I confess i was among them until i read richards magnificent book, simple justice. Recently, gilbert king in his gripping book, has also pulled back the myths of the past to give us a sense of the danger he faced fighting Racial Injustice and prejudice. Marshall has connection to this court. He served here for four years before being appointed solicitor general by Lyndon Johnson in 1965 and later to the Supreme Court in 1967. 1967, a great year for me. That was the year i graduated from high school. Makes me feel old now, to be honest with you. Following the Supreme Court appointment, he became the circuit justice for the Second Circuit. The circuit justice is sort of a judicial godparent for the circuit looking after us on the Second Circuit. That had been our intention to begin with a presentation by marshalls first clerk at the Second Circuit, our very own judge ralph winter. Judge winter is recovering well from a recent medical procedure but regrettably is unable to be with us today. I speak, i know that i speak for all of my colleagues when i say that we look forward to having judge winter back with us again soon in good health. Many of us have heard his delightful stories about his time with marshall. It is clear ralph treasured the experience. Judge winter delivered a eulogy to Justice Marshall at marshalls funeral at the National Cathedral in washington in 1993. A copy of that eulogy has been provided to you with the program beautifully reproduced by our library staff. With your indulgence, let me read to you from judge winters memorable address. Marshall was appointed at Second Circuit only on an interim basis, an interim appointment was a method by which judicial appointments were made while congress was not in session. Instead of life tenure, the judge served on an interim basis until confirmed or not confirmed. The marshall, the interim was long. His nomination request for eight months in the Senate Judiciary committee. During that time, he was treated as a visiting judge and had no permanent chambers in this building. Every two weeks or so, he would pack up his files and move them to a vacationing judges office. Can you imagine having to pick up your files and moving around . Back to winter. In spite of the strain of serving as a judge without being confirmed, marshall carried out his responsibilities with his characteristic goodhumored perspective on life. Most famous men or women rarely live up to their [indiscernible] as a person. Thurgood marshall, the person, lived up to and even outdid his press clippings. He was a warm, friendly, incredibly witty man. A totally lovable human being. I was his clerk in his first year as a judge on the court on which i now sit. Every morning, he presided over a coffee hour attended by clerks from other chambers. The atmosphere was one of earthy stories, salty language, and booming laughter. He was universally kind to and loved by his clerks. And the imprint of his personality is indelibly stamped on them. Thurgood marshall was the Irresistible Force for justice, the immovable object against injustice, and a warm and kind human being. Alas, he was mortal. Although that, believe it or not, came as a surprise. But his legacy to the nation is indestructible, as are the Cherished Memories we have of him. Today, we will hear from people who work at the Supreme Court with Justice Marshall. Marshall had a tremendous influence on the jurisprudence of our country as a lawyer and judge on the high court. Through todays discussion, we will learn how marshalls influence on our national jurisprudence continues today through the law clerks he trained. I am absolutely certain this will prove to be a memorable afternoon and early evening. Our panelists knew one of the great figures of the American Experience in the 20th century. Leading the discussion today is the honorable Paul Engelmayer from the Southern District. Judge engelmayer is a graduate of Harvard College and law school who worked as a reporter for the wall street journal between college and law school. Decided to get a real job, i guess. He clerked at the d. C. Circuit and then for Justice Marshall from 1988 until 1989. Following a distinct career at the United StatesAttorneys Office in the Southern District and a stint at the solicitor generals office, judge engelmayer joined a law firm. I love that name. It just sounds like a law firm you want to spend 700 an hour on. [laughter] and that is for the associate. [laughter] you can tell i have been on the bench for 30 years. In 2011, president obama nominated judge engelmayer to fill the vacancy created when we were fortunate enough to receive jerry lynch as our colleague here on the second port. Senator grassley gave the judge a hard time for a few weeks but ultimately thought the better of his nomination, and for good reason. Judge engelmayer on july 26, 2011, was confirmed by a vote of 980. I have gone back and looked at the vote on june 12 2003. My vote was 970. Judge engelmayer, i dont know how you got the extra vote. Congratulations. Judge engelmayer, on behalf of the court, i want to thank you for helping us plan this event and for all of your assistance in conquering the endless challenges we faced in making today a reality. Ladies and gentlemen, i give you the honorable Paul Engelmayer who will introduce our distinguished panel and serve as moderator of todays discussion. Judge engelmayer. [applause] judge engelmayer thank you, judge wesley, thank you chief justice. I want to welcome everyone here in person and watching remotely. Tonights turnout is approaching 650 people across four courtrooms. It is a record for this 80yearold courthouse. Part of that no doubt is because we have an absolutely worldclass panel. It also speaks to the giant to whom we are paying tribute tonight. 25 years since he retired and nearly 24 years since he died, but Thurgood Marshall, the lawyer and justice, still inspires us. He was transformational. Thanks to his brilliance, courage, and vision, civil rights [indiscernible] our world in 2016 is a more just world. Our panelists tonight have one thing in common. Each of us had the great good fortune to spend a year clerking for Justice Marshall, who by the time we got to know him was already very much a legend. Including ralph winter who unfortunately was unable to attend tonight due to illness, we stand and welcome Thurgood Marshalls entire career on the bench. Sheryll cashin clerked for him in his final year on the Supreme Court in october 1990. In between, greg diskant clerked 197576. Richard revesz clerked 198485. Elena kagan clerked 198788. And i clerked for the year, 198889. Elena trained me and my coclerks. I had the rare privilege, although i cannot say i had the prescience to appreciate it at the time. [laughter] a being tutored at once by two Supreme Court justices, one present and want future. Each of our years had a different texture and character. Each was shaped by the time, the changing composition of the court, and the years docket. Certain aspect of a clerkship or perennials. That is what we called him at his request. He wanted to be called judge. He called us knuckleheads, an affectionate term, and other nicknames perhaps we will get to. One thing that the clerkship myth was lots of time with him to every day after oral argument, we would spend an hour or so across the conference table in his private Conference Room near his cherished bust of frederick douglass. My year, the court heard arguments in 170 cases, which was fairly typical for his tenure. So there were lots of those hours. He would discuss the ca