Patrick Leahy: “last week, I had a long talk with Mara Williams, the wife of former U.S. Court of Appeals Judge James Oakes. Jim, who…”

“last week, I had a long talk with Mara Williams, the wife of former U.S. Court of Appeals Judge James Oakes. Jim, who had served as Vermont's attorney general, as our Federal district judge, and with distinction as chief judge of the Second Circuit, had died the previous weekend at the age of 83. Mara told me how the family had been with Jim a few days before he died, and we then talked about the legacy he left. I spoke of knowing Jim for 40 years, and how I, and my family of lifelong Democrats, had voted for him for attorney general and had hoped he might be our Governor. As it turned out, the country was far better off having him on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and would have been even better off had he been elevated to the Supreme Court, a position he would have held with great distinction. We all knew of Jim's legal mind and great ability, his dedication to public service, his wonderful sense of humor, and his love for his family, but I knew him especially as a man with a great and good conscience. Jim Oakes epitomized the role of judge as the protector of our fundamental rights. A decade ago he noted that he was a person who "still believe[d] that a federal judge can make a difference and--in cases of extreme necessity where basic rights are being infringed-- should make a difference when the rest of our political structure bogs down." This appreciation for the role of judicial independence is something we must admire and remember.”