Some things just hit emotionally, leaving me wishing they weren’t true. I felt this way after learning of Judge Senter’s death. I recently wrote about his retirement in ATribute to Hurricane Katrina Judge Senter. It doesn’t seem fair that he could not have more fully enjoyed his retirement.
I am writing this while flying home from Des Moines, Iowa, on a case filed in Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Kevin Healey is working on this case with me and just remarked how much he enjoys meeting so many different and interesting people in our line of work. I feel the same way. Judge Senter was one of those interesting people.
The first time I saw him in Court, I was surprised to see that he was in a wheelchair. Polio struck him as a teenager. It did not slow him down, and I felt a little bit in awe that he seemed to have so much energy. He was a wise judge who had extraordinary intellectual capacity and a sense of practical understanding based upon life experiences.
Watching the sun set into a glorious fired sky, I am thinking fondly about my friends from Mississippi and Judge Senter’s wise and academic reasoning. Wise judges don’t go out in a blaze of glory and are often overlooked by the communities they serve. They are a bedrock of our democracy and should always hold a seat of honor for the difficult and important role they play in society.
In A Judge That Gets It, I remarked:
A federal judge is appointed for life. Like Admirals and Generals of our military and Cabinet-level Secretaries and their Deputies, they are on the Board of Directors of the United States of America. They voluntarily take on the job of making certain that this Land of the Free and Home of the Brave is more than just an ideal we have ingrained into our souls. They are the keepers of a governmental system of the best and longest running democracy to ever exist.
God bless Judge Senter and all of our jurists who serve us with dedication to nothing except justice for all.
