Judge Dave Retires from the Bench

The Honorable David B. Sentelle has heard his last case.

This year, the Honorable David B. Sentelle is retiring from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He heard his last oral argument in April, and Judge Sentelle's opinion from that sitting was issued on Friday. Earlier this month the court held a retirement celebration and the judge hosted one last clerk reunion.

Judge Sentelle was appointed to the D.C. Circuit in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan, and he took senior status in 2013. While on the D.C. Circuit he served as the presiding judge of the Special Division appointing and overseeing independent counsels. The D.C. CIrcuit Historical Society interviewed Judge Sentelle as a part of its oral history project.

Prior to his move to Washington, Judge Sentelle had served as a federal district court judge, a state district court judge, and an assistant U.S. attorney, and he had also worked a decade in private practice. Service on the federal bench may have required Judge Sentelle to leave North Carolina, but North Carolina never left him.

Some know Judge Sentelle as "Judge Dave," in part for his serialized account of his encounter with the "Rainbow People," who sought to host an annual festival on federal lands. The tale was initially published in The Green Bag and published in a book. It also features in this engaging remembrance by one of Judge Sentelle's clerks, Judge Andrew S. Oldham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. (In addition to Judge Oldham, Judge Sentelle alumni on the federal appellate bench include Judge Beth Robinson on the Second Circuit Judge Joan Larsen on the Sixth Circuit, and Justice Neil Gorsuch.)

Longtime Reason readers may also remember this 2001 Reason story about an oral argument in front of Judge Sentelle. A taste:

Presiding at the hearing were David Sentelle, Larry Silberman, and Karen Henderson—and an official portrait of Robert Bork, who worked here before his nomination to the Supreme Court. You may recall that Sentelle presides over the panel that oversees Independent Counsels, and hence appointed and supervised the work of one Kenneth Starr. Here's a little tourist advice: If you find yourself in D.C., check the court's Web site at www.cadc.uscourts.gov. If Sentelle is slated to hear a case, pop into his courtroom for an hour; he's far more entertaining than the IMAX nature film at the National Museum of Natural History.

Mark Ross, an attorney for Adtranz, went first. The imperious Judge Sentelle, seated in the center of the dais, his gray hair coifed in a formidable pompadour, his black robe broadening his shoulders, interrupted Ross as he went through his argument.

"Can you imagine a counsel for a large employer today not advising his client to put in" a rule like this one banning abusive language?

"Not unless he has a lot of good insurance," replied Ross, as chuckles came from the bench.

"Malpractice insurance," added Sentelle.

Judge Sentelle wrote the opinion for the panel in this case (and the opinion cites one Eugene Volokh).

I had the good fortune to clerk for Judge Sentelle during the 2000-2001 term. It was, and remains, one of the most significant, formative, and enjoyable years of my professional life. I am far from the only person to feel this way. Judge Sentelle's influence on the law and the legal profession will long remain. His presence on the bench will be missed.