Retired Chief Judge, U.S. District in the District of Columbia
1980
Bio:
Honorable John J. Sirica, U.S. District Judge in the District of Columbia, was thrown into the national spotlight in 1973 during the Watergate conspiracy trials. As a judge, he was forced to make many difficult and important legal decisions, decisions he made with a degree of integrity and fairness that testified not only to his personal intelligence and wisdom, but to the effectiveness of the American system of justice as a whole. A graduate of Georgetown University Law School, Judge Sirica was nominated to the district court in 1957 by President Eisenhower. He became Chief Judge of the court in 1971 and stepped down as Chief Judge in 1974 but remained a full-time U.S. District Judge. He is the recipient of nine honorary degrees and numerous awards, including Time Magazine’s “Man of the Year” award in 1973.