Judge Robert A. Katzmann, 68, has died

Judge Katzmann speaking of immigrants at Fordham

Robert A. Katzmann was one of the great judges of our era. He was a scholar and law professor but most importantly a deeply empathic man.  The son of a Jewish man who fled Nazi Germany, he carried his concern for the immigrant and the refugee with him.  He sponsored the Varick Street Project through which law students volunteered to assist detained immigrants - an important service because federal law forbids the expenditure of any federal funds to represent persons facing deportation.

He was a good friend to Ruth Ginsburg and to District Judge Jed Rakoff.  Many Rakoff/Katzmann clerks went on to serve Ginsburg.  Judge Katzmann was a friend to Fordham and other law schools. - GWC

Judge Robert A. Katzmann, 68, has died

Robert A. Katzmann, former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the founder of its acclaimed civics education program, and a highly esteemed member of the federal judiciary who, before joining the bench, had advised on judicial-legislative relations and served as special counsel on the confirmation of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a cherished friend, died today after a long illness. 

His death was announced by the current Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, Debra A. Livingston, who succeeded him in September 2020. Judge Katzmann was 68 years old. Speaking on behalf of the Court, Chief Judge Livingston said, “Judge Katzmann led our Court through historic challenges, from budget sequester and governmental shutdowns, at the beginning of his tenure as Chief, to the pandemic which upended our Court’s operations only last spring. Throughout it all, Judge Katzmann provided sure and steady leadership. 

And more than this, Judge Katzmann, with his commitment to civic education, also had a vision for the Circuit – that the judiciary might lend a steadying hand to our democracy by helping to educate the citizenry about the rule of law and the role of judges. His quiet confidence, determination, exceptional leadership, and strong sense of justice inspired us all. We will miss him profoundly.” 

Katzmann was the Walsh Professor of Government, Professor of Law, and Professor of Public Policy at Georgetown University, and a fellow of the Governmental Studies Program at the Brookings Institution when he was nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve as a judge of the Court of Appeals. At the time of his nomination, Judge Katzmann, author of Courts and Congress, among other books, was one of the nation’s leading scholars on the subject of judicial-legislative relations. He had already worked collaboratively with Judge Frank M. Coffin, then chair of the United States Judicial Conference Committee on the Judicial Branch, who sought his assistance in examining interbranch relations. 

Katzmann had helped to found the Governance Institute to explore pragmatic issues arising from the separation of powers between the judiciary and Congress. 

Judge Katzmann was nominated on March 9, 1999 to serve on the Second Circuit. This Court hears appeals from the federal district courts of New York, Connecticut, and Vermont and is especially well-known for its significant criminal docket and for its important civil cases, which emanate from the Circuit’s corporate and financial centers. The Senate confirmed Katzmann by voice vote on July 14, 1999. When Judge Katzmann received his commission on July 16, only two days later, he became the first judge of the federal courts to take the bench with not only a law degree, but also a doctorate in government. 

Katzmann, whose twin brother, Judge Gary Katzmann, is a judge on the Court of International Trade, was born on April 22, 1953, in Manhattan, and grew up in Queens, a proud graduate of New York City’s public schools. He was the son of John Katzmann, a refugee from Nazi Germany and an engineer, and Sylvia Katzmann, a homemaker and the Brooklyn-born daughter of Russian immigrants. Katzmann received his A.B. degree summa cum laude from Columbia College before proceeding to Harvard University for his A.M. and Ph.D Degrees, where he studied with and worked for then-professor Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who became a mentor. Katzmann attended Yale Law School, where he served on the Yale Law Journal. After law school he clerked for Judge Hugh H. Bownes of the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit before joining Brookings.