One Judge Moody formally passed the torch to another in a Friday afternoon ceremony at the Richard Sheppard Arnold United States Courthouse that was both a tribute to one and a formal swearing-in of the other.
Speakers at the event said James M. Moody Jr., the newest federal judge in the Eastern District of Arkansas, wouldn’t have had it any other way, even though his father, the recently retired James M. Moody Sr., shied away from the attention as best he could, proclaiming it was his son’s day.
The men’s deference to each other underscored others’ public descriptions of them as men of exceptional judicial temperament and civility; outstanding trial lawyers; and, most of all, really nice guys.
“Jim and Jay not only preach civility, they live it,” said attorney Ed Lowther Jr., a longtime friend of both Moodys, referring to the father and son by their informal names. He joined both of Arkansas’ U.S. senators, Democrat Mark Pryor and Republican John Boozman, and two other lawyers in formally welcoming the younger Moody, 49, to the bench while lamenting the departure of his 73-year-old father.
After 18 years on the federal bench, the elder Moody resigned his commission March 7, just three days before his son took over his chambers. He had no choice under a federal statute, found in Chapter 28, Section 458 of the U.S. Code, that prohibits federal judges from serving alongside anyone who is closer than a cousin on the same court.
The U.S. Senate confirmed James Moody Jr.’s nomination to the lifelong position Feb. 25, prompting his departure from Pulaski County District Court, where he had been an elected judge since 2003, and his move a few blocks north and west to the federal courthouse.
The younger Moody actually replaced U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright, who remains on the bench but took senior status in August, creating a vacancy for a full-time judge. The elder Moody had been on senior status, a form of semi-retirement during which judges may hear a lighter caseload, since October 2008.
During the 1½-hour ceremony Friday, the elder Moody sat at the front of the courtroom with more than 20 other black-robed federal judges, including district, magistrate and bankruptcy judges from the state’s eastern and western districts, and two Arkansas-based judges on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in St. Louis.
When it came time for the younger Moody to take the oath of office and don a black robe himself, his father stepped down from the judicial platform, administered the oath and then took off his own robe. The elder Moody helped the younger Moody into the robe and gave his son a big hug as a crowd that filled two courtrooms - one watching by closed-circuit television - gave a standing ovation.
Earlier in the ceremony, longtime friend Stephen Lancaster gave the opening remarks, describing James Moody Jr. as a man who, like his father, “has an easy style that puts people around him at ease.”
Pryor, like the Moodys, spent the early part of his legal career at the Wright, Lindsey and Jennings law firm in Little Rock.
He said the younger Moody easily passed the first three-prong test that he applies to people whose names he considers proposing to the White House as judicial nominees. Pryor said Moody is not only qualified, has the ability to be impartial and maintains a judicial temperament, but he also “far exceeds all the criteria.”
Boozman told the crowd, “I think one of the most important things we do in Congress is get good people on the bench.” He told the younger Moody, “I know you are going to do a tremendous job and follow in your daddy’s footsteps.”
Little Rock lawyer John Tull, who years ago worked alongside the elder Moody at Wright, Lindsey and Jennings, described him as a mentor and noted that he is known for using his “calm demeanor” to ease courtroom tensions. He said the younger Moody “treats everyone with respect, has his own keen sense of humor and is, like his dad, almost unflappable.”
After the newest federal judge donned his father’s black robe, he told the crowd, “Dad’s staff is now my staff, and they have graciously agreed to stay on and train another Judge Moody.”
He choked up briefly while describing how it feels to be his father’s son, then unveiled a large, framed black and-white photograph of the elder Moody, presented by U.S. District Clerk James McCormack and his staff, that will soon be placed alongside other eastern district judges on a courthouse wall.
Standing at the younger Moody’s side while he took the oath of office was his wife, Melinda, and his two daughters, Madison and Hannah.
The elder Moody, who retains chambers in the federal courthouse and still goes in on a regular basis, said after the ceremony that he has been playing more golf since his retirement but can’t stay away from the courthouse altogether.
For courthouse regulars, the elder Moody’s legacy includes regularly taking his beloved pale yellow Labrador retriever, Caddis, to work for several years, which gradually earned her the title of Courthouse Dog. Until her death last year from illness, the good-natured dog routinely attended events in the building alongside her master or members of his staff, and she often walked on a leash outside when not curled up in her dog bed in the judge’s chambers or visiting friends throughout the building who kept their desk drawers stocked with dog biscuits.
That’s one tradition the younger Moody said he isn’t considering carrying on for now - not because he doesn’t love dogs, but because his two are a bit too big and boisterous to match Caddis’ courthouse temperament.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 04/05/2014