[Note from CAF: In all things there are lessons. I sat for many hours in Judge Oberdorfer’s court room as part of civil litigation of the lawless kind.
I have seen more than a few judges compromised in my life. Oberdorfer’s courtroom was one of the few opportunities I had to see a judge struggle through the details of twisting civil procedures and the law in the service of those who whisper sweet promises and threaten from behind the scenes. There was an irony in that – a coming whole by watching a control file reverberate through a real trial based on false allegations with no supporting evidence. Several times, the trial was cancelled by Judge Oberdorfer on the eve of trial. Each time I refused to settle.
To mark Judge Oberdorfer’s passing, I would quote Detective Jimmy McNulty in Season 1 of “The Wire:”
“If only half of you motherf–ckers in the state attorney generals office didn’t want to be judges, didn’t want to be partners in a downtown law firm; if half of you had the f–cking balls to follow through, you know what would happen? A guy like that would be indicted, tried and convicted and the rest of them would back up enough so we can push a clean case or two through your courthouse. But, no, everyone stays friends. Everyone gets paid. Everyone has a f–cking future.”
Judge Oberdorfer’s future is now over. I mean no disrespect. Indeed, it was Louis F. Oberdorfer who taught me the true meaning of that word.]
By Matt Schudel
Louis F. Oberdorfer, a longtime D.C.-based federal judge who ruled on governmental matters and divisive issues including abortion protests and Ku Klux Klan marches, died Feb. 21 at his home in McLean. He died on his 94th birthday.
He had two strokes in recent years, said a son, Thomas Oberdorfer.
Before he was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 1977, Judge Oberdorfer had been a tax lawyer and an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department in the 1960s.
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