Benjamin R. Civiletti, former U.S. attorney general and partner at Venable LLP, dies
Source: Baltimore Sun
Benjamin R. Civiletti, a former U.S. attorney general who served from 1979 to 1981 during the Carter administration, a retired partner and chairman emeritus of Venable LLP and an advocate for the abolishment of capital punishment, died Sunday evening of Parkinson’s at his Lutherville home. He was 87.
“He was a great man and a total gentleman,” former Maryland Gov. Martin J. O’Malley said. “Even when Ben Civiletti was out of the public limelight, he was still active and cared deeply about politics and his country’s journey.”
[…]
“His legal career was extraordinary by any measure — head of litigation at Venable as a young man, one of, and perhaps the, youngest U.S. attorney generals in history, where he oversaw a luminous staff that included the current attorney general, Merrick Garland, and then returning to Venable to lead the firm to substantial growth, including the opening of its Washington, D.C., office and the addition of many new practice areas,” said George Johnston, his former Venable law partner.
[…]
Three months into his tenure as attorney general, Iranian extremists seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979, including 52 diplomats and citizens. He directed the Justice Department’s efforts to deport Iranians who entered the U.S. illegally and also traveled to the International Court of Justice at the Hague where he persuaded its judges to rule in favor of the United States in denouncing the Iranian capture of the embassy.
Read more: https://www.baltimoresun.com/obituaries/bs-md-ob-benjamin-civiletti-20221017-occmhfbqn5cldm6aopph56e6ni-story.html
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