Federal judge, 103, still hearing federal cases

[mfcorey1]

WICHITA, Kan. — In a courtroom in Wichita, the day begins much as it has for the past 49 years: Court is in session, U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown presiding. But what happens next is no longer routine; it's a testament to one man's sheer determination.

As lawyers and litigants wait in respectful silence, Brown, who is 103, carefully steers his power wheelchair behind the bench, his stooped frame almost disappearing behind its wooden bulk. He adjusts under his nose the plastic tubes from the oxygen tank lying next to the day's case documents. Then his voice rings out loud and firm to his law clerk, "Call your case."

Brown is the oldest working federal judge in the nation, one of four appointees by President Kennedy still on the bench. Federal judgeships are lifetime appointments, and no one has taken that term more seriously than Brown.

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/federal-judge-103-still-905148.html

[aquart]

1. well, okay then.

[elocs]

2. This federal judge?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x859606

[madrchsod]

3. article from last year

http://lawisanass-wingate.blogspot.com/2010/09/meet-jude-wesley-brown-born-before.html

[sarcasmo]

4. Lifetime appointments should be banned.