RUTHFULLY YOURS

CHIEF JUDGE AMON, JUDGES OF THE COURTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, JUDGES OF THE COURTS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, MEMBERS OF THE BAR, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.  I THANK SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER FOR RECOMMENDING ME FOR THIS POSITION.

I THANK PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA FOR NOMINATING ME TO THIS POSITION.  I THANK THE UNITED STATES SENATE FOR UNANIMOUSLY CONFIRMING MY NOMINATION TO THIS POSITION.  I THANK YOU, CHIEF CLERK DOUGLAS PALMER, NOT ONLY FOR READING THE PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION APPOINTING ME TO THIS POSITION,  BUT FOR CANCELLING THAT CURIOUS 900 NUMBER PRINTED ON THE ORIGINAL INVITATION!  NOW THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT TOUGHER TO EXPLAIN THAN A FAMILY COURT LINE NUMBER, I ASSURE YOU!  I THANK YOU, CHIEF JUDGE AMON, NOT ONLY FOR SWEARING ME INTO THIS POSITION, BUT ALSO FOR YOUR WISE, ELEGANT AND SUPPORTIVE WORDS OF WELCOME.  I HOPE TO PROVE WORTHY OF THE TRUST AND CONFIDENCE YOU HAVE PLACED IN ME.   I ALSO THANK MY FRIENDS AND ROLE MODELS, JUDGE DENNY CHIN AND MR. JOEL MOTLEY FOR THEIR WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT DURING DECADES OF FRIENDSHIP AND KINDNESS.

AS I STAND BEFORE YOU TODAY, HOWEVER, A SERIOUS QUESTION HOVERS OVER THESE PROCEEDINGS: HOW DOES A PRIVATE PRACTITIONER OF 33 YEARS, THE SON OF A MOTHER FROM A FAMILY OF TEN CHILDREN RAISED IN ROSARYVILLE, MARYLAND AND A FATHER BORN AND RAISED IN HARLEM, WHOSE FATHER WAS AMONG THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN POLICE OFFICERS IN NEW YORK CITY, COME TO THIS POSITION?    IN SHORT: WHY ME?

MY LIFE AND GOOD FORTUNE ARE REMARKABLE YET UNREMARKABLE.  TYPICAL YET ATYPICAL.  YOU SEE, EACH OF US HAS A LIFE DEFINED BY THAT PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL STRUCTURE WE CALL HOME.  IN MY CASE THE FOUNDATION FOR THAT HOME CONSISTS OF A MIXTURE OF RELIGIOUS FAITH, CONFIDENCE IN THE LAW, AND DEDICATION TO EDUCATION.  THAT FOUNDATION WAS EMPHASIZED BY MY MOTHER WHO STUDIED NURSING – LIKE MY DAUGHTER LIZZIE — AT HARLEM HOSPITAL WHERE HER FRIEND, MY LATE AUNT HORTENSE KUNTZ, INTRODUCED HER TO THE MAN WHO WOULD BECOME HER HUSBAND AND MY FATHER: WILLIAM FRANCIS KUNTZ, THE FIRST.   A MAN WHO WORKED TWO JOBS, WENT TO GRADUATE SCHOOL   AT NIGHT — LIKE MY SON WILL — AND WHO GRADUATED WITH   HONORS FROM CITY COLLEGE.  MY FATHER WENT ON TO EARN A MASTERS DEGREE IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION WITH HIGHEST HONORS.   HE WAS A DIRECT MODEL BOTH FOR ME AND FOR MY BROTHER ERIC, A DISTINGUISHED PHYSICIAN PRACTICING PEDIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, WHO IS HERE TODAY, A GRADUATE OF PRINCETON COLLEGE AND DOWNSTATE MEDICAL SCHOOL.    ERIC IS ALSO A MODEL FOR MY DAUGHTER KATIE AND FOR HIS DAUGHTER STEPHANIE, EACH OF WHOM IS IN HER THIRD YEAR OF MEDICAL SCHOOL.   MY PARENTS ARE NO LONGER LIVING, YET YOU SEE THROUGH MY FAMILY HOW VERY MUCH THEY ARE HERE WITH US THIS EVENING.

BUT FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION AND FAITH NEED SHELTERING WALLS.  MINE WERE PROVIDED BY AND CONTINUE TO BE PROVIDED BY MY BRIDE OF 33 YEARS, DR. ALICE BEAL.   SHE IS THE DIRECTOR OF PALLIATIVE CARE FOR THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION NEW YORK HARBOR SYSTEM, A SUPERB PHYSICIAN, MOTHER, WIFE AND BEST FRIEND.  WITHOUT HER LOVE, HER SUPPORT, AND HER GUIDANCE, I WOULD NOT BE STANDING BEFORE YOU HERE TODAY. MORE THAN WALLS, HOWEVER, ALICE AND OUR THREE CHILDREN PROVIDE THE DOORS AND WINDOWS THROUGH WHICH LIGHT AND AIR AND FRIENDS AND KNOWLEDGE CONTINUE TO ENTER MY WORLD AND TO ENRICH MY LIFE.

BUT EVEN THE MOST FIRM OF FOUNDATIONS   AND THE MOST STURDY OF WALLS WOULD QUICKLY FALL TO RUIN WITHOUT A SOLID CEILING TO PROTECT THEM.  HERE I AM BLESSED BY THE JUDGES, STATE AS WELL AS FEDERAL, THE LAWYERS, THE CIVIL LIBERTARIANS AND THE POLICE OFFICIALS WITH WHOM I HAVE SERVED AND FROM WHOM I HAVE LEARNED SO MUCH OVER THESE MANY YEARS.

FINALLY, AT MY REQUEST, YOU SEE BEFORE YOU A CHAIR WITH AN EMPTY ROBE.  IN THE MILITARY, WHEN A WARRIOR FALLS, THERE IS THE MISSING MAN FORMATION.   HERE IN THE EASTERN DISTRICT, MAY I SUGGEST, AT LEAST FOR THIS ONE DAY, WE HAVE OUR MISSING JUDGE FORMATION.  THE REASON IS BOTH PERSONAL AND COMMUNAL.

I MISS MY DEVOTED GODMOTHER IN THE LAW, CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY, WHO PUBLISHED THAT LETTER IN THE NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL IN JULY OF 1988 STATING THAT SOMEDAY, I JUST MIGHT MAKE A GOOD FEDERAL JUDGE.  I MISS MY GOOD FRIEND, BANKRUPTCY JUDGE DENNIS MILTON, WHO SHARED MY PASSION FOR BANKRUPTCY LAW AND OUR LOVE FOR THE NEW YORK YANKEES.  I MISS MY RABBI AND MENTOR DAVID TRAGER, WHO WHILE DEAN OF BROOKLYN LAW SCHOOL, SERVED AS CHAIRMAN OF THE MAYOR’S JUDICIAL SELECITON COMMISSION.  IN THAT CAPACITY THE DEAN   RECOMMENDED ME TO MAYOR KOCH FOR APPOINTMENT TO THE CIVILIAN COMPLAINT REVIEW BOARD IN THE FALL OF 1987 AND ALSO APPOINTED ME TO THE LAW SCHOOL FACULTY AS AN ADJUNCT PROFESSOR THAT SAME YEAR.

THE EASTERN DISTRICT COURT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1865: A MOMENTOUS YEAR FOR OUR REPUBLIC.  THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR.  THE ENACTMENT OF THE CIVIL WAR AMENDMENTS. THE ASSISINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.   THE FIRST MENTION OF THE WORD SLAVERY IN THE CONSTITUTION, TO ANNOUNCE ITS LONG DESIRED DEMISE. THE EASTERN DISTRICT FOR ME, HOWEVER, ALSO SYMBOLIZES FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH, FAMILY AND EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW. FOR ME, THAT SYMBOL CRYSTALLIZED SEVERAL MONTHS AGO IN MY CHURCH, ST. BONIFACE, LOCATED A FEW BLOCKS FROM HERE IN METROTECH.  MANY OF YOU WERE THERE WITH ME, PRESENT TO CELEBRATE THE LIFE OF JEAN GO, THE MOTHER OF OUR COLLEAGUE AND MY LAW SCHOOL CLASSMATE MAGISTRATE JUDGE MARILYN GO.  IN KEEPING WITH THE STRICT DIRECTIVES TO KEEP A LOW PROFILE AT ALL THINGS EASTERN DISTRICT PRIOR TO MY SENATE CONFIRMATION, I SAT IN THE BACK OF THE CHURCH.  FROM THAT SPOT I WITNESSED THE WIDOW OF JUDGE TRAGER, MY DEAR FRIEND ROBERTA WEISBROD AND MY FRIEND AND FORMER CO-CHAIR OF THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE SELECTION COMMITTEE  BOB BEGLEITER, POINTING TO THE LARGE STAIN GLASS WINDOW ABOVE THE CRUCIFIX IN OUR CHURCH.  THEY SMILED AT EACH OTHER AND NODDED WITH SATISFACTION.  YOU SEE, THE STAINED GLASS WINDOW CONTAINS A BEAUTIFULLY APPOINTED, PERFECTLY PRESENTED STAR OF DAVID.

AS I WATCHED ROBERTA POINTING, I REFLECTED UPON THE PATHS THAT UNITE US.   SHE WAS MORE THAN   POINTING IN THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF THIS COURTHOUSE.  BECAUSE, WHEN YOU FOLLOWED THE ARC OF HER ARM, YOU COULD NOT FAIL TO NOTICE THAT SHE WAS LITERALLY POINTING TO THE EAGLE BEHIND THESE JUDGES. THE EAGLE FIRMLY AND CONFIDENTLY SECURING THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE IN ITS RIGHT SET OF TALONS, BUT CASTING A WARY AND PROTECTIVE EYE OVER US WHILE CLUTCHING THE THIRTEEN ARROWS OF WAR REPRESENTING THE ORIGINAL COLONIES IN ITS LEFT TALONS.  ROBERTA DID MORE THAN REMIND ME OF THE STRENGTH OF OUR SYSTEM OF JUSTICE.  SHE WAS LITERALLY POINTING TOWARD THAT REALM WHERE JUDGES MOTLEY, MILTON AND TRAGER   NOW SIT EN BANC WITH THAT OTHER JUDGE, THE JUDGE WHO HAS ALWAYS PRESIDED.  AND SHE WAS LITERALLY REMINDING ME OF WHAT IT MEANS TO SERVE AS A UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE.

NOW FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO REGARD THE EAGLE AS A QUAINT, BUT ANTIQUATED SYMBOL OF OUTDATED VALUES, I INVITE YOU TO RECONSIDER:  I SEE THE BALD EAGLE  AS A SUPERB PREDATOR AND ONE BEARING STEEL TIPPED, AIR LAUNCHED MISSLES DESIGNED FOR THE PROTECTION OF THAT OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE WE SO CHERISH.    AN EAGLE, OR A NATION, WITHOUT THE TRADITION, WILL AND ABILITY TO SECURE ITS LIBERTY UNDER THE RULE OF LAW WOULD BE NO MORE THAN A THUGGISH ROGUE.   BUT IN A WORLD WHERE EVIL TRULY DOES EXIST, IN A WORLD WHERE THERE ARE INDEED REAL THUGGISH ROGUES,  BOTH FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC,  AN EAGLE, OR A NATION, WITH ONLY THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE TO PROTECT IT WOULD SOON FIND ITSELF AND ITS ALLIES LITTLE MORE THAN PREY.  THAT IS NOT OUR PAST, THAT IS NOT OUR PRESENT, AND IF THE JUDGES OF THIS COURT HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT, AND REST ASSURED WE DO, THAT IS NOT OUR FUTURE.   AFTER ALL, WHILE JAMES MADISON CORRECTLY DEFINES THE JUDICIARY AS THE LEAST DANGEROUS BRANCH, ENEMIES OF THE RULE OF LAW HAVE AND WILL CONTINUE TO FIND THE JUDGES OF THIS COURT MORE THAN DANGEROUS ENOUGH. AFTER THE HORRORS OF NINETEENTH CENTURY SLAVERY AND TWENTIETH CENTURY HOLOCAUSTS, ALL CIVILIZED MEN AND WOMEN OF THE LAW NOW DECLARE THAT WHEN IT COMES TO CONFRONTING EVIL, FROM AUSCHWITZ AND DAUCHAU TO DARFUR AND RUWANDA, NEVER AGAIN WILL THE LAW STAND ASIDE IN A SHAMEFUL SILENCE.  AND SO I HAVE A WORD OF FRIENDLY ADVICE FOR THOSE WHO MIGHT BE TEMPTED TO CHALLENGE THE RULE OF LAW:   NOT IN THIS COURT, NOT IN OUR HOUSE, AND NOT ON MY WATCH.

AND SO THE QUESTION OF WHY I STAND BEFORE YOU TODAY IS FINALLY ANSWERED: I STAND HERE BEFORE YOU TODAY BECAUSE, COLLECTIVELY, YOU HAVE PLACED ME HERE.  THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE TAKEN SHOTS FOR ME, THOSE OF YOU HAVE TAKEN SHOTS WITH ME, AND YES, EVEN THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE TAKEN SHOTS AT ME: IT IS YOU WHO HAVE TRANSFORMED THIS ORDINARY   KID FROM THE BROWNSTONES OF BED-STY AND THE PROJECTS OF HARLEM INTO THE MAN YOU NOW ADDRESS AS YOUR HONOR.   MISS ELIZA DOOLITTLE PUT IT BEST WHEN, AT THE END OF THE MUSICAL MY FAIR LADY, SHE REMINDED PROFESSOR HENRY HIGGINS THAT THE TRUE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A POOR FLOWER GIRL AND A REAL LADY IS NOT HOW SHE SPEAKS, BUT HOW OTHERS SPEAK TO HER.  NOT HOW SHE ACTS, BUT RATHER HOW SHE IS TREATED.  I STAND HERE TODAY BECAUSE YOU HAVE SPOKEN TO ME WITH HONOR, AND BECAUSE YOU HAVE TREATED ME WITH DIGNITY.  I STAND HERE TODAY BECAUSE THE FIRST PHONE NUMBER ON THE INVITATION YOU RECEIVED REFLECTED THE ULTIMATE TRUTH ABOUT THIS INSTITUTION: WE THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, ARE, IN REALITY, THE FAMILY COURT FOR OUR NATION.    AND FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO JOIN THIS MAGNIFICENT COURT OF FAMILY AND OF FRIENDS, I AM HUMBLY AND PROFOUNDLY GRATEFUL.

THANK YOU.

WILLIAM F. KUNTZ, II
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 11201
NOVEMBER 9, 2011