Remembering my month at the National Judicial College In the early 1980’s I was fortunate to receive an Office of Court Administration grant to attend a 30 day course for General Jurisdiction Judges at the National Judicial College at the University of Nevada, Reno. Along with Justice Herbert Posner, another recipient, we spent the Month of July attending daily workshops and discussion groups with Judges from all over the USA. I was part of a group led by Honorable E. Maurice Braswell, retired Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Justice Braswell didn’t envision law as a career in his early years, he was working in the radio when World War II came along and Braswell, like most young men of the greatest generation enlisted in the military. An Army Air Corps tail gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress, Braswell flew many successful missions over Europe before his plane was hit by anti-aircraft flak. Forced to parachute from his burning plane, Braswell was captured and became a prisoner of war in Romania. He suffered a serious skull fracture but he was treated by a neurosurgeon at a Luftwaffe hospital. Having survived the ordeal to celebrate the Allies ultimate victory, Braswell returned to the U.S. and attended the University of North Carolina on the G.I. Bill. Three years later he was accepted into the UNC School of Law from which he graduated in 1950. Braswell sought statewide office in 1982 in the form of a seat on the N.C. Court of Appeals. Not only was his campaign successful, he garnered the highest vote total of any candidate seeking office that year in North Carolina. Service on the Court of Appeals ended in January 1985 when Braswell retired for health reasons. That association with Justice Braswell and my other discussion group Judges was certainly the high point of that month. However, there is a humorous side. Justice Herbert Posner from Queens asked me one evening after classes if I wanted to experience “Greek Night” at a casino. Sure was my response, why not? Herb said that he was very familiar with Greek food since Queens was noted for its Greek community. The buffet was great and then capped with a belly dancer entertaining us during the meal. As she did her routine, many men we placing money in her G-string. When she came to our table, Herb put a bill in her G-string ( I thought, “What a guy”). Then he took a couple of bills from the G-string as change!
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 16:15:03 +0000