John M. Walker, Jr.

Infobox Person
name = John Mercer Walker, Jr.


image_size = 100px
caption = Judge John M. Walker, Jr.
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occupation = Federal Judge
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John Mercer Walker, Jr. (born December 26, 1940), is a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and a cousin of U.S. Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. At the time of his appointment to the court in 1989, he was a United States District Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He was Chief Judge of the Second Circuit from October 1, 2000, until October 1, 2006, when he assumed senior status.

Personal

Walker was born in New York City. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1958, and received his B.A. from Yale University in 1962, where he was a member of Wolf's Head Society, and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1966.

Walker is married with a daughter and three stepsons, and lives in Madison, Connecticut. He is the son of Dr. John Mercer Walker, Sr. and Elsie Louise Mead. His uncle is George Herbert Walker, Jr., cofounder of the New York Mets. He is a first cousin of U.S. President George H. W. Bush, the two having a grandfather in common, George Herbert Walker. He is also a first cousin, once removed, of U.S. President George W. Bush.

Career

Walker served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves from 1963 until 1967. From 1966 until 1968, he was State Counsel to the Republic of Botswana under the aegis of an Africa-Asia Public Service Fellowship. Walker was a private law practitioner in New York City from 1969 to 1970. From 1970 to 1975 he served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division, Southern District of New York. In 1975 he returned to private law practice with the New York firm of Carter, Ledyard & Milburn, where he was initially an associate and later a partner. In 1981 Walker became Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, responsible for policy in law enforcement, regulatory, and trade matters, and with oversight of the Customs Service, Secret Service, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Walker remained in this position until 1985, when he became a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York.

Walker has served as Special Counsel to the U.S. Administrative Conference (1987-1992); president of the Federal Judges’ Association (1993-1995); and member of the Budget Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States (1991-1999). He has been a Visiting Lecturer at Yale Law School since 2000; an Adjunct Professor at NYU Law School since 1996; and Director and on the faculty of NYU Law School’s Institute of Judicial Administration and Appellate Judges Seminar since 1992. Walker has also been a Director of the U.S. Association of Constitutional Law since 1997.

His former law clerks include James Comey (former Deputy Attorney General of the United States) and Ethan Leib.

Notable cases

Judge Walker has authored several influential copyright cases, including
*"Computer Associates Int. Inc. v. Altai Inc.", 982 F.2d 693 (2d Cir. 1992), a leading decision on how to establish copyright infringement for software
*"Castle Rock Entertainment, Inc. v. Carol Publishing Group", 150 F.3d 132 (2d Cir. 1998), the "Seinfeld Aptitude Test" case, dealing with how to establish the substantial similarity of works.

Walker presided over the tax fraud trial of Leona Helmsley, whom he sentenced to four years in jail.

Fatal traffic accident

On the evening of October 17, 2006, as he began his drive home to Madison, Walker's Ford Escape automobile struck a police officer named Daniel Picagli on [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=600+chapel+street,+new+haven&ie=UTF8&z=16&ll=41.303699,-72.919521&spn=0.015088,0.021629&t=h&om=1 Chapel Street] in New Haven, Connecticut. The officer, who was dressed in dark clothing and may have been wearing reflective gear, was directing traffic at a road construction site for AT&T in rush hour at dusk in the rain. [cite news
url=http://www.topix.net/content/trb/3183495886272796658911488469922228018198
title=Judge Was Behind The Wheel
author=Kim Martineau
publisher=Hartford Courant
date=2006-10-19
accessdate=2006-10-22] [cite news
url=http://officer.com/article/article.jsp?id=33177&siteSection=2
title=Connecticut Officer Hit by Judge Dies
author=William Kaempffer
date=2006-10-25
accessdate=2007-02-07] There were no construction signs or traffic cones marking off the site. [cite news
url=http://www.nhregister.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=17341894&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=517515&rfi=8|title=City cop in critical condition after being struck by SUV
author=William Kaempffer
publisher=New Haven Register
date=2006-10-18
accessdate=2006-10-25] Picagli died four days later on October 21, 2006. [cite news
url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-22-judge-officer_x.htm
title=Officer struck by Bush's cousin dies
publisher=USA Today
date=2006-10-22
accessdate=2006-10-22] Walker stopped immediately, and New Haven police have said the cause was not related to drugs or alcohol.cite news
url=http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-nhcop1022.artoct22,0,6629522.story?coll=hc-headlines-local
title=Injured Police Officer Dies In Hospital
author=Tina A. Brown
publisher=Hartford Courant
date=2006-10-22
accessdate=2006-10-22] Police were initially interested in whether speed could have been a factor; an article about the police investigation reports that Walker "was traveling at a slow speed through the dark and rainy construction site." [cite news
url=http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17534937&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=590581&rfi=6
title=Job Permit Had Expired at Site of Cop's Death
author=William Kaempffer
publisher=New Haven Register
date=2006-12-01
accessdate=2007-02-07] In March 2007, police forwarded the results of their investigation into Picagli's death to the state's attorney who would determine whether to bring a criminal case against Walker. [cite news | author=William Kaempffer | title=Details of probe into death of city cop go to prosecutor | date=2007-03-07 | publisher= | url =http://www.nhregister.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=18042273&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=517515&rfi=8 | work =New Haven Register | pages =A1 | accessdate = 2007-03-08 | language = ] After review, the prosecutor declined to press charges, saying nothing indicated "intentional, negligent or reckless conduct" by Walker. [cite news
url=http://www.nhregister.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=18087702&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=517515&rfi=8
title=Judge cleared in accident that killed popular local cop
author=Mark Zaretsky
date=March 16 2007
publisher=New Haven Register
accessdate=2007-04-10]

References

* Daniel Wise, "Walker to Assume Senior Status; Law Professor Tapped", N.Y. Law Journal, June 30, 2006.

External links

* [http://www.fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=2479 John M. Walker, Jr. bio] from the United States Courts
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=43805 Nomination to be an Assistant secretary of the Treasury] - the American Presidency Project
* [http://www.brooklaw.edu/news/homepage_news/commencement2005_walker.php Brooklyn Law School commencement profile]