Man, this is a sad one. Judge Brannon was such a good guy. I knew him back from his federal defender days. Always willing to share a story or advice or his time. And such a compassionate and nice judge. Awful news.
There has been a ton of really nice comments on the CJA listserv. Here's one from Richard Klugh:
I wanted to share one memory of working with Dave Lee Brannon when we were AFPDs. We had adjacent offices in Miami (starting in June 1986) and then in Ft. Lauderdale four years later. It was in that later period that he and I wrote the first of what became an FPD staple—songs about our defense work. The song, The Christmas Guideline Song, performed at the FPD Holiday party by Celeste, Pat Hunt, and others, was eventually followed by the songs Pat Hunt, Jackie Shapiro, Celeste, Daryl, and Neison wrote for seminars. The guideline song was mostly Dave’s idea. It went through each section of Chapter 2 of the manual from A to X, beginning with “‘A’ is for assaultive, mean behavior. ‘B’ is when you burgle steal or rob ...” To paraphrase, put them all together they spell, ‘Dave was just a really great guy.’
Wow! What a gut punch. One of the nicest people I've ever met
ReplyDeleteAs a regular practitioner before Judge Brannon, I must say this is indeed a gut punch. "Nice" doesn't even begin to describe Judge Brannon. I always told people he was like a grandfather. So nice, respectful, compassionate. I didn't even mind hearing the same Abe Lincoln reasons for settlement over and over again, each time I appeared before him for an FLSA settlement conference. When his career law clerk shared the news with me this morning, I hung up the phone and literally teared up. Not because I knew him "personally". But I had enough matters in front of him to know and appreciate (I think) who he was. Whatever synonyms you can think of for "kind", "caring", "nice", "compassionate", etc. I remember one time I appeared for a conference and I neglected to wear a tie. His very subtle comment: "Mr. Levine, I see you are dressed a bit informally for federal court". It was his way of saying, "look pal, I know you don't mean any disrespect and it's really not a big deal, but...." I'm really at a loss. I had no idea he was ill. Judge Brannon, you will be so sorely missed. My most deepest condolences to the family and staff. I wish I could have had more one-on-one conversations. Rest in peace.
ReplyDeleteA true public servant and mensch!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds corny for everyone to keep saying "nice" but he was the nicest guy ever. Never worked with him as a judge but knew him as a FPD and he just won everyone over with his goodness.
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