On Sunday my cellphone rang. It was my dear friend Rosemary Barkett, who is a federal judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Our very special friendship has spanned over 30+ years.
After some brief pleasantries Rosemary said that she was calling to let me know, in advance, that she was planning on leaving the federal bench to begin another page in her challenging professional career. I was stunned, to say the least.
Well, to make a long long story somewhat shorter, she will be leaving the Court effective September 30th to take a seat on an international tribunal called The Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, located in The Hague. The tribunal was created by the 1981 Algiers Accords and has jurisdiction to hear certain claims between the two governments, certain claims between the United States and Iranian banking institutions and certain claims of U.S. nationals against Iran and of Iranian nationals against the United States.
It is a 9 member court with 3 Americans, 3 Iranians, 2 Germans and 1 Belgian.
WOW!! TOTALLY AWESOME!!
A little background info ...
Rosemary has been a member of Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals since April 1994, after a rather tumultuous confirmation process. She was appointed by President Clinton.
Before that she was: a Florida Circuit Court Judge; Chief Judge of the 15th Judicial Circuit; Appellate Judge for the Fourth District Court of Appeals; and, Justice of The Florida Supreme Court, the first female member. She was also Chief Justice of that Court.
What a career for a Mexican-born former nun who received her law degree from The University of Florida College of Law.
Those of you who know Rosemary know and understand that this is another page in her incredibly adventurous life, one she just couldn’t pass up.
I am soooooooooo happy for her and look forward to sharing this new adventure. Skype here I come.
Love and hugs Rosemary.
Bill
No comments:
Post a Comment