The legendary John C. Keeney, who served in the Criminal Division for 59 years, passed away on Saturday, November 19, 2011, at his home in Kensington, Maryland. Jack joined the Criminal Division at Main Justice on March 19, 1951, and served until his retirement in 2010, at the age of 88. He served 11 U.S. Presidents. For several decades, he served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, including numerous stints as the Acting Assistant Attorney General.

 

In 1990 Keeney received the Henry E. Petersen Award, the Criminal Division's highest award. He 1996, he received the Attorney General's Award, the highest award bestowed by the Attorney General. In 2010, one of the Criminal Division buildings was named in honor of Jack.

 

Before his service with the Department of Justice, Jack was a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps, flying several B-17 bombing raids over Nazi Germany, one such raid resulting in his being held by German forces as a prisoner of war.

 

Jack received law degrees from The Dickinson School of Law and The George Washington University Law School. He was married to the late Eugenia Brislin and had five children and two grandchildren.

 

He was truly an American hero.

 

 

Chuck Graves, who served as Executive Director of NAFUSA 1998-2000, and as President of NAFUSA 1999-2000, passed away August 22, 2011, in Billings, Montanta. He was 80 years old at the time of his death. He was appointed by President Jimmy Carter as the United States Attorney for the District of Wyoming, and served from 1977-1981.

 

Graves received his law degree from the University of Colorado. He had a successful law practice in Cheyenne, Wyoming for many years. He is survived by his wife, Halene, as well as five children and several grandchildren and great grandchildren.

 

NAFUSA presented Halene with an American flag with the following inscription: Flown over the U.S. Department of Justice on November 15, 2011 in honor of Charles E. Graves, U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming (1977-1980).

 

 

 

Larry Finder and Ron Woods with U.S. District Judge Sim Lake

 

 

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals honored NAFUSA members Ron Woods and Larry Finder at the Federal Bar Association Annual Judiciary Dinner in Houston on November 10, 2011 by presenting each a plaque with the inscription:

 

United States Courts Judicial Council Of The Fifth Circuit Presents To Ronald G. Woods/Lawrence D. Finder With Gratitude for Exceptional Assistance to Preserve the Integrity of the Judiciary. Presented in Houston November 10, 2011

  

The presenter was U.S. District Judge Sim Lake of Houston, who was appointed by the Chief Judge of the Fifth Circuit to serve on a Special Committee with Chief Judge Edith Jones and Fortunato "Pete" Benevides of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the evidence against U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous of New Orleans.

 

Pursuant to Title 28, U.S.C., Section 353, the Special Committee sat as judges in trial in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Courtroom in New Orleans wherein Woods and Finder presented the evidence they had gathered against Judge Porteous, who represented himself. After a two day trial in a closed courtroom, the evidence was then summarized and presented to the full 19 member Judicial Council of the Fifth Circuit by Woods and Finder. Judge Porteous again represented himself before the Judicial Council.

 

As a result, the Judicial Council removed Judge Porteous from hearing any cases involving the federal government and forwarded the entire record to the Chief Justice of the United States, as presiding officer of the Judicial Conference of the United States, with the statement that Judge Porteous has engaged in conduct that might constitute one or more grounds for impeachment under Article II of the Constitution. The Judicial Conference reviewed the evidence and forwarded it to the U.S. House of Representatives with the statement that Judge Porteous has engaged in conduct that might constitute grounds for impeachment under Article II of the Constitution. The U.S. House of Representatives reviewed the evidence and impeached Judge Porteous. A trial was conducted in the United States Senate and Judge Porteous, now represented by Jonathan Turley, was convicted and removed from office on December 8, 2010. This was only the eighth time in history that the Senate has convicted and removed an impeached judge and only the third time in history that the Senate has issued an order disqualifying a judge from ever holding a federal office again.