Legal News

Law Blog Obituary: U.S. District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer

By Nathan Koppel

We pause for a moment today to remember Dallas federal judge Jerry Buchmeyer, a true original, who died Monday at 76 of natural causes.

Here's an obit in the Dallas Morning News and one from the AP.

Appointed by Jimmy Carter, Buchmeyer is best known for a 1985 ruling that helped desegregate housing in Dallas. The judge sided with plaintiffs who complained about living conditions in Dallas housing projects. He authorized thousands of low-income black families to move to predominantly white neighborhoods with the aid of government vouchers.

In another important ruling, Buchmeyer in 1990 struck down Dallas's system for electing city officials, ruling that it diluted minority influence.

The judge often got hate mail, the Morning News reports. "Considering the climate at the time, he was very courageous," one attorney said.

Buchmeyer's sense of humor also earned him acclaim in the Texas bar. He wrote a monthly column in the Texas Bar Journal, called "et cetera", in which he noted wacky lawyer and witness comments that he had culled from depositions and court testimony.

Here's one snippet from a Buchmeyer column, drawn from the sentencing of a defendant on a petty theft charge.

Judge: Think you’ve learned anything?

Defendant: Yes, … I’m burning the outfit I was wearing. I’m going to burn it. I’ve been to jail four times in that outfit. Every time I wear it, I go to jail. I’m burning it.

If you have ever read the Texas Bar Journal, you can understand how much this sort of stab at humor was appreciated by lawyers.

If you want more of Buchmeyer’s ouevre, here’s a link to his Bar Journal columns dating to 2003.

But, for our money, the most entertaining thing Buchmeyer ever wrote was directed at a fellow jurist, U.S. District Judge John McBryde of Fort Worth.

In the 1990s, McBryde was sanctioned by a federal judicial disciplinary body for purportedly treating lawyers in an abusive manner. Here's a link to a ruling about the disciplinary matter, which McBryde unsuccessfully fought on due process and other grounds.

Adding fuel to the fire, Buchmeyer wrote a song, called King McBryde's song, for a 1993 Dallas Bar event, according to an article in the Fort Worth Star Telegram (link not available). According to the article, McBryde called the song “an offensive attack on a fellow judge.” Buchmeyer responded with a letter, in which he apologized, and said it was all meant in fun.

Here are some of the lyrics:

"Lawyers I am overjoyed
That you're all here today.
Now listen very closely
To what I've got to say.
Stupid lawsuits, motions wasting time,
That's gonna stop, 'cause I'm your God,
And I'll treat you just like slime.
Yes! I am the Judge,
I'm the Great John McBryde . . .

We’ve put a call into Judge McBryde, and we’ll let you know if he offers any comments.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on September 23, 2009 (boomark / email).