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Judge Carolyn Dineen King Wins Devitt Award

June 8, 2007 — Judge Carolyn Dineen King of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has been selected as the 2007 recipient of the Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award.

In nominating King for the award, Chief Judge Michael Boudin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit said, "Judge King has been an outstanding chief judge of her own circuit, almost legendary in her devotion to its needs. In her leadership of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference, she has been the single most important figure in the judiciary in guiding the courts through the financial crisis of the last several years."

A federal judge since 1979, King served on the policy-making Judicial Conference of the United States for seven years. For the last three years of that tenure, she chaired its executive committee.

King was selected by a three-member panel chaired by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The panel's other members were Judge Deanell Reece Tacha of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and Judge Gerard E. Lynch of the Southern District of New York.

The award is named for the late Edward J. Devitt, longtime chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Minnesota, and is administered by the American Judicature Society (AJS). It annually honors Article III judges whose careers have been exemplary, measured by their significant contributions to the administration of justice, the advancement of the rule of law, and the improvement of society as a whole.

In announcing this year's winner, the AJS said of Judge King: "Her selfless devotion to the public good through legal, civil, and charitable ventures is among the reasons the selection panel chose her, unanimously, for the Devitt Award."