Judge John D. Bates Receives 2025 Devitt Award

Judge John D. Bates, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is the 2025 recipient of the Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award. Bates received the award in an Oct. 16 ceremony presided over by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., at the U.S. Supreme Court, and attended by five Associate Justices.

For 41 years, the Devitt Award has honored an Article III judge who has had a distinguished career and made significant contributions to the administration of justice, the advancement of the rule of law, and the improvement of society as a whole. As Chief Justice Roberts noted, it “has long been considered the most prestigious honor in our branch of government.”

Recipients are chosen by a committee of federal judges. This year, the committee was chaired by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and included Judge John Z. Lee, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and Judge Dabney L. Friedrich, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Bates was appointed to the federal bench in 2001. He has held many important leadership roles within the federal Judiciary, including as Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts from 2013 to 2015, Presiding Judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court from 2009 to 2013, and chair of both the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules, from 2015 to 2020, and the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, from 2020 to 2025.

"You are a most worthy recipient," said Chief Justice Roberts. "Each time I have called upon you to incur these significant extra burdens on top of your regular caseload, you have accepted enthusiastically and discharged your important responsibilities superbly."

"In each, you have strengthened the Judiciary through your sound judgement and principled leadership,” Justice Barrett said. She added that “throughout, you have modeled the ideals of integrity, professionalism, and commitment to public service.”

Bates graduated from Wesleyan University in 1968 and the University of Maryland School of Law in 1976. He served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1971 and completed a tour in Vietnam as a first lieutenant. 

Bates began his legal career at a Washington, D.C. law firm before entering public service as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia in 1980. He served as chief of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office from 1987 to 1997. Bates was on detail as the deputy independent counsel for the Whitewater investigation from 1995 to 1997. He went on to work for another Washington, D.C. law firm in 1998, before his appointment to the federal bench.

"Prior recipients of the Devitt Award represent the very best of the Third Branch, and I am truly humbled to be included with those outstanding judges,” Bates said.

The Devitt Award, sponsored by the Dwight D. Opperman Foundation, is named for the late Edward J. Devitt, longtime chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.