John Sirica

John Sirica
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
In office October 31, 1977 – August 14, 1992
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
In office 1971–1974
Preceded by	Edward Matthew Curran
Succeeded by	George Luzerne Hart Jr.
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
In office March 28, 1957 – October 31, 1977
Appointed by	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	Henry Albert Schweinhaut
Succeeded by	Harold H. Greene
Personal details
Born	John Joseph Sirica (1904-03-19)March 19, 1904 Waterbury, Connecticut
Died	August 14, 1992(1992-08-14) (aged 88) Washington, D.C.
Resting place	Gate of Heaven Cemetery Silver Spring, Maryland
Political party	Republican
Education	Georgetown Law (LL.B.)

John Joseph Sirica (March 19, 1904 – August 14, 1992) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, where he became famous for his role in the trials stemming from the Watergate scandal.

Early life and education[]

Watergate scandal
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Sirica was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, to Ferdinando (Fred) Sirica, an immigrant from Italy, and Rose (Zinno) Sirica, whose parents were from Italy. Between 1910 and 1918, the Sirica family lived in various cities across the United States, while Fred worked as a barber and made several unsuccessful attempts at running small businesses. The family moved to Washington, D.C., in 1918, where John attended Emerson Preparatory School and eventually transferred to Columbia Preparatory School.^[1] In 1922, Fred was running a two-lane bowling alley and poolhall, which was raided by the police for violation of the Prohibition-era Volstead Act when liquor was found in the restroom. Fred was arrested, but the charges were dropped. He soon sold the business and moved away.^[2] Meanwhile, John went directly from high school to law school, which was possible in the District of Columbia at the time, and, after two false starts, entered Georgetown Law and received a Bachelor of Laws in 1926.^[1]

Career[]

Sirica fought as a boxer in Washington and Miami in the 1920s and 1930s. He was torn between a career as a fighter and the career in law that he followed after earning a law degree and passing the bar. Boxing champion Jack Dempsey became a close friend.^[3] Sirica was in private practice of law in Washington, D.C. from 1926 to 1930.^[4] He was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1930 to 1934, and subsequently returned to private practice from 1934 to 1957.^[4] He also served as general counsel to the House Select Committee to Investigate the Federal Communications Commission in 1944; his appointment was opposed by the two Republican members of the committee.^[5] However, Sirica resigned in protest over the committee's handling of the WMCA scandal that year, and re-entered private practice.^[4] In 1947, he joined the law firm of Hogan and Hartson in Washington, D.C. (now called Hogan Lovells).^[6]

Federal judicial service[]

Sirica was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on February 25, 1957, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia vacated by Judge Henry Albert Schweinhaut. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 26, 1957, and received his commission on March 28, 1957. He served as Chief Judge and a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1971 to 1974. He assumed senior status on October 31, 1977. His service terminated on August 14, 1992, due to his death.^[4]

Notably, he ruled the law banning Navy women from ships to be unconstitutional in the case Owens v. Brown.^[7]

Watergate[]

Sirica rose to national prominence when he ordered President Richard Nixon to turn over his recordings of White House conversations. Sirica's involvement in the case began when he presided over the trial of the Watergate burglars. He did not believe the claim that they had acted alone, and through the use of provisional sentencing strongly encouraged them to give information about higher-ups before final sentencing. Under provisional sentencing, judges could give defendants a few months to ponder their sentence before it became final.^[8] One defendant, James W. McCord Jr., wrote a letter describing a broader scheme of involvement by people in the Nixon administration.

Judicial demeanor[]

Experienced as a trial lawyer, Sirica was known for his "no-nonsense" demeanor on the bench. His critics say he lacks understanding of people and compassion, that he's guilty of careless legal errors, that he has a misguided view of the purposes of judicial power. Most of all, they attack him for his handling of the Watergate trial. ^[9] He was nicknamed "Maximum John" for giving defendants the maximum sentence that guidelines allowed. ^[10]

Book[]

In 1979, Sirica published a book, co-authored with , detailing his participation in the Watergate cases under the title To Set the Record Straight. ^[11][12][2]

Recognition[]

For his role in uncovering the truth about Watergate, Sirica was named Time magazine's Man of the Year in January 1974. ^[13]

In 1977, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Leon Jaworski.^[14][15]

Death[]

Sirica suffered a severe heart attack while at a speaking engagement on February 5, 1976.^[16] In the final years of his life, Sirica suffered from a wide range of ailments, both minor and severe.^{[citation needed]} In the last few weeks of his life, he came down with pneumonia. He fell and broke his collarbone a few days before his death, and was hospitalized at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C.^[3] He died in the hospital of cardiac arrest at 4:30 p.m. on August 14, 1992.^[16][1] He was interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Spring, Maryland.^[17] Sirica was survived by his wife, Lucile Camalier Sirica, and his three children, John Jr., Patricia, and Eileen.^[1]

Bibliography[]

• Franscell, Ron (2012). The Crime Buff's Guide to Outlaw Washington, D.C. Guilford, Conn.: Globe Pequot Press. ISBN 9780762773855.
• Sirica, John (April 1, 1979). To Set the Record Straight: The Break-In, the Tapes, the Conspirators, the Pardon. New York: W W Norton & Co. ISBN 0393012344.

References[]

External links[]

• Washington Post biography
• New York Times biography
• Time Magazine 1973 Man of the Year Biography
• Watergate trial sketches, with Judge Sirica
• John Sirica at Find a Grave