[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 4643]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   REMEMBERING JUDGE M. BLANE MICHAEL

 Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, today I wish to pay tribute to 
a West Virginian who was an exacting and thoughtful judge, a committed 
father, and a treasured friend. Blane Michael, a Federal judge for the 
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, passed away over the 
weekend.
  There are some people whose lives transcend biographies and are so 
richly varied and important that trying to capture their essence in a 
few brief remarks is impossible. Blane Michael was that kind of person. 
And although I am unlikely to do his life justice with these short 
remarks, I felt it was important for the Senate to hear about this 
great individual.
  Honest and humble to his core, Blane committed himself to public 
service. Born February 17, 1943, in Charleston, SC, he grew up on a 
pastoral farm in Grant County, WV--a quiet spot tucked away in the 
mountains of the State that he left for the first time when he went to 
law school.
  A 1965 graduate of West Virginia University and a 1968 graduate of 
New York University School of Law, Blane worked for a time at a New 
York law firm, and then as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern 
District of New York. But like many young people who have left our 
State to pursue education, employment or other opportunities, he heard 
the call to return home and give back to his State, and the people who 
helped form his foundation for public service.
  In 1972, he returned to West Virginia with his glorious wife Mary 
Anne, who grew up in Shinnston, WV. After working as a special 
assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia and 
later opening a private practice, his path first crossed mine--and my 
life is forever better because of it.
  From 1977 to 1980, Blane served as special counsel during my first 
term as Governor of West Virginia. He was a young lawyer at the time, 
in his early thirties, but he was intelligent, ethical, and 
extraordinarily hardworking. Most importantly, he understood the 
importance of using his legal skills in service to, and for the 
betterment of, his fellow citizens. During those years, I came to know 
quickly that his sight was transfixed on the common good--and for that 
reason, his judgment and wisdom were something I valued immensely and 
sought out often, well beyond my years as Governor.
  In 1981, Blane returned to private practice where he continued to 
solidify his reputation as a skilled lawyer and a person of 
intellectual and moral depth. I was fortunate during that time that he 
was willing to serve as manager for two of my campaigns for United 
States Senate. Always true to his work ethic, he continued to maintain 
a full-time legal practice while performing campaign duties during his 
lunch breaks and on the weekends.
  He was nominated by President Bill Clinton for a seat on the U.S. 
Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on August 6, 1993, and was 
confirmed by the Senate on September 30, 1993. As an appeals court 
judge, he later said that he was lucky to have the one job he had 
wanted from the time he was a young attorney.
  During his 17 years on the Federal bench, he was a formidable 
presence whose record of service speaks to who he was as a person--
tough when he had to be, and always fair and honest. With a moral and 
intellectual compass set hard for justice, Blane was a brilliant judge 
who never took for granted the power and the responsibility of deciding 
the cases that impacted people's lives. Time and again, he spoke for 
those without a voice and protected the rights that we as Americans 
hold so dear.
  He artfully interwove the complexity of the law with the practical 
results of his decisions always taking cases at their face value. And, 
when the issue required it, Blane acted as a counterweight to some of 
the most conservative judges in the country--judges who also would come 
to respect and admire him and, on certain cases that called for 
righting serious wrongs, join him.
  Blane Michael's death is a tremendous loss to our Nation, our State, 
and anyone whose life he touched. For me, his was the kind of deep, 
easy companionship that helps sustain you and remains with you always.
  His contributions were immense, his dedication to justice and doing 
what is right was unmatched, and for that, he will be sorely missed. My 
prayers are with his wife Mary Anne and their daughter Cora; and my 
lasting thoughts are with my dearest and closely held friend.

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