Courtroom Dedicated in Memory of Judge Potter

Article Date: Thursday, August 19, 2010

Courtroom II of the Charles R. Jonas Federal Building in Charlotte was dedicated last month in memory of Judge Robert D. Potter, who served on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina from 1981-2000, including several years as chief judge. A graduate of Duke University and the Duke University School of Law, Judge Potter died on July 2, 2009, at the age of 86. The following remarks were provided at the dedication ceremony by Chief Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr., who has served on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of N.C. since 2005, and as chief judge since 2006.

Remarks of Chief Judge Robert J Conrad, Jr.on the Occasion of the Dedication of Courtroom IIof the Charles R. Jonas Federal Building to the late Judge Robert D. Potter
 
August 19, 2010
 

Members of the Potter family at dedication ceremony.

To his family members, former law clerks, colleagues and members of our bar: I loved Judge Potter. I think of him every day, and being part of his memorial service and courtroom dedication was the happiest day of my professional life.

 

At my investiture as a United States District Court Judge I made an attempt at humor by noting that Judge McMillan’s portrait hung to my “far left” and Judge Potter’s hung to my “far right.” Let me now invoke Judge McMillan here, who was once asked by a reporter how Judge Potter would handle a high-profile case of the 80's, United States v. Bakker, also known as the PTL trial. He is said to have responded with a twinkle in his eye, “He’d suffer no fools among the lawyers,” and added, “He’ll be fast . . . and he’ll be fair.”

 

Judge Potter had a wonderful sense of humor as well. Once, when Judge Potter was selecting a jury with a prominent defense attorney, a prospective juror indicated she knew the lawyer:

 

Judge Potter:    How do you know him?

Juror:                We go to the same Church.

Judge Potter:    (Incredulously) You do? Do you see him there often?

Attorney:          I object!

 

Judge Potter was also legendary in his efficiency. Hurricane Hugo—Charlotte’s worst natural disaster—resulted in only one lost day of proceedings in the PTL trial! (A reporter later stated, “The judge in the O.J. case could have learned from him.”) An out-of-town reporter writing a blog at the time of Judge Potter’s passing, Lex Alexander of Greensboro’s News & Record, commented on the difficulties of getting up at 4 a.m. to get in line to cover the trial. He said:

 

None of this would have been necessary if Judge Potter had simply moved the trial upstairs. But I guess part of the attraction of being a federal judge is that to a large extent you can do as you damn well please, and it damn well pleased Judge Potter to work where he had always worked. Honestly, good for him.

 

Judge Conrad

Referring to his acquired nickname, “Maximum Bob,” I have to say there was another side to Judge Potter—one seldom commented upon publicly. He was compassionate. Once, a former gang member testified in two federal gang trials held before Judge Potter. His second time-cut came after the Judge called the United States Attorney’s Office the week before Christmas and suggested that if the government moved to reduce the defendant’s sentence, it would be favorably received. To his great surprise, the former gang member—expecting to serve many more years in prison—went home with his mother that very day. It’s the only time I can ever recall Judge Potter telling a prosecutor how to run his business. He did it humbly and apologetically, but he did it because he recognized in this former gang member’s demeanor and courageous testimony a person deserving of compassion and mercy. And to complete the story, no former gang member has ever spoken more often to school groups, church and community groups—even groups of federal judges—about the lessons to be learned from his past mistakes.

 

While commenting on this “other side” of Judge Potter, I am also moved to speak more soberly. Judge Potter was a great man. The term mentioned frequently at his passing was “giant.”

 

There is a group of Catholic lawyers in Charlotte who formed the St. Thomas More Society to honor the former Lord Chancellor of England who “died the King’s good servant and God’s first.” Judge Potter was the first recipient of that group’s St. Thomas More Award. I’m reminded of that when I consider the words of John Paul II in pronouncing More patron saint of statesmen and lawyers. The Pope’s words said then about More, I suggest, are equally applicable to Judge Potter:

 

It is helpful to turn to the example of Saint Thomas More, who distinguished himself by his constant fidelity to legitimate authority and institutions precisely in his intention to serve not power but the supreme ideal of justice. His life teaches us that government is above all an exercise of virtue. Unwavering in this rigorous moral stance, this English statesman placed his own public activity at the service of the person, especially if that person was weak or poor; he dealt with social controversies with a superb sense of fairness; he was vigorously committed to favoring and defending the family; he supported the all-round education of the young. His profound detachment from honors and wealth, his serene and joyful humility, his balanced knowledge of human nature and of the vanity of success, his certainty of judgment rooted in faith: these all gave him that confident inner strength that sustained him in adversity and in the face of death.

 

Judge Potter had that confident, inner strength. He has been called “the Giant of Courtroom II.” He was and is a giant; he was and is a hero.

 George Roche in his book, A World Without Heroes, says: 

Our debt to heroes is no metaphor, but the very substance of a free society. And our duty to one another and to moral law is exemplified by the hero’s selflessness.

 

We desperately need heroes. They are tangible proof that man does not live by reason alone—that he has a moral conscience which is divinely inspired,  that he may freely choose virtue over sin, heroism over cowardice or resignation.

 

The genuine hero tells us that life can be what it should be; that bravery and self-sacrifice occur because there are beliefs and responsibilities which warrant bravery and self-sacrifice. The hero tells us there is indeed purpose in human life.

 

We judges of the Western District of North Carolina owe a debt of gratitude to this great man.  In a feeble attempt to recognize that debt, we do two things.

 

First, we dedicate his courtroom, previously known as Courtroom II, to Judge Potter.  From now on, it shall be referred to, and known as, the Robert D. Potter Courtroom. Lettering to that effect has been placed over the doors to the Courtroom, and each time when you enter in the future, see these words and remember the man.

 

Second, a plaque has been displayed in a prominent place containing the likeness of Judge Potter and words of gratitude from the Court. Again, when observing this plaque and its wonderful likeness of Judge Potter, it is our hope that you will remember the man.

 

From time to time, someone around here—a court clerk, a CSO, a lawyer or colleague on the bench will say, “That’s just what Judge Potter would have done,” or, “It’s as if Judge Potter were still here.” There is no greater compliment.

 

As a federal agent remarked at the time of Judge Potter’s death, “If ‘Justice’ came disguised as a man, he would be Robert Potter.” That is a fitting way to close.

 

By Order dated August 19, 2010, the resolution of the Board of Judges dedicating Courtroom II in honor of Judge Robert D. Potter was Accepted and Ordered placed in the permanent records of the Court.