Robert A. Katzmann

Robert Allen Katzmann was a United States circuit judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1999 until his death in 2021. Appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat, he was confirmed by the Senate in July 1999 and went on to serve as the court's chief judge from 2013 to 2020. Distinguished by his unique background as the first federal judge to hold a doctorate in government, Katzmann brought an interdisciplinary perspective to the federal bench, combining expertise in law, political science, and public policy. His judicial career was marked by significant rulings on civil rights, presidential immunity, and statutory interpretation, and he was deeply engaged in efforts to improve judicial administration, interbranch relations, and access to justice. He passed away on June 9, 2021, after more than two decades of federal appellate service.

Early life and legal career

Robert Allen Katzmann was born on April 22, 1953, in New York City. He was the son of Sylvia Katzmann, a homemaker, and John Katzmann, who worked as an engineer. His family background in New York would later inform his deep connection to the Second Circuit, which encompasses New York, Connecticut, and Vermont.

Katzmann pursued an extensive and distinguished academic path across three of the nation's most prestigious universities. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1973, completing his undergraduate education in his home city. He then continued his studies at Harvard University, where he obtained a Master of Arts degree in 1976 and a Ph.D. in 1978, focusing on government and political science. This doctoral work would distinguish him throughout his career as a scholar-jurist with deep expertise in the relationship between governmental institutions. He completed his formal education at Yale Law School, receiving his Juris Doctor in 1980. During his time at Yale, he served as an article and book review editor of the Yale Law Journal, one of the most respected positions in legal academia.

Following law school, Katzmann clerked for Judge Hugh H. Bownes of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit from 1980 to 1981, gaining early exposure to the federal appellate system. After his clerkship, he embarked on a distinguished career in academia and policy research that would span nearly two decades before his appointment to the bench. From 1981 to 1999, he was a fellow at the Brookings Institution, one of Washington's premier think tanks, where he conducted research on government institutions and policy. During this period, he also served as acting program director at Brookings in 1998.

Katzmann held numerous academic appointments that reflected his interdisciplinary expertise. He served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center from 1984 to 1989 and at Georgetown's Public Policy Program from 1987 to 1992. From 1992 to 1999, he held the prestigious Walsh Professorship of Government at Georgetown University, where he also served as professor of law and professor of public policy. He held visiting professorships at the University of California, Los Angeles, through its Washington, D.C., program from 1990 to 1992, and served as the Wayne Morse Chair in law and politics at the University of Oregon in 1992. Through these positions, he taught courses on administrative law, statutory interpretation, constitutional law, and the judiciary.

Beyond academia, Katzmann was deeply involved in judicial administration and government service before his appointment. He served as president of the Governance Institute from 1986 to 1999 and as a special assistant to the director of the Federal Judicial Center from 1986 to 1988. He also served as special counsel to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan during the confirmation process for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, giving him insight into the judicial appointment process from the legislative perspective. His scholarly work during this period focused on judicial-congressional relations, statutory interpretation, the administrative process, regulation, and court reform. Notably, his brother, Gary Katzmann, also pursued a judicial career and became a judge of the United States Court of International Trade.

Federal appellate service

President Bill Clinton nominated Katzmann to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on March 8, 1999. The nomination was to fill a seat that had been vacated by Judge Jon O. Newman. The Senate confirmed Katzmann by voice vote on July 14, 1999, and he received his commission two days later, on July 16, 1999. He thus began his service on one of the nation's most influential federal appellate courts, which hears cases from the federal district courts in New York, Connecticut, and Vermont.

Katzmann served as an active circuit judge for more than two decades. On September 1, 2013, he assumed the position of chief judge of the Second Circuit, the court's administrative leader responsible for overseeing its operations and representing it in the broader federal judiciary. He served in this capacity until August 31, 2020, a term of seven years. On January 21, 2021, he assumed senior status, a form of semi-retirement that allows federal judges to continue hearing cases with a reduced caseload. Tragically, his senior service was brief; he passed away less than five months later, on June 9, 2021.

During his tenure, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Katzmann to several important positions within the federal judiciary's administrative structure. He served as chair of the United States Judicial Conference Committee on the Judicial Branch, as a member of the Judicial Conference Executive Committee, and as chair of the Supreme Court Fellows Commission. These roles reflected the high regard in which he was held by his colleagues and his expertise in judicial administration and interbranch relations.

Katzmann participated in numerous significant cases during his time on the Second Circuit. In a dissenting opinion in Watson v. United States in 2017, he criticized the government's wrongful detention of a United States citizen for more than twelve hundred days and argued that the individual should be permitted to sue the government for damages. In August 2017, he authored an opinion upholding the insider trading conviction of Mathew Martoma, a decision that drew a dissent from Judge Pooler, who contended that the majority was improperly overruling circuit precedent. In June 2018, Katzmann issued an amended opinion in the same case that reached the same conclusion, again over Judge Pooler's dissent.

One of his most significant opinions came in the 2018 case of Zarda v. Altitude Express, in which he wrote for the full Second Circuit in a 10-3 en banc decision. The court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. This landmark ruling was later affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States in the consolidated case of Bostock v. Clayton County, cementing its importance in civil rights law. Also in 2018, in Corren v. Condos, Katzmann authored an opinion upholding Vermont's public financing campaign laws against challenges brought under the First Amendment.

In 2019, Katzmann wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel in Trump v. Vance, holding that the president is not immune from the enforcement of a state grand jury subpoena directing a third party to produce non-privileged material, even when the subject matter under investigation pertains to the president, and that a state grand jury may permissibly issue subpoenas in aid of its investigation of potential crimes committed by persons within its jurisdiction, even if that investigation may implicate the president. The Supreme Court affirmed this ruling in June 2020, making it one of the most nationally prominent decisions of Katzmann's judicial career.

Jurisprudence and legacy

Throughout his career, both before and during his time on the bench, Katzmann was known for his scholarly approach to law and his commitment to improving the functioning of government institutions. He wrote extensively on subjects including judicial-congressional relations, statutory interpretation, the administrative process, regulation, court reform, access to justice for immigrants, civic education, disability rights, and the war powers resolution. His work reflected an interdisciplinary perspective that drew on his training in both law and political science.

Katzmann's scholarly interest in interbranch relations began at the invitation of the United States Judicial Conference Committee on the Judicial Branch, which was then chaired by Judge Frank M. Coffin. This work examined how the judicial and legislative branches could better understand and communicate with one another, particularly in the context of statutory interpretation and legislative drafting. He also directed a project at the Brookings Institution on the legal profession and public service, which examined the relationship between law firms and the public good.

His commitment to judicial administration and legal reform was evident in his extensive service to professional organizations and advisory bodies. He served as a board director of the American Judicature Society, an organization dedicated to improving the justice system. He was a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States, an independent federal agency that works to improve administrative processes. He served as vice-chair of the Committee on Government Organization and Separation of Powers of the American Bar Association's Section on Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice, and as chair of the Section on Legislation of the Association of American Law Schools. He also served as a consultant to the Federal Courts Study Committee and as co-chair of the Federal Trade Commission transition team.

After his appointment to the bench, Katzmann continued his engagement with legal education and civic institutions. He served as professor of practice at New York University School of Law, maintaining his connection to legal academia. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the New York Public Library, reflecting his commitment to public access to knowledge and information. He served on the Board of Visitors of Georgetown University Law Center, maintaining ties to one of his academic homes. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Judicial Administration at NYU, the advisory board of Roosevelt House of Hunter College, and the National Board of Academic Advisors of the Rehnquist Center at the University of Arizona's James E. Rogers College of Law.

Katzmann's legacy rests on his unique combination of scholarly rigor and practical judicial service. As the first federal judge to hold a doctorate in government, he brought an unusual depth of understanding to questions involving the structure and operation of governmental institutions. His work on statutory interpretation and interbranch relations contributed to ongoing conversations about how courts should approach legislative texts and how different branches of government can work more effectively together. His opinions in cases involving civil rights, presidential power, and criminal justice reflected careful legal reasoning grounded in both doctrinal analysis and broader institutional considerations. His leadership as chief judge of the Second Circuit and his service on national judicial committees demonstrated his commitment to the effective administration of justice. His death in 2021 marked the loss of a jurist who had made significant contributions to both the law and the broader understanding of American governmental institutions.