Sterry Robinson Waterman

Sterry Robinson Waterman was a United States circuit judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1955 to 1984. Born in Massachusetts in 1901 and raised in Vermont, he built a distinguished legal career as a practicing attorney, state prosecutor, and leader in Vermont Republican politics before his appointment to the federal bench by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican. During nearly three decades of federal judicial service, he authored hundreds of opinions on matters of federal law and became a respected figure in the American judiciary. His career bridged the practice of law in rural Vermont with service on one of the nation's most influential federal appellate courts, which hears cases from New York, Connecticut, and Vermont.

Early life and legal career

Waterman was born on June 12, 1901, in Taunton, Massachusetts, to Zeno Sterry Waterman and Sarah Robinson Waterman. He attended St. Johnsbury Academy in Vermont before enrolling at Dartmouth College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1922. Following his undergraduate education, he began legal studies at Harvard Law School but did not complete his degree there. Instead, he relocated to Washington, D.C., to accept employment with the federal Commissioner of Immigration while simultaneously pursuing legal education at George Washington University Law School.

Waterman's path to legal practice was unconventional for his era. He studied law through a combination of formal coursework and independent reading, successfully passing the bar examination in 1926 despite lacking one required course for graduation from law school. Rather than completing this final course, he chose to commence his legal practice immediately. He worked briefly in Washington, D.C., before returning to Vermont to establish a law practice in St. Johnsbury, where he would practice for nearly three decades, from 1926 until his federal appointment in 1955.

During his years in private practice, Waterman became deeply involved in Vermont legal and political affairs. He served as State's Attorney for Caledonia County, Vermont, from 1933 to 1937, gaining experience as a prosecutor. Concurrently, he held the position of Assistant Secretary of the Vermont Senate from 1933 to 1940, giving him insight into the legislative process. His legal expertise led to his appointment as general counsel of the Vermont Unemployment Compensation Commission, a position he held for four years during a period when unemployment insurance systems were being established across the nation.

Waterman emerged as an active participant in Republican Party politics during the 1930s and 1940s. He was a founder and leader of the Vermont Young Republicans and became identified with the progressive wing of the state's Republican Party. This faction included prominent figures such as George Aiken and Ernest W. Gibson Jr., with whom Waterman had attended law school and worked in the state senate. Waterman managed Aiken's successful gubernatorial campaign in 1936 and served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention that same year. In 1946, he sought election to the United States Senate but was defeated in the Republican primary by Ralph E. Flanders, who subsequently won the general election.

Beyond his prosecutorial and political activities, Waterman contributed to legal reform efforts. He served on a commission to investigate the Vermont Court System from 1935 to 1937 and was a member of the Vermont Uniform State Laws Commission from 1938 to 1958. In the latter role during the 1940s and early 1950s, he participated in drafting and promoting the Uniform Commercial Code, a comprehensive modernization of commercial law that Vermont adopted in 1952. From 1957 to 1958, he served as president of the Vermont Bar Association, and later, from 1962 to 1964, he held the presidency of the American Judicature Society, a national organization dedicated to judicial reform and independence.

Federal appellate service

President Dwight D. Eisenhower nominated Waterman to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on May 13, 1955, to fill a vacancy created by the departure of Judge Harrie B. Chase. The nomination followed internal deliberations among Vermont's political leadership. Vermont's two senators, George Aiken and Ralph E. Flanders—the same Flanders who had defeated Waterman in the 1946 Senate primary—initially considered recommending Ernest W. Gibson Jr. for the position. However, Gibson, who was then serving on the United States District Court for the District of Vermont, preferred to remain in that role to avoid relocating from Vermont. The senators then put forward Waterman's name.

Waterman's nomination encountered resistance from conservative Republicans, leading President Eisenhower to request that the senators submit an alternative recommendation. Aiken and Flanders, however, persisted in their support for Waterman, and their persistence ultimately proved successful. The United States Senate confirmed Waterman on July 11, 1955, and he received his commission two days later, on July 13, 1955. He assumed his duties on the Second Circuit, which required him to relocate to New York, where the court is based, though he maintained strong ties to Vermont throughout his tenure.

During his active service on the Second Circuit, Waterman participated in the adjudication of numerous federal appeals and authored or contributed to more than six hundred judicial opinions over the course of his career. His work included cases involving criminal law, constitutional questions, and matters of state and federal jurisdiction. Among his notable opinions was one that upheld the prosecution and sentencing of Rudolf Abel, a Soviet intelligence officer convicted of espionage. He also authored an opinion that reaffirmed an order for a special legislative election in New York in 1965 after the state Court of Appeals had canceled it, addressing questions of electoral law and judicial authority.

Waterman assumed senior status on November 13, 1970, a designation that allowed him to continue hearing cases with a reduced caseload. He remained active in this capacity for more than a decade before taking inactive senior status in 1983. His judicial service concluded with his death on February 6, 1984. Among the attorneys who clerked for Waterman during his years on the bench was William B. Gray, who later served as United States Attorney for Vermont.

Jurisprudence and legacy

Waterman's judicial career reflected his background in both rural legal practice and progressive Republican politics. His extensive body of written opinions addressed a wide range of federal legal questions during a period of significant social and legal change in the United States. The Second Circuit, on which he served, is widely regarded as one of the most influential federal appellate courts, handling appeals from the federal district courts in New York, Connecticut, and Vermont, and his contributions to its jurisprudence spanned nearly three decades.

Beyond his judicial work, Waterman maintained involvement in legal education and institutional service. Despite having initially opposed the creation of Vermont Law School, he later served as a trustee of the institution after its founding and eventually became president of its board. He also served as a longtime trustee and board president of St. Johnsbury Academy, his secondary school alma mater. In a notable footnote to his educational history, Waterman received a Juris Doctor degree from Vermont Law School in 1977, more than five decades after he had passed the bar examination. The degree was conferred after the school's trustees, faculty, and administration determined that his judicial writings satisfied the requirements for the single course he had not completed before beginning his legal practice in 1926.

Waterman received numerous honorary degrees in recognition of his legal career and judicial service. Dartmouth College awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1963, followed by similar honors from Harvard Law School in 1969, George Washington University Law School in 1969, the University of Vermont in 1972, and New York University School of Law in 1979. His personal and official papers were archived at the University of Vermont, preserving the documentary record of his career for future researchers and historians.

Vermont Law School established both a scholarship and a lecture series in Waterman's name, and the institution named Waterman Hall in his honor, ensuring that his connection to legal education in Vermont would endure beyond his lifetime. These commemorations reflect his influence on the development of the legal profession in his home state despite his many years of service on the federal bench in New York.

Waterman married Frances Knight in 1932. The couple had two sons, Robert and Thomas. Frances Waterman died in 1975. Waterman himself died in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, on February 6, 1984, at the age of eighty-two. He was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in St. Johnsbury, returning in death to the Vermont community where he had practiced law and maintained deep roots throughout his life.