Jon O. Newman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will be presented with the 32nd annual Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award from the Dwight D. Opperman Foundation on December 8. Named for the highly regarded late Edward J. Devitt, the longtime chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, the Devitt Award is the highest honor bestowed upon a U.S. Article III federal judge, and is much like the Nobel Prize of the American judiciary.
Judge Newman said, “It is an overwhelming honor to have been selected to receive the Devitt Award. I am grateful to Justice Kagan, the selection committee, and to the late Dwight Opperman, an iconic figure in the American legal community who, through his foundation, continues to honor excellence in the federal judiciary.”
The award was established in 1982 by Dwight D. Opperman to honor a respected member of the federal bench, one who possessed a distinguished lifelong career characterized by decisions that, through his/her wisdom, humanity and commitment to the rule of law, make clear that bench, bar and community alike would willingly entrust that judge with the most complex cases of the most far-reaching importance.