103 Year Old Federal Judge Lightens Case Load

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – A 103-year-old federal judge still serving
on the bench in Kansas is lightening his case load.
The law clerk for U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown confirmed
Thursday that the judge is removing himself from the draw for
assignment of new criminal cases. Thursday’s docket also showed
several of his existing cases being reassigned to other judges.
His law clerk, Michael Lahey, told The Associated Press that
Brown will continue to preside over fewer of his remaining criminal
and civil cases.
The judge uses oxygen as he presides from the bench, and Lahey
says the lengthy plea hearings “take a lot of oxygen” from him.
Brown was appointed to the federal bench by President John F.
Kennedy in 1962.
He turns 104 in June.