Judge Ware was a well-respected federal judge in San Jose. A graduate of Stanford Law School, Ware was appointed by President Clinton to become the only Black judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and his confirmation process was going smoothly. Ware was even mentioned as a possible Supreme Court nominee.
Judge Ware had been a registered Republican when he was appointed to the bench by President Bush, but he switched to the Democratic party shortly before his appointment by President Clinton.
Judge Ware often told the story of the murder of his brother, Virgil Ware, as a tale of the trauma of discrimination. And not just once or twice -- Judge Ware told the story so often that it became part of his public image: the successful black judge whose brother fell to the violence of racial hatred.
In fact, Ware often told of holding his dying brother in his arms. He called the death of his brother "a defining experience, a turning point in my life." The story helped him posture as someone who had seen the worst of discrimination, and who had overcome hatred. He told the story so effectively that he even managed to move his fellow lawyers emotionally -- no small feat. The story gave Ware the aura of a saint.
The story itself is true. Virgil Ware really was shot dead while riding a bicycle in a suburb of racially torn Birmingham, Alabama. The tragic incident occurred as part of racial violence in Birmingham in September, 1963. And Virgil Ware really had a brother named James Ware. James Ware is still alive -- but that James Ware is NOT JUDGE WARE.
Judge Ware admitted he was not related to Virgil Ware only after the Birmingham News recently interviewed the James Ware who really is the brother of the dead boy. "Statements made by me in speeches and interviews that I am the James Ware whose brother Virgil was killed in Alabama were not the truth," Ware admitted after the paper broke the story on Wednesday.
This has been a tough year for the San Jose federal bench. Former U.S. District Court Judge Robert Aguilar was forced to resign last year as part of a deal to end his long-running criminal case. His appointed successor, U.S. Attorney Michael Yamaguchi, had to withdraw from consideration because he was also under investigation by the Justice Department.
People like Judge Ware, Robert Aguilar, and Michael Yamaguchi are the powers-that-be that decide whether you'll be riding the ferry with Juan Gonzalez.
(Source: New York Daily News.)
