Senior Judge Edward Leavy of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, one of Oregon’s longest-serving judges, died Monday in Wilsonville after several months on hospice care. He was 93.
Leavy was just 27 when he was appointed to Lane County District Court in 1957, kickstarting his 66-year judicial career.
Amid his wide variety of cases and years of experience, he stressed the importance of keeping an open mind and simply listening.
“There are not very many kinds of cases I haven’t heard,” Leavy said in 1997 as he headed into semi-retirement.
Fellow Senior 9th Circuit Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain remembered Leavy as well-liked and respected by both his colleagues on the court and the lawyers who appeared before him.
“He was the most brilliant, compassionate, sensitive and principled judge on our court,” said O’Scannlain, who served 36 years with Leavy.
One of Leavy’s most memorable cases came in 2000, when he was selected out of five federal judges to mediate the high-profile national security case against Wen Ho Lee, a nuclear scientist for the Los Alamos National Laboratory who was indicted for mishandling U.S. nuclear secrets.
Leavy was commended for his ability to reach a plea agreement that benefited all parties.
Leavy also presided years earlier over the notorious case of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, the guru who led a controversial Oregon commune of thousands and pleaded guilty to two immigration charges.
Leavy was elected in 1960 to Lane County Circuit Court and served 16 years. He also served as a justice pro tem for the Oregon Supreme Court during that time. He then served as a U.S. magistrate before being appointed by President Ronald Regan as a U.S. District Court judge in 1984.
Reagan in 1987 appointed Leavy to the 9th Circuit. He became a senior judge 10 years later.
Leavy was awarded numerous honors over his career, including the Edward Devitt award in 2015 for a distinguished career that advanced judicial law and improved society as a whole.
“His contributions were both intellectual and personal,” O’Scannlain said. “He’s one of the best we’ve had.”
— Lisa Moreno; lmoreno@oregonian.com
