Joseph
P. Kinneary was the oldest active federal judge, having served 35
years on the bench when he retired in 2001. He was only 95.
...
"He
was a judge
that was bigger than life and a legend among other judges and lawyers,"
said [Judge Susan] Dlott, "He had this formality in the courtroom
that terrified people."
Judge
Joseph P. Kinneary, law class of 1935, has a long and distinguished
career in our state’s capital. His office is in the Joseph P.
Kinneary U.S. Courthouse, which was dedicated in September 1998. Judge
Kinneary was appointed U.S. Attorney by President Kennedy, and reappointed
to the office in 1965 by President Johnson, who then in 1966 appointed
him judge in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio. During
his three decades on the federal bench, he served as Chief Judge of
the U.S. District Court from 1973 to 1975, sat on the Sixth Circuit
Court of Appeals by invitation of the appellate court, and has considered
more than 12,000 cases. In 1986, Judge Kinneary entered senior status.
Judge
Kinneary entered public service in 1937. He began at the state level
where he served as Assistant Attorney General and later as First Assistant
Attorney General for former Ohio Attorney General Herbert S. Duffy.
During WWII, he was a captain and chief of a field headquarters legal
branch of the Army Quartermasters Corps.