Why I Am Leaving the Federal Bench

"My reason is simple: I no longer can bear to be restrained by what judges can say publicly or do outside the courtroom. President Donald Trump is using the law for partisan purposes, targeting his adversaries while sparing his friends and donors from investigation, prosecution, and possible punishment. This is contrary to everything that I have stood for in my more than 50 years in the Department of Justice and on the bench."

"When I accepted the nomination to serve on the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, I took pride in becoming part of a federal judiciary that works to make our country's ideal of equal justice under law a reality. A judiciary that helps protect our democracy. That has the authority and responsibility to hold elected officials to the limits of the power delegated to them by the people."

In 1985, President Ronald Reagan appointed the judge to the federal bench at age 38, with the expectation of serving for life. The judge resigned, relinquishing the lifetime appointment and giving up a loved opportunity for public service. The judge could no longer be restrained in public speech or action because a President was using the law for partisan purposes—targeting adversaries while sparing friends and donors from investigation and punishment. Those actions were contrary to fifty years in the Department of Justice and on the bench and constituted an assault on the rule of law that made silence intolerable. Public service began in 1974 amid the Nixon-era dishonor connected to John Mitchell and Watergate.

Read at The Atlantic