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Frederic Block

{{Short description|American judge (born 1934)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2017}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Frederic Block

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| image = Frederic_Block.png

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| office = Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York

| term_start = September 1, 2005

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| office1 = Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York

| term_start1 = September 29, 1994

| term_end1 = September 1, 2005

| nominator1 =

| appointer1 = Bill Clinton

| predecessor1 = Eugene Nickerson

| successor1 = Brian Cogan

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| birth_name = Frederic Block

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1934|06|06}}

| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York

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| education = Indiana University (AB)
Cornell University (LLB)

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Frederic Block (born June 6, 1934) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Education and career

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Block received an Artium Baccalaureus from Indiana University in 1956 and a Bachelor of Laws from Cornell Law School in 1959.

After law school, he was a clerk to the New York Supreme Court, appellate division, from 1959 to 1961. He was in private practice of law in Patchogue from 1961 to 1962, then in Port Jefferson, Centereach, and Smithtown, moving back and forth between these locations from 1962 to 1994. During this time, he became an adjunct professor at Touro Law School, beginning in 1992.

In private practice, Block handled both civil and criminal cases, and trial and appellate work—even arguing a case before the Supreme Court of the United States.{{cite news |last1=Lat |first1=David |title=An Afternoon with Judge Frederic Block, Author of 'Disrobed' |url=http://abovethelaw.com/2013/03/an-afternoon-with-judge-frederic-block-author-of-disrobed/ |access-date=May 26, 2016 |agency=Above the Law |date=March 26, 2013}}{{citation |title=Questionnaire for judicial nominees |url=https://archive.org/stream/confirmationhear05unit#page/772/mode/2up/search/Frederic+block |work=Confirmation hearings on federal appointments: hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, first session on confirmations of appointees to the federal judiciary, Part 5 |publisher=US GPO |page=773 |year=1995}}

Federal judicial service

On July 22, 1994, Block was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York vacated by Eugene Nickerson. Block was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 28, 1994, and received his commission the next day. He assumed senior status on September 1, 2005, and was succeeded by Judge Brian Cogan.{{cite web |url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/block-frederic |title=Block, Frederic – Federal Judicial Center }}

In 2005, Block complained that the disparity in security between the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, compared to the federal courthouse in Manhattan, was like being a denizen of Fallujah rather than the Green Zone.{{Cite journal |last=Wolff |first=Eric |title=Furor in the Court |url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/11725/ |journal=New York |date=April 8, 2005 |issue=April 18, 2005 |access-date=May 21, 2015}}

Notable cases

On April 15, 2004, Judge Block sentenced Gambino crime family boss Peter Gotti to 9 years and 4 months in prison for money laundering and racketeering charges.{{cite news |last=Newman |first=Andy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/16/nyregion/gambino-crime-boss-or-not-peter-gotti-gets-9-year-term.html |title=Gambino Crime Boss or Not, Peter Gotti Gets 9-Year Term |work=The New York Times |date=April 16, 2004 |access-date=January 20, 2011}} Gotti had a subsequent conviction in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for plotting to murder informant and former Gambino underboss Sammy Gravano.{{cite news |title=Mafia boss Peter Gotti sentenced to 25 years |url=http://www.mg.co.za/article/2005-07-28-mafia-boss-peter-gotti-sentenced-to-25-years |access-date=January 20, 2011 |newspaper=Mail & Guardian |date=July 28, 2005 |agency=Agence France-Presse}}

In 2008, Judge Block ruled that the United States government could not use ethnicity as a factor in deciding to detain two Egyptian-born men on a plane. {{cite court |litigants=Farag v. United States |vol=587 |reporter=F.Supp. 2d |opinion=436 |pinpoint=443 |court=E.D.N.Y |date=2008 |url=https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1753142/farag-v-united-states/}} The Judge stated that it was the first case post-September 11 attacks to address whether ethnicity may be used to establish criminal propensity under the Fourth Amendment.{{cite news |last1=Robbins |first1=Liz |title=Judge Rules That Suspects Cannot Be Detained Because of Ethnicity |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/nyregion/25lawsuit.html |access-date=May 26, 2016 |work=The New York Times |date=November 24, 2008}} Judge Block has stated that this is the matter he is most proud of.

On September 30, 2015, a portion of a "seemingly never-ending dispute" over the printing of the Rebbe's Sichos came to an end when Judge Block dismissed a major part of a lawsuit involving members of the Orthodox Jewish Chabad group. Judge Block dismissed claims of copyright infringement and unfair competition brought by Vaad L'Hafotzas Sichos and Zalman Chanin against Merkos and Agudas Chasidei Chabad.{{cite news |title=Judge Dismisses Majority of Vaad's Claim Against Kehot |url=http://crownheights.info/communal-matters/501824/judge-dismisses-majority-of-vaads-claim-against-kehot/ |date=October 1, 2015}}

On May 24, 2016, Judge Block ordered a sentence of one year of probation (rather than the guideline 33-41 month imprisonment) for a defendant who was convicted by a jury of importation and possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute. {{cite court |litigants=USA v. Nesbeth |court=E.D.N.Y. |date=2016 |url=https://img.nyed.uscourts.gov/files/opinions/15cr18order.pdf}} In a 44-page opinion, Judge Block claimed the "collateral consequences" facing convicted felons are punishment enough. Judge Block's opinion and call for reform appears to be one of the most detailed examinations of collateral consequences and sentencing.{{cite news |last1=Weiser |first1=Benjamin |title=U.S. Judge's Striking Move in Felony Drug Case: Probation, Not Prison |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/26/nyregion/in-a-striking-move-brooklyn-judge-orders-probation-over-prison-in-felony-drug-case.html |access-date=May 26, 2016 |work=The New York Times |date=May 25, 2016}}

Books

On July 17, 2012, Judge Block released his first book named Disrobed: An Inside Look at the Life and Work of a Federal Trial Judge.{{cite web |last=Pierson |first=Brendan |title='Disrobed' offers look at life on the bench |url=http://www.dailyreportonline.com/PubArticleDRO.jsp?id=1202564378177&Disrobed_offers_look_at_life_on_the_bench&slreturn=20120817121649 |publisher=Daily Report Online |date=July 26, 2012}} The book was written for a behind the bench look at some of the most controversial cases in the past 20 years.{{cite web |last=Block |first=Frederic |title=When Every Day Is Judgment Day |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-12/when-every-day-is-judgment-day.html |publisher=Bloomberg |date=July 12, 2012}} The book covers Judge Block's approach to sentencing such as the death penalty, racketeering, gun laws, drug laws, discrimination laws, race riots, terrorism, and restitution of looted property to victims of the Holocaust.{{cite web |last=Tallmer |first=Jerry |title=Judge's book gives an insider's view of life on the bench |url=http://www.thevillager.com/?p=6539 |publisher=The Villager |date=July 19, 2012}}

On May 29, 2019, Judge Block released his second book: Crimes and Punishments: Entering the Mind of a Sentencing Judge.{{Cite web |title=Crimes and Punishments: Entering the Mind of a Sentencing Judge |url=https://www.americanbar.org/products/inv/book/371170166/ |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=www.americanbar.org |language=en}} The book discusses several criminal cases, Judge Block's personal experiences and personal thoughts as they related to his duties; and demonstrates to the reader the power and responsibilities of a federal judge.

In 2024, Judge Block released another book: "A Second Chance: A Federal Judge Decides Who Deserves It."https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/09/16/frederic-block-second-chance-review/ The book again gives examples of real cases, this time to illustrate why Judge Block believes that state judges (in addition to federal judges, who already have this power based on a 2018 federal law, the "First Step Act") should have the authority to reduce previously imposed stiff criminal sentences and to grant "compassionate release" to deserving prisoners in extraordinary and compelling circumstances.

See also

References

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External links