Frederic Block | |
---|---|
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York | |
Assumed office September 1, 2005 | |
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York | |
In office September 29,1994 –September 1,2005 | |
Appointed by | Bill Clinton |
Preceded by | Eugene Nickerson |
Succeeded by | Brian Cogan |
Personal details | |
Born | Frederic Block June 6,1934 Brooklyn,New York |
Education | Indiana University (AB) Cornell University (LLB) |
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.
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. [1]
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. [1]
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. [2] [3]
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. [1]
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. [4]
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. [5] 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. [6]
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. Farag v. United States, 587F.Supp. 2d436 ,443(E.D.N.Y2008). 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. [7] Judge Block has stated that this is the matter he is most proud of. [2]
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. [8]
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. USA v. Nesbeth(E.D.N.Y.2016), Text . 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. [9]
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. [10] The book was written for a behind the bench look at some of the most controversial cases in the past 20 years. [11] 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. [12]
On May 29,2019,Judge Block released his second book:Crimes and Punishments:Entering the Mind of a Sentencing Judge. [13] 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.
John Joseph Gotti Jr. was an American mafioso and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambino boss Paul Castellano in December 1985 and took over the family shortly thereafter,leading what was described as America's most powerful crime syndicate.
Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano is an American former mobster who rose to the position of underboss in the Gambino crime family. As the underboss,Gravano played a major role in prosecuting John Gotti,the crime family's boss,by agreeing to testify as a government witness against him and other mobsters in a deal in which he confessed to involvement in 19 murders.
The Gambino crime family is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City,within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. The group,which went through five bosses between 1910 and 1957,is named after Carlo Gambino,boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963,when the structure of organized crime first gained public attention. The group's operations extend from New York and the eastern seaboard to California. Its illicit activities include labor and construction racketeering,gambling,loansharking,extortion,money laundering,prostitution,fraud,hijacking,and fencing.
Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito were former New York City Police Department (NYPD) detectives who committed various illegal activities on behalf of the Five Families of the American Mafia,principally the Lucchese and Gambino crime families. The two subsequently became known as the "Mafia Cops".
Eugene Gotti is an American mobster and former captain of the Gambino crime family of New York City. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 1989 for racketeering and drug trafficking charges;he was released in 2018.
Peter Arthur Gotti was an American mobster who served as boss of the Gambino crime family of New York following the imprisonment of his younger brother John Gotti.
Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo is an American mobster who is a captain in the Gambino crime family of New York City.
Frank "Frankie Loc" LoCascio was an American mobster who rose to become consigliere of the Gambino crime family under the administration of John Gotti.
John "Jackie" D'Amico was an American mobster and caporegime in New York City who served as street boss of the Gambino crime family from 2005 to 2011. "Street boss" had been the family's number one position ever since official Boss Peter Gotti started serving a life sentence in prison.
Domenico Cefalù is an Italian-American mobster and is currently the boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City,since July 2011.
Louis Anthony "Bobby" Manna,is an American mobster and former consigliere of the Genovese crime family operating with the family's New Jersey faction.
Philip Abramo,also known as "The King of Wall Street" and "Lou Metzer",is a caporegime in the New Jersey DeCavalcante crime family who was allegedly involved in security fraud and murder. He is the capo of the DeCavalcante family's crew in Miami,Florida,United States.
Joseph Armone,also known as "Joe Piney" and "Shorty",was an American mobster in the Gambino crime family of New York City who served as underboss between 1986 and 1990,and consigliere from 1990 until his death in 1992.
John "Johnny Carnegs" Carneglia is an American mobster in the Gambino crime family. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 1989 for racketeering and drug trafficking charges.
James "Jimmy Brown" Failla was an American mobster who was a high ranking caporegime with the Gambino crime family and a major power in the garbage-hauling industry in New York City. Failla's crew was based in Brooklyn,with operations stretching into Staten Island,Manhattan,and New Jersey.
John Gleeson is an American attorney who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He is a member of the United States Sentencing Commission.
Richard Conway Casey was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Casey gained national prominence for his unusual personal circumstances —during his years on the bench,he was completely blind —and for his aggressive questioning during a 2004 trial considering the constitutionality of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. He died on March 22,2007.
Charles Proctor Sifton was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York from 1977 to 2009 and its Chief Judge from 1995 to 2000.
Giovanni "John" Gambino was an Italian-born American mobster. Born in Palermo,Sicily,he became a made member of the Gambino crime family in 1975 and a capodecina or captain,and head of the crime family's Sicilian faction,appointed by family boss John Gotti in 1986,according to Mafia turncoat Sammy Gravano.