2012 Inaugural UVU Christine M. Durham Public Service Award
Celebration
I am delighted to have the opportunity to congratulate Christine Durham on
the completion of her term as chief justice. She and I have known each
other for a long time. She has been a terrific judge (I’ve cited her opinions)
and has served as a wonderful chief justice for the people of Utah, in
addition to serving as president of the Conference of Chief Justices. I hope
that she will continue to be active in the CCJ so that we may see each other
often. I have enjoyed her participation in meetings and intellectual
discussions about the law as much as I have enjoyed being her “shopping
buddy”! Best wishes to Chief Justice Durham and the Utah Supreme Court.
Shirley Abrahamson
Chief Justice
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Please convey to Chief Justice Durham my best wishes on her
retirement as Chief Justice. Fortunately for me, my tenure as Oregon's
Chief Justice coincided with Chief Justice Durham's. Not only was Chief
Justice Durham a remarkable leader and legal scholar in her own state, she
provided leadership, guidance, inspiration and friendship for me and many
other Chiefs around the country. The legacy of Chief Justice Durham's
leadership can be found in the cutting edge court programs and modern
delivery of judicial services now in place in states across the country. Chief
Justice Durham's dynamic leadership and her insightful and innovative
approach to court management will be greatly missed.
Paul J. De Muniz
Chief Justice
Oregon Supreme Court
Christine Durham has rendered truly extraordinary service as Chief
Justice. She was a visionary and highly effective leader. She was an
inspiration to me and to many, many others. In addition to that, she is a
superb jurist. She is wholly committed to providing fair and impartial
justice.
Beyond her great contributions to the Utah judiciary, she has also been a
giant on the national scene, serving as Chair of the Conference of Chief
Justices and winning the Rehnquist Award. She is recognized and
respected throughout the country as a brilliant leader and administrator.
Matthew Durrant
Justice
Utah Supreme Court
Any discussion of judicial courage and independence in the United States
must include Chief Justice Durham as the epitome of both attributes. A
forceful advocate for the rule of law, a consummate diplomat in resolving
disputes, Christine Durham has earned a vaunted place in the annals of
constitutional democracy.
Wallace Jefferson
Chief Justice
Texas Supreme Court
"I say - and I say no longer with any doubt - that a [woman] may live greatly in
the law as well as elsewhere; that there as well as elsewhere [her] thought may
find its unity in an infinite perspective..."
Those are the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., one of my predecessors as
Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts before his
appointment to the United States Supreme Court. Justice Holmes set the bar high,
and there are few who can meet his measure.
Chief Justice Durham is one. She has indeed lived greatly in the law. As a jurist,
as a judicial administrator, as a writer, as an educator, mentor, colleague and
innovator, she has made powerful contributions to the law and to the judiciary in
Utah, across our nation and beyond. She has deserved well the many honors she
has received, but none capture her humility, her grace and her quiet manner of
doing what is right, whatever the circumstance. I shall treasure always the
privilege of knowing her.
Margaret H. Marshall
Chief Justice
Supreme Judicial Court
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
I have been honored to be Christine Durham's colleague on the bench for
nine years. She has received countless accolades from jurists around the
world for her judicial work, culminating in her receipt of the Rehnquist
Award, the most coveted honor available to a state judge. I have the good
fortune to work with Justice Durham every day. I will remark on but one of
Justice Durham's superlative traits. She is relentlessly respectful of
everyone who she encounters as a jurist. She is likewise respectful of an
astonishing range of opinions and notions, ones that would generate scorn
from one less tolerant. Finally, I know of no other person who has been so
committed to the well-being of the judicial branch while being immune to
the seductive power of self-aggrandizement.
Ronald Nehring
Justice
Utah Supreme Court
For a whole generation and more, very little of value to the American
system of justice has occurred without Christine Durham being close to the
center of it. When Chief Justice Durham speaks, the rest of us put our pens
at the ready, knowing that she’s likely to say something we’ll want to
remember.
Randall T. Shepard
Chief Justice of Indiana
1987-2012
Chief Justice Durham’s commitment to excellence and to improving the
fair administration of justice on a local and national scale, through
innovative leadership and judicial education, is truly enviable. As a judge
and as Chief Justice, she has been a trailblazer in the state of Utah and her
legacy is one of brilliant and prolific judicial scholarship that is worthy of
the honor bestowed upon her today.
Thanks for the opportunity to speak favorably about Chief Justice
Durham and best wishes for a successful event.
Eric T. Washington
Chief Judge
Court of Appeals
District of Columbia