An interview with U.S. District Court Judge Rice

In a spacious office in Dayton’s Federal Building, surrounded by volumes of law books and memorabilia, Judge Walter H. Rice reflected on his judicial and law career. It is an auspicious one stretching over several decades in Dayton.

Appointed to the federal bench by President Jimmy Carter in 1980, he was named chief judge in 1996. In November, Rice notified President Bush that he would take senior status, marking 25 years of service.

Having served the required amount of time, Rice can retain his chambers, most of his staff and continue to receive his full salary.

Although he could now reduce his caseload 75 percent, Rice said he will maintain a full schedule until his successor comes in — between six and nine months from now.

Then, he says, he will cut back a little.

“I do not have a lot of hobbies and my work is who I am,” he says. “This is a lifetime appointment and we can take cases as long as we are able. I take both civil and criminal cases, all pertaining to the U.S. government.”

Known both for his deep involvement in community life, as well as for being judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Rice has received the Outstanding Jurist in Ohio Award, the NAACP President’s Award, and many others.

Rice, 68, was born in Pittsburgh and came to Dayton in September 1962.

He graduated from Northwestern University and the Columbia School of Law.

His wife, Bonnie Beaman Rice, is a magistrate judge with the Vandalia Municipal Court. They have a daughter, Courtney, 15. The judge also has three grown children and five grandchildren.

Rice brings a humanistic vision to his profession. Those who have worked with him speak of his fairness and respect in the treatment of all people involved in his trials.

He allows that there is a revolving door to the criminal justice system.

“I believe there needs to be help for people who get out of prison, including counseling and aid in finding a job,” he says.

Rice says he decides cases strictly on the letter of the law.

“Particularly in a criminal case, I may delay a week or two. What’s good for the victim and the defendant? After the delay, the type of sentence becomes apparent. Am I comfortable with this decision? It should be right on the law, however, sometimes I put footnotes why I think it’s unfair,” he says, referring to the particular law.

The legal term for these footnotes is dicta. Rice said his notes are a “gratuitous observation, not part of the decision. If the law is unfair, the judgement which follow causes an unfair effect. There is hope in the future the law might undergo changes.”

He said his Judaism does come into play, “not with the guilt or innocence (of a person), but in the sentencing.”

Rice believes that everyone who comes before him could be turned around. “Jewish people have an obligation not just to their families, but to their communities,” he says.

“There are an incredibly small percent of people who are really bad,” he observes. “There are usually circumstances in their environment, in their own weaknesses. People who didn’t have the breaks I had. The older I get, the more I believe people have a pretty good reserve of goodness.

“The more I’m at this, I marvel at those who are able to surmount it (difficult family life and lack of opportunities). Nothing replaces or substitutes for family.”

His criminal cases include tax evasion, Medicaid fraud, and going over the state line with drugs. Civil cases pertain to commercial litigation, Constitutional race discrimination and others.

A case that stands out in Rice’s mind is the one over ownership of the Ohio-Erie Canal, when he had to go back in local history to the 1820s.

Another was the Cincinnati School desegregation case which involved six weeks of non-stop discussion, resulting in a settlement.

Over past two years, Rice dealt with the case of a local man who ultimately admitted that he had been a prison guard at the Majdanek concentration camp in 1943.

Ildefonsas Bucmys, the defendant, was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in the Dayton U.S. District Court in 1993 by Rice.

After Bucmys admitted that the information he gave for the citizenship papers was not accurate, Rice revoked his U.S citizenship on Feb. 17.

“Bucmys’ story is interesting because he was also a victim of the Holocaust,” Rice says. “He was a guard. He said he enlisted because he was protecting his country (Lithuania). He was assigned to a prison camp. Bucmys was close to illiterate.

“There is a point to such a case, but it is not to imprison him. The purpose is to go after these people until the last one is gone. The importance is to tell the story again and again. You can’t tell it enough. It is the story of the destruction of a beautiful culture that is gone.”

From early childhood, Rice always wanted to be a lawyer. “I wanted to be a corporate tax lawyer. After I hung around the court house, I fell in love with what I saw there. It was dealing with people.”

Rice served the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office from January 1964 to May 1966. He went into private practice for a few years and returned to the prosecutor’s office under Lee Falke as first assistant.

Rice was elected municipal judge from 1970 to 1971, then went to the common pleas court until 1980 when he was appointed to the federal court by Carter.

Spare time, when he has it, finds him a loyal sports fan, particularly of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also likes to read and has a deep love of American history, especially the post- Civil War period.

Rice has often served as master of ceremony for community functions and is known for his keen, erudite wit.

He is modest about the many awards he has received for his work in social justice, which has always been a primary interest of his.

He was co-chair of the Dayton Dialogue on Race Relations, which sought change and improvement.

Rice received the Humanitarian Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice, the Presidential Award for Leadership in Pro Bono Legal Services from the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation, the Tom Joyner Hardest -Working for Civil Rights Activist Award from Wilberforce University, the Community Service Award from the City of Dayton, The Black Public Administrators for Civil Rights and Social Justice Award, and two honorary degrees: a doctor of legal letters and doctor of humane letters from the University of Dayton and Wright State University.

He has taught trial practice at UD’s Law School and served on the school’s advisory council since its inception.

With more free time on the horizon when he reduces his work load, Rice plans to study history in the graduate program at Wright State University. It will add another layer to his wealth of knowledge.