Word: moran
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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When some American Indian activists occupied a building at Fort Robinson and threatened to burn it down, Moran sentenced them to five days in the county jail. Some whites denounced him for being a "bit soft on our Indian brethren," But in Moran's view, "shorn of emotionalism, what happened is nothing more than a slightly aggravated case of trespass...
...another case he heard the murder trial of two white youths for beating an Indian who later died of brain damage. When Moran sentenced the boys-six years for the leader, two years for the other -some Indians were furious and tore down the American flag outside the courthouse...
...Though Moran knows all the lawyers who come before him, he keeps his distance...
...Moran, who has been on the bench for twelve years, is known for running a strict court; with 450 cases a year, he has to. "The way to irritate Moran," says the judge about himself, "is to ask for continuances." He is a one-man show: he does all his own legal research and wrestles with his hard decisions alone. "I can't bounce things off other people to help me," he says. "A judge lives a fairly lonely life." A practicing Roman Catholic, he has eight children. Child custody cases leave him drained. "We are asked to play...
...Moran clearly relishes his job. "I'm miserably happy with it," he says. As he drives around his district, he loves to tell of applying the law to life in the panhandle. He recalls the case of a thief who stole some unbranded cattle, put his brand on them and rustled them off to North Dakota...