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Brooklyn Judge’s Latest Decision: Writing a Novel
Federal judge Frederic Block has drawn on actual cases for a book he calls a work of ‘reality fiction’
By Anthony M. DeStefano
Two debut novels provide intimate insights into the criminal justice system.
In “Race to Judgment” (SelectBooks), United States District Judge Frederic Block draws on his 23 years on the federal bench in Brooklyn to synthesize several criminal cases in what he calls “reality fiction.”
At 83, Judge Frederic Block sits as a senior jurist in Brooklyn’s federal court and because of his seniority has the right to take it easy.
By law and regulation, senior federal judges — those whose age and years of service add up to 80 — can work while considered semiretired, assuming they are at least 65.
I am amazed at how many of the buildings and boulevards of Brooklyn —designed by some of the world’s greatest architects of the time— either pre-dated the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, when Brooklyn was the third largest city in the country, or came into existence soon after, when Brooklyn became part of New York City.