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New York Times
21-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Bruce M. Selya, Federal Judge Known for Polysyllabic Prose, Dies at 90
Bruce M. Selya, a federal judge who issued more than 1,800 opinions and was celebrated (and occasionally chided) for a sesquipedalian writing style — that is, his use of long words that sent readers scrambling for a dictionary — died on Feb. 22 in Providence, R.I. He was 90. His family announced his death. A Republican who was active in electoral politics before President Ronald Reagan nominated him to the bench in 1982, Judge Selya issued opinions that did not conform to a predictable conservative ideology. Last year, he was part of a court panel that upheld Rhode Island's ban on high-capacity gun magazines, having continued to work as a senior judge on the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston until his death. In 1998, he struck down the use of racial preferences in student admissions to Boston Latin School in the first ruling from an appeals court that restricted affirmative action in public schools, a long-sought goal of conservatives. On the other hand, he sided with a liberal understanding of the separation of church and state when he ruled in 2021 that Boston could bar a Christian group from flying a religious flag at a ceremony outside City Hall. The United States Supreme Court unanimously reversed Judge Selya, saying that the free-speech rights of the religious group prevailed. The U.S. District Court of Rhode Island, where Judge Selya began his career on the bench, called him 'one of the most widely quoted jurists in America.' His best-known law clerk in his 38 years as an appellate judge was Ketanji Brown Jackson, the future Supreme Court associate justice nominated by President Joseph R. Biden Jr. In a memoir, she described Judge Selya as 'a brilliant, meticulous and scholarly practitioner of the law.' In his 22 years as a corporate lawyer before joining the bench, Judge Selya bemoaned the sleep-inducing prose of typical legal opinions. He vowed to enliven his own writing with original vocabulary and colorful figures of speech. He became known for obscure word choices — some extremely so. He preferred perscrutation rather than a simpler synonym, scrutiny; inconcinnate (unsuitable); and rodomontade (boastful talk). The National Law Journal in 2008 published a guide to 'Selyaisms,' compiling some of his favorite recondite words and phrases, to aid lawyers making their way through his opinions. The list included asseverate (declare), crapulous (unrestrained in drinking) and sockdolager (a decisive blow). The judge was also a punster. In a case involving the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union, he wrote in his ruling that 'a lingerie manufacturer made a slip,' that 'plaintiffs' own filings place them in the tightest of corsets' and that the union had 'played pantywaist.' To some critics, such writing was needlessly opaque, even sophomoric. Bryan A. Garner, the editor in chief of Black's Law Dictionary, once compared the judge to Holofernes, the pedantic schoolmaster who spouts Latinisms in Shakespeare's 'Love's Labor's Lost.' 'Many of his words are not in most dictionaries and have been obsolete for a long time,' Mr. Garner told The New York Times in a 1992 article about the judge's literary style. 'To say 'perscrutation' instead of 'examination' is ludicrous.' The judge did not accept the reprimand. 'There are no such things as obscure words; there are just words that are temporarily abandoned,' he told The Boston Globe in 2006. 'It's part of my responsibility to resuscitate them.' Juan R. Torruella, a fellow appellate judge on the First Circuit, told The Globe that he admired and sometimes repeated Judge Selya's unique vocabulary. 'One of his favorite words, 'struthious,' I like very much,' he said. 'If people have to look it up, that's OK. It makes them think about his decisions.' struthious, adj., designating or of an ostrich or ostrichlike bird Bruce Marshall Selya was born on May 27, 1934, in Providence to Herman Selya, a chemical engineer, and Betty (Brier) Selya. He attended Classical High School in Providence and went on to Harvard, earning an A.B. from Harvard University in 1955 and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Harvard Law School in 1958. He practiced corporate and real estate law from 1960 to 1982 in Providence, where he was active in state Republican politics. He ran unsuccessfully for attorney general in 1964 and was a longtime fund-raiser and kitchen-cabinet adviser to John H. Chafee, a governor and four-term U.S. senator from Rhode Island. Mr. Selya managed Mr. Chafee's first Senate race in 1976, and in an act of political patronage Mr. Chafee urged President Reagan to nominate him to the federal bench. He became the first Jewish federal judge to serve in Rhode Island, according to Jack Reed, the U.S. senator from that state. Judge Selya was with the district court from 1982 to 1986, when Mr. Reagan named him to the First Circuit appeals court, which oversees much of New England as well as Puerto Rico. He is survived by his wife, Cindy (Anzevino) Selya; his daughters, Dawn Selya and Lori Ann Young; his sister, Susan Jane Rosen; six grandchildren; and two great-granddaughters. A previous marriage, to Ellen Barnes, ended in divorce. In 2005, Judge Selya was appointed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, which takes a second look at denials of government requests for wiretaps in national security cases. He issued an opinion in 2008 that telecommunication companies must comply with government requests to eavesdrop on certain phone calls and emails of Americans suspected of being spies or terrorists. Judge Selya stepped back from a full workload on the First Circuit appellate court in 2006, assuming senior status. But he continued to hear cases. He told The Providence Journal in 2022 that he worked a five-day week from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. His eyesight had diminished, so his staff read documents to him. 'It doesn't stop me,' he said.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Assault weapons' poll; Judge Selya dies; Plant City lawsuit: Top stories this week
Here are some of The Providence Journal's most-read stories for the week of Feb. 23, supported by your subscriptions. You probably have subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime and (we hope) The Providence Journal. But what about your family doctor? Some practitioners are bypassing health insurance hassles and offering patients unlimited old-fashioned access for a monthly fee that works out to the price of a cup of coffee a day. The Journal's Jonny Williams explains how "direct primary care" works, and why it's gaining ground in Rhode Island. This week in wiener news: Olneyville New York System, home of hot wieners "all the way," is being sold by the family that's run it for four generations, making it the latest acquisition of Newport's Heritage Restaurant Group. Meanwhile, on Federal Hill, outrage is building that the iconic Italian restaurant Joe Marzilli's Old Canteen will soon be transformed into a Wally's Wieners. Here's how the newcomers say they'll pay tribute to their beloved predecessor. A revamped pitching staff, anchored by All-Star Garrett Crochet, has Red Sox players excited for the season ahead. For our report from Fort Myers, and all the latest and sports news, go to . Here are the week's top reads on Two-thirds of Rhode Islanders support a ban on the sale and manufacturing of military style "" in Rhode Island, according to a newly released poll. The poll, conducted by Fleming & Associates for the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, delved into this and a number of other issues the Rhode Island legislature is grappling with this year, including a proposed increase in the state's $15 minimum wage to $20 by 2030; so-called "same-day" voter registration; and a long-sought ban on high-interest "payday loans." The telephone survey of 400 registered Rhode Island voters also sought a reading of where Rhode Islanders stand on cellphones in schools, the proliferation of publicly-funded "charter schools" and the development of offshore wind. The findings indicate those polled want state lawmakers to go farther in some of these areas than the state's legislators have, to date, been willing to go. Read the full story for details. Politics: Is there public support for an 'assault weapons' ban in RI? Here's what the numbers say. Bruce M. Selya, a celebrated judge and the first person of Jewish faith to ascend to the federal bench in Rhode Island, has died at 90. Known for his expansive vocabulary and distinctive writing style, Selya was a nationally renowned jurist as well as a revered figure in the local community. Over the course of his legal career, he authored more than 1,800 opinions and became known for his use of arcane words and playful writing style, which he credited to his Latin education at Classical High School as well as a desire to make legal writing more interesting. Selya mentored countless law clerks, including one who went on to become a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson. Passages: Revered RI judge Bruce M. Selya, known for distinctive writing style, dies at 90 After outbreaks of the coronavirus among their workers shut down some of the nation's biggest meat processing plants during the pandemic five years ago, the government responded to resulting fears about vulnerabilities in the food supply chain by investing in new facilities. Pat's Pastured, a family farm in East Greenwich that raises beef, chicken, turkeys and pigs, was awarded a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand its processing plant to help make the region's network of food suppliers more resilient. The final piece of the project was the installation of new walk-in refrigerators and freezers, but when owner Pat McNiff recently submitted the $36,000 purchase to the USDA for approval, he got no response, a consequence of the Trump administration's freeze on federal funding. See how the freeze is affecting Rhode Island's close-knit food system, and why some farmers say it's imperiling their livelihoods. Politics: 'Make good on the contract': How Trump's spending freeze has left RI farmers in a lurch. Columnist Mark Patinkin took a lot of heat from readers for his Feb. 8 column supporting President Donald Trump's ban on trans athletes competing in girls' and women's sports. It recounted his 11-year-old daughter's experience years ago at a basketball camp where three boys who were allowed to participate won the top trophies, sending a deflating message to the girls. Many critics of the column called it a groundless "apples and oranges" comparison and faulted him for offering an uninformed opinion on a highly charged issue. So he sat down with a transgender woman, the Rev. Donnie Anderson, former executive minister of the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, to learn about her own transition and her thoughts on the trans athlete issue. Mark described their conversation as "eye-opening," and an example of how people of differing viewpoints can have a reasoned and respectful conversation in a time when politics has become a battleground. Mark Patinkin: A prominent transgender woman debates Mark Patinkin about trans athletes. What she said Plant City, the popular vegan restaurant on South Water Street in Providence, is taking its landlord to court, accusing it of refusing to sign off on needed renovations unless it agrees to a hike in rent or to buy the building for $20 million. Plant City Providence, LLC, is suing the owners of the 334 South Water St. building the restaurant has leased since 2019, alleging that the Mitrelis Family Limited Partnership is acting in bad faith by not signing city permits for renovations the restaurant says it needs to boost business. According to the complaint, Plant City has seen its revenue drop by about 45% in the last two years, which the restaurant attributes to the installation of a bike lane on South Water Street and the closure of the westbound span of the Washington Bridge. See what improvements the restaurant says are needed and why the property owner has so far refused to authorize the permits. Dining: Plant City, landlord locked in court battle To read the full stories, go to Find out how to subscribe here. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI assault weapons ban; Judge Bruce Selya dies; Plant City lawsuit
Boston Globe
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Federal Judge Bruce Selya was known for his extensive vocabulary. Here are some of his brilliant decisions.
Related : If you have the time today, here's a rundown of some of Selya's brilliant decisions during his tenure on the bench. 👨⚖️ 'This rebuttal is all foam and no beer.' – Decision denying appeal former fall river mayor Jasiel Correia, who was convicted on corruption charges. Advertisement 👨⚖️ 'Most people would think that bilking a widow out of her life's savings is outrageous; some would think that charging $5.25 for a salted caramel mocha frappuccino is outrageous. But everyone would agree that the two acts are qualitatively different, and are not deserving of the same level of opprobrium.' – Decision affirming a ruling on the Massachusetts Tips Act. Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up 👨⚖️ 'After careful perscrutation of a scumbled record, we conclude that some of the petitioners' claims are unpreserved, some are subject to a jurisdictional bar, and others are simply not actionable. The common denominator is that none of the claims can proceed in the district court.' – Decision affirming the dismissal of a lawsuit related to ICE raids in New Bedford. 👨⚖️ 'In this diversity case, 28 U.S.C. § 1332, governed by the substantive law of Massachusetts, plaintiff-appellant Richard C. Powers had three chances to put the ball in play. He struck out. At the last, the district court dismissed Powers' second amended complaint for failure to state an actionable claim. 12(b)(6). Powers says that the strike-out call was a blunder. We find the side was retired in accordance with the rules and, therefore, affirm the dismissal." – Decision affirming a ruling on lawsuit challenging an employee's contract with a private company. Advertisement 👨⚖️ 'In sum, once Congress has spoken, a court cannot override the unambiguous words of an enacted statute and substitute for them the court's views of what individual legislators likely intended. Any other rule imports a virulent strain of subjectivity into the interpretive task and, in the process, threatens to transfer too large a slice of legislative power from Congress to the courts.' – Decision on the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in Rhode Island. Related : 👨⚖️ 'We are equally unpersuaded that the court's policy of keeping all legal memoranda hidden from public view is warranted based upon hypothetical concerns about overzealous counsel behaving badly. Judges deal every day with the need to ensure that lawyers play fair and square, and we are unwilling to assume, without hard evidence, that lawyers who practice in the District of Rhode Island are so unruly that ordinary antidotes to fractiousness (e.g., sanctions, contempt, loss of the right to practice) will prove impuissant.' – Decision on a lawsuit brought by The Providence Journal during Buddy Cianci's corruption trial. 👨⚖️ 'The record evinces egregious governmental misconduct; the FBI agents responsible for handling Barboza exhibited a callous disregard for the scapegoats' rights. But it is our duty to interpret and apply the law even-handedly, regardless of the egregiousness of a defendant's misconduct.' – Decision upholding the award of $101.7 million in damages to mobsters who were framed for a crime they didn't commit. Advertisement 👨⚖️ 'This thriving rental market among college students has proven to be both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, the clamor for student housing is an economic boon to property owners willing to rent their dwellings. On the other hand, the sheer mass of exuberant young people and their predilections have proven to be a threat to the quality of life in a quiet enclave.' – Decision affirming a ruling on the town of Narragansett's 'orange sticker' ordinance. This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you'd like to receive it via email Monday through Friday, . Dan McGowan can be reached at
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bruce Selya, revered RI judge, dies at 90
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Bruce Selya, a longtime Rhode Island judge who rose to serve on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, has died. He was 90. The Providence native was the first Jewish judge to sit on the federal bench in Rhode Island when he was nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1982. Four years later, Reagan tapped Selya to serve on the appellate court in Boston. Selya entered senior status at the 1st Circuit in 2006 but continued to hear cases as recently as last year. Among those who clerked for Selya in Boston was Ketanji Brown Jackson, who would later become a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2022 – when Brown Jackson was President Joe Biden's pick to serve on the country's highest court – Selya told 12 News, 'I literally don't think that the president could have made a better choice.' Selya was known for his expansive vocabulary and creatively written decisions. He told a legal website in a 2004 interview, 'I don't believe there are obscure words — just neglected ones.' In 2022, when the 1st Circuit rejected convicted Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia's bid for a new trial, Selya wrote that the disgraced official's arguments were 'all foam and no beer.' U.S. Sen. Jack Reed called Selya a 'legal legend whose outstanding contributions to the community and the people of Rhode Island go well beyond his four decades of remarkable service on the federal bench.' 'As a judge, Bruce Selya was nationally renowned and respected and set a high bar that many others in his profession admire and aspire to reach,' Reed said in a statement. 'As a man, he will be remembered for his exemplary devotion to the law and uplifting others, particularly those in his beloved hometown of Providence.' Reed said Selya took part in more than 1,800 decisions 'that helped shape and influence the nation's jurisprudence.' Selya attended Classical High School in Providence, then went on to Harvard for both his undergraduate and law degrees. After entering senior status, Selya served as chief judge of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, which reviews electronic surveillance warrants sought by federal authorities. In 2023, the city of Providence renamed a street adjacent to U.S. District Court 'Bruce Selya Way.' In a ceremony attended by a who's-who of the Rhode Island legal community, political leaders and family and friends, Selya talked about his Providence roots. 'Any way you slice it, I am a Providence guy and I think that you can understand against that backdrop why this street naming has such great meaning for me,' Selya said. 'The street itself is a short street, but it runs adjacent to this building and so it links me in perpetuity both with the city that I love and with the courthouse that has become my second home.' WATCH: Judge Selya's speech during street renaming Tim White (twhite@ is Target 12 managing editor and chief investigative reporter and host of Newsmakers for 12 News. Connect with him on Twitter and Facebook. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Boston Globe
23-02-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Federal Judge Bruce Selya, widely respected R.I. jurist known for his vocabulary, dies at 90
Advertisement Reed described Judge Selya as 'a man of great wisdom, integrity, modesty, wit, and high ethical standards.' Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up RI has lost a legal legend, Judge Bruce Selya, 90, whose outstanding contributions to the community & people of RI go well beyond his four decades of remarkable service on the federal bench. — Senator Jack Reed (@SenJackReed) 'As a judge, Bruce Selya was nationally renowned and respected and set a high bar that many others in his profession admire and aspire to reach,' Reed said. 'As a man, he will be remembered for his exemplary devotion to the law and uplifting others, particularly those in his beloved hometown of Providence.' In her new memoir, US Supreme Court Justice 'A bespectacled man then in his mid-60s with graying swept-back hair, he had an old-world courtliness about him, and an erudite way of expressing himself that extended to his decisions,' she wrote. Judge Selya — once dubbed the ' Jackson recalled that Judge Selya would insert 'arcane terms' into draft opinions, sending her and other clerks 'scurrying for Old English dictionaries.' She recalled learning words such as asseverate (to declare or affirm a thing), gallimaufry (a confusing hodgepodge of elements, legal or otherwise), and velivolant (being in full sail). She also recalled Selya pausing to consider whether to insert a comma in an opinion. Advertisement 'He prided himself on opinions that would be flawless in their grammar, reasoning, distinctive use of language, and presentation,' Jackson wrote, calling Selya 'brilliant, meticulous, and scholarly.' She said she emerged from the clerkship not only with an expanded vocabulary but with a higher 'level of fastidiousness in drafting opinions.' Judge Selya, who Professor Michael J. Yelnosky, former dean of the Roger Williams University School of Law, described Selya as 'a Rhode Island institution.' 'Just a giant,' Yelnosky said. 'I think it's fair to call him the greatest jurist in Rhode Island history. He had a real national reputation. This is not just a Rhode Island guy.' He said Selya was well-respected by his colleagues on the First US Circuit Court of Appeals and had friends on the US Supreme Court. 'He was well-regarded both for the intellectual quality of his work and his rhetorical flourishes,' Yelnosky said. 'And just as gracious and generous as a human being could be.' Born and raised in Providence, Judge Selya received an undergraduate degree from Harvard University in 1955 and a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1958. He served as law clerk to Judge Edward W. Day of the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island from 1958 to 1960. He worked in private practice in Providence from 1960 to 1982, and served as a judge on the Lincoln, R.I., Probate Court from 1965 to 1972. Advertisement In 1982, he was nominated to US District Court by President Ronald Reagan and he was elevated to the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals in 1986. In 2000, US Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist appointed Selya to the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, a position Judge Selya held until 2004. In 2005, US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Judge Selya to the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, and in 2008 he was appointed to the chief judgeship of the Court of Review. Judge Selya contributed his time and talents to many community causes and public service endeavors. He taught law school students and received honorary degrees from Bryant University, Roger Williams University, and Brandeis University. In 2017, the Roger Williams University School of Law dedicated the In 2023, the City of Providence designated Fulton Street as Judge Selya Way. Information on funeral and memorial services were not immediately available. Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at
