Solomon Oliver, Jr., Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, announced today the passing of Judge David D. Dowd, Jr. of Massillon, Ohio, who served on our court in Akron for more than thirty years. Judge Dowd was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1982. He continued to hear and decide cases while serving as a Senior Judge on the court from 1996 until he retired in 2014. Prior to being appointed to the federal court, Judge Dowd served as a legal officer in the Judge Advocate General Corps of the U.S. Army and had a distinguished career in Massillon, Ohio in private practice, in Stark County as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney and as County Prosecuting Attorney, as a judge on the Fifth District Court of Appeals of Ohio and on the Ohio Supreme Court. Judge Dowd received his undergraduate degree from the College of Wooster and his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.
 
Chief Judge Oliver stated, “To say that David Dowd will be sorely missed is an understatement. He was an outstanding judge and colleague. David set a high standard for judges and lawyers. He was a trusted friend and mentor to all of us who served on the court. He freely shared his thoughts and ideas about all aspects of judging and was always willing to take on an extra assignment if it would help the court. He was always well prepared, principled and fair, having the courage of his convictions. That is why the lawyers and parties who appeared before him, regardless of outcome, held him in such high esteem.”
 
In 1988, the Judicial Conference of the United States appointed Judge Dowd to a four-year term on the Board of the Federal Judicial Center. In 1990, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist appointed Judge Dowd to the Ad Hoc Committee on Asbestos Litigation, and in 1996 Chief Justice Rehnquist appointed Judge Dowd as one of five judges on the newly-created Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC). Judge Dowd’s term on this court was subsequently extended. The ATRC was established by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 as part of our country’s response to the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 and the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Judge Dowd served as a member of the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and in that capacity he also served as a liaison to the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Evidence.
 
The flag will be flown at half staff at all of the courthouses in the Northern District of Ohio for three days, this Friday through Tuesday of next week. The United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio extends to the 40 northernmost counties of the state, and holds court and has judicial officers in Toledo, Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown.