Investiture Remarks

By The Honorable Judge Caroline H. Gentry U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio Caroline_Gentry@ohsd.uscourts.gov

12, 2023

Chief Judge Marbley, Distinguished Colleagues, Honored Guests and Dear Family and Friends, Thank you all for coming, and for being a part of this very special event.

My first interaction with this Honorable Court was in April of 1974. I was four years old. My older sister and I wore red, white and blue dresses, and waved small American flags, as we watched our mother take the oath of citizenship and become an American citizen.

I do not remember who the judge was or what he said. I remember only images and feelings. I vividly recall feeling two emotions. The first was joy. It was a joyous day for our family. The second was pride. I was very proud of my mother, because I knew she had studied and worked hard to become an American citizen.

I was also extremely proud of my country. I was proud to be a citizen of a country that is the land of the free and the home of the brave. A country that welcomes people from all over the world and allows them to become citizens. A country that believes in liberty and justice for all.

As I grew older, I learned that our country has not always lived up to its ideals. I learned that for much of our history, women and Black people were disenfranchised and treated as less than equal. I learned about the civil rights movement and the fight for equal rights, a fight that continues to this day. None of those lessons diminished my pride in, and my love for, this country. We are not perfect. But our Constitution, laws and democracy give us the tools that we need to come closer to our ideals, over time. And that is something to be proud of, to fight for, to protect, and to defend.

When you become a federal magistrate judge, you quickly find out that there are many things that you do not know how to do. Fortunately, the Federal Judicial Center offers two weeks of training to newly appointed magistrate judges. We affectionately refer to it as “Baby Judge School.”

Last October, about 30 of us met in Washington DC for our second week of Baby Judge School. After three days in the classroom, we spent our fourth day taking field trips. We visited the Supreme Court, which was amazing. We spent the rest of the day at the U.S. Holocaust Museum.

I had been there before, years ago, so I thought I knew what to expect. But I was wrong. When we arrived, we were split up into small groups of 3 or 4 judges and assigned to a tour guide. For two hours, our guide talked to us about the exhibits and the history of the Holocaust, asked us questions, and engaged us in discussion. We primarily focused on the years leading up to the Holocaust, and the question of how such atrocities could happen. How could one person transform a constitutional democracy, and an advanced country where Jewish people were fully integrated into society, into a murderous dictatorship that killed over six million Jewish people?

I do not have the time, or the words, to tell you everything that I learned that day. But I do want to share three lessons I took away from our visit.

The first lesson is that Democracy Is Our Best Defense Against Tyranny. Hitler did not begin his political career as a tyrant. Instead, like many other tyrants before him, he was elected to office. He then engineered the fall of democracy, was appointed chancellor, and seized power. Once he had absolute power, he could only be removed by war and bloodshed. // The Holocaust teaches us that democracy is our best defense against tyranny. Here tonight, in this museum, we are surrounded by reminders of the many sacrifices that generations of Americans have made, and continue to make, to protect our democracy. Let us thank them for their bravery and ensure, by our own actions, that their sacrifices were not in vain.

The second lesson is that Propaganda Can Be Deadly. Propaganda refers to information of a biased or misleading nature—such as conspiracy theories and lies—that is used to promote a political point of view. The Nazis were masters at using propaganda to demonize and dehumanize Jewish people. The exhibit from the museum that I recall most vividly is a children’s book that compared Jewish people to poisonous mushrooms. We must never underestimate the power, and the danger, of propaganda.

The final lesson, and arguably the most important one, is that Silence Is Complicity. It is a lesson that we all know, but do not speak about enough. It means that when we see someone being attacked because they belong to a particular group of people, we must not remain silent. It is not enough to content ourselves with the thought that we do not attack anyone, or agree with those who do. We must do something to protect those who are being attacked. The question of what to do is beyond the scope of these remarks. But it is a topic that we should discuss, and I encourage all of you to do that.

In closing, I want to thank the district judges of the Southern District of Ohio for giving me the opportunity to serve as a federal magistrate judge. It is truly the greatest honor and privilege of my life to serve in this capacity. I pledge to them, and to all of you, to work hard and do my best every day to uphold the rule of law and do justice, without fear or favor.

Once the program is over, please stay, eat, visit, and take in the exhibits. We have a pasta bar, a burger bar, fruits and vegetables, and cupcakes. The museum will remain open until 10:00. I understand that we have a guide who will lead a 45-minute tour called Women in Space and Aviation.

Finally, I want to thank the Federal Bar Association for underwriting the cost of the reception. A special thanks to Terrie Carter, from our Columbus seat of Court, for her work in putting this evening together. And thank you all, again, for coming.

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