S P E C I A L F E A T U R E A u t h o r : M i c h a e l S . H o o k e r – P h e l p s D u n b a r L L P
Meet the Judge : Judge Badalamenti goes “ off the record ”
Judge John L . Badalamenti was commissioned as a Federal District Court Judge for the Middle District of Florida on June 4 , 2020 . In a wide-ranging interview , Judge Badalamenti shared with Lawyer readers his path to the bench , the challenges of becoming a District Court Judge in the middle of a global pandemic , and the joys of being a band dad . This interview has been edited for length and clarity .
Q
Judge , I understand you were born in Brooklyn , New York . Can you tell us a little about growing up there ?
A I was born in Brooklyn and lived in a relatively small , predominantly Italian-American community called Gravesend . For history buffs , it was settled by the first woman to settle a town in Kings County under the Crown –– Lady Deborah Moody . When I was a kid , my mom got a job as a bookkeeper for the court reporter ’ s office in the federal courthouse in Manhattan . During my summers between fifth and sixth grades , I would ride a train by myself from Brooklyn into Manhattan to watch trials in the federal courthouse . Summers were blistering hot and the courthouse had air conditioning –– believe it or not ,
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“ i will continue to set high goals — the more the odds say i can ’ t achieve something , the more motivation i will garner to achieve it .”
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