G. Thomas Eisele: Judge, Mentor, Friend

Last month, an Arkansas federal judge died at 94, saddening many in and outside that state.  He had an enormous impact on our native state and on two of us personally. We’d be remiss if we didn’t pay tribute to his remarkable life.  

Garnett Thomas Eisele served as a judge in the Eastern District of Arkansas from 1970 until his 2011 retirement.  Before taking the bench, as an old-time moderate Republican, he played a major role in Winthrop Rockefeller’s gubernatorial campaigns and served as his legal advisor at $1 a year.  Richard Nixon appointed him to the bench and he swore off politics, believing judicial office required the reality and appearance of fairness.

Tributes have poured in since his death, noting his penchant for unpopular decisions in criminal, environmental, and civil rights cases.  For the two of us who knew him, his judicial record tells only part of the story.  He seemed larger than life because of his intellect, kindness, civility, and dedication to helping people realize their potential.

Henry Writes:

My mother believed everyone encounters people who enrich lives if we open ourselves to those chance meetings.  Judge Eisele confirmed her belief.  Just out of college and working for Governor Rockefeller, I met Tom Eisele.  Although incredibly busy as the Governor’s lawyer, he took the time to talk with, advise, and encourage this young college graduate.  When it came time to move on to my career, he encouraged me to attend law school.  He thought, for some reason, I’d do well in the law.

By the time I graduated from law school he’d become a federal judge. He hired me as a law clerk. The newspaper headline read:

“Negro Named as US Law Clerk.” My hiring made him the first federal judge in Arkansas to employ an African American clerk.  He let me know that though he recognized the significance of the hire, he chose me because of my record, writing ability, and the potential he saw in me to help him do the people's business.

Working with him gave me a daily opportunity to watch and engage his unparalleled attention to detail, his total belief in fairness and justice, and his complete conviction that the cases we handled belonged not to us but the litigants whose lives depended on the energy and intellectual honesty we brought to each case.
Though I’d committed to a two year clerkship with him, I got a chance to clerk for an Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals judge.  He said I couldn’t pass up such an opportunity.  He believed it significant that I’d become the first African American to clerk for a judge on that court, but he thought it just as important that the experience itself would serve me well for the rest of my career.  He believed I could make a difference. 

G. Thomas Eisele (credit: Arkansas Online)

Later, I was appointed Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of Arkansas. I’m sure when the district judges chose from the lawyers presented them by a recommending committee, his strong, respected voice and his belief in me made a difference.  I became the first African American Magistrate Judge in a southern state.  I found challenge and reward in my 31 and a half years on that court, serving alongside Judge Eisele.  My mentor and wise advisor became my colleague and invaluable friend.  I treasure that friendship and the memory of our conversations.  Nothing I write could demonstrate his impact on my life.

He opened his courtroom, his mind, and his heart to all people.  I miss him.

Rob writes:
I knew Judge Eisele less well than Henry, but my experiences with him produced enormous respect and admiration.   When I lived in Little Rock in the 1970s, I often ran along Rebsamen Park Road, a straight, flat stretch that parallels the Arkansas River.  Occasionally, I’d find myself catching up to a shirtless man who never stopped smiling and who always had time to talk until I pushed ahead.  That man was Judge Eisele. 

Oh, I knew who he was.  Most of the regular runners along “the river,” as we called it, knew “the Judge,” who parked his old Mercedes on the eastern end of the route, ran west for about three miles, and returned.  I wasn’t a lawyer then, but he knew me from television.  As we plodded along, we talked sports or how I was doing with life.  Despite his position, he wasn’t dour, standoffish, or self-important.  He talked to me like a human being.

Years later, after I’d become a lawyer,  on a visit to Arkansas, I mentioned to Henry that I’d worked on a case, just decided by the Texas Supreme Court, on admissibility of scientific evidence.  He said Judge Eisele had a pending case involving that issue and he might want to know what I’d learned.  The Judge invited me to his office and we spent almost an hour talking about the ins and outs of that complex topic.  When I returned to Houston, as he’d asked, I sent his law clerks the briefs in my case.   I was astounded that he cared what I thought.

Finally, when we started this project, I needed background on Henry’s life before we met.  Henry said Judge Eisele heavily influenced his decision to attend law school.  He urged me to call him about it.  I dialed the number Henry gave me, expecting I’d have to fight my way through a palace guard of gatekeepers.  Judge Eisele answered the phone himself.  We talked for an hour, just two people discussing a mutual friend.  The world needs more people who approach life like he did.