Judge Michael Henry Marcus

Be at peace judge marcus. You are certainly redeemable

I knew Judge Marcus when I worked for Multnomah County in the IT department, supporting a computer system he helped design that addressed his ideas of 'smart sentencing' - finding the sentence that, statistically, had the best chance of reducing recidivism. He was a brilliant man. We worked together for many years, and became friendly over the course of time. We shared a love of dogs - especially BIG ones. (He always had Newfoundlands and I had a Great Pyrenees.) He was always willing to...

This guest book has tributes from defense attorneys and prosecutors. Does any more need to be said about what good judge he was? We often disagreed, but in hindsight his thinking was sometimes ahead of the times.

I struggle to put into words all of the things I've learned from Judge Marcus and ways he influenced my practice and life. Impossibly smart, ever-patient, witty, kind, hard-working and principled are things we all know about him. As a young public defender, practicing in his court was in most instances wonderful, until he'd crack an impish smile -- a tell he'd come up with a legal angle neither I or the prosecutor had anticipated. But what stays with me most was the support he gave when I...

Only learned today from Judge Bergman of Michael's passing. I have never met anyone who believed more strongly than
Michael in the dignity of all before the courts and the law, as well as the imperative that the law deliver opportunity and justice to anyone who came before him or anyone else. He supported those of us at Legal Aid who were fortunate enough to experience his inspiration and his patience as a teacher of advocacy and respect for our clients and their expectation of fairness...

Thank you, Michael, for caring about the underdog. When my case made him aware that people were being summoned to court for child support and exposed to the risk of imprisonment, without legal counsel, he went to the legislature and got a law passed requiring counsel in cases involving such risk. He later told me "We call it the Clifford Walker Law." He also successfully sued to obtain my veteran's disability benefits, which have proven crucial in my life. We stayed in touch with the...

I knew him best when I was a young lawyer at the early stages of my career doing social justice work in private practice and he was the litigation director of Multnomah County Legal Aid. We reconnected some during his judicial career. I always admired his application of his great intellect in the effort to make the world better. I'm sorry to learn of his death and extend my condolences to his family.

I will never forget your laughter, generosity and kindness. May you and your loved ones be well in the journey.