1. John McCarthy Roll was a United States district judge who served on the United States District Court for the District of Arizona from 1991 until his murder in 2011, and as chief judge of that court from 2006 to 2011.
24 Facts About John Roll
1. 2.
Later that year, John Roll became a deputy county attorney for Pima County, Arizona until 1980, when he began serving as an Assistant United States Attorney for seven years.
3.
John Roll was killed in the 2011 Tucson shooting while attending a constituent outreach event held by US Representative Gabby Giffords in Casas Adobes, near Tucson, Arizona.
4.
John Roll was born in Pittsburgh to a Roman Catholic family, and grew up in Arizona.
5.
John Roll received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Arizona in 1969, a Juris Doctor from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1972, and a Master of Laws from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1990.
6.
John Roll was described as "deeply conservative", politically, and a lifelong Republican.
7.
John Roll served as a lector in the sacred liturgy.
8.
John Roll was an active member of the St Thomas More Society and a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus.
9.
John Roll was a bailiff for the Pima County Superior Court from 1972 to 1973.
10.
John Roll was an assistant city attorney of Tucson in 1973, and was then a deputy county attorney of Pima County's Criminal Division from 1973 to 1980.
11.
John Roll was a clinical instructor at the University of Arizona College of Law from 1978 to 1979, after which he served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Arizona from 1980 to 1987.
12.
John Roll served as a judge on the Pima County Superior Court, Criminal Bench, in that year.
13.
John Roll was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 22,1991, and received his commission on November 25.
14.
John Roll was succeeded as chief judge by Roslyn O Silver.
15.
In 1994, Roll was one of several district court judges who held that provisions of the Brady Law violated the Tenth Amendment, a holding upheld by the United States Supreme Court in the related case of Printz v United States.
16.
In 2009, Roll ruled that the case Vicente v Barnett could go forward.
17.
John Roll declined to press charges when some of those who made threats were identified.
18.
John Roll was shot on January 8,2011, outside a Safeway supermarket in Casas Adobes, Arizona, when Jared Lee Loughner opened fire at a "Congress on Your Corner" event held by Democratic US Representative Gabby Giffords.
19.
John Roll had attended Mass earlier that morning and decided only about an hour before the shooting to attend the event.
20.
Surveillance video revealed that John Roll was shot once in the back after pushing down and shielding Ron Barber, a staffer for Giffords who had just been shot.
21.
John Roll died from his injuries, as did five other people.
22.
Chief Justice John Roberts issued a statement, memorializing Roll as "a wise jurist who selflessly served Arizona and the nation with great distinction, as attorney and judge, for more than 35 years", adding "his death is a somber reminder of the importance of the rule of law and the sacrifices of those who work to secure it".
23.
John Roll lived in the area, and had attended the event to continue a prior conversation with Giffords about the volume of cases in Arizona Federal courts.
24.
John Roll was the first federal judge murdered in office since Robert Smith Vance in 1989.