On the Bench

Newport gambling, featuring Sheriff candidate and ex-NFL quarterback George Ratterman and stripper April Flowers; the bank robbers who worked at Alfalfa's Restuarant; super-snitch Jay Spurrier and the Boptrot prosecutions. An eclectic mix of cases and criminals have wound up in Kentucky's federal courts. From court documents, dozens of interviews, newspaper accounts, and the diary of Judge Mac Swinford, University of Kentucky law professor William Fortune tells the story of the federal court in the Eastern District of Kentucky, from 1901 when the state was divided into the Eastern and Western districts, through the 2006 appointment of Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove. Fortune writes about the circuit-riding days of the early court and its judges-A.M.J. Cochran, H. Church Ford, and Mac Swinford. Fortune describes the transition to a modern court with many judges, no circuit riding, and fine-some would say palatial-courthouses in Covington, Ashland, and London.