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Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Ind. Courts - Clark Circuit Judge Dan Donahue "taking well-deserved retirement"
Columnist Dale Moss today has a lengthy tribute in the Louisville Courier Journal that begins:
Dan Donahue made jurors safe from flying water pitchers. Start there.Look at Donahue's thick file of thank-yous, some if not many from sides he did not take. Consider how easily Donahue was re-elected, and re-elected, and re-elected. Keep in mind how infrequently he is reversed on appeal.
Or soak in this from Indiana Chief Justice Randall Shepard: "How fortunate we've been that he (Donahue) chose public service."
Shepard could not really know every judge in the state. He knows Donahue, the circuit judge in Clark County, well enough not only to praise him but to have leaned on him more than once to help reshape the do's and don'ts of Indiana justice.
Donahue's mark is long; his time is short. He will retire as judge June 1, having served more than 20 years.
"It is with mixed emotions, for sure," said Donahue, 67, before a recent batch of hearings.
He plans to work briefly as the county's chief deputy prosecutor, followed by a move way west to be nearer his daughter and two quickly growing grandchildren. The first stop is bureaucratic; a former prosecutor, Donahue can earn a full second pension if he returns to that office even for a short while. The slot is to be open June 1.
The timing of Donahue's ultimate relocation hinges on being able to sell his house on the Ohio River in this sluggish market. If need be, Donahue will sit regionally as a senior judge -- a fill-in -- until he and his wife, Barbara, are free to buy in their chosen retreat, the Puget Sound community of Anacortes, Wash.
The Donahues' daughter and her family live in Vancouver.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 12, 2008 10:06 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts