Norman Charles Roettger Jr.

Norman Charles Roettger Jr. (November 3, 1930–July 26, 2003) was an American lawyer and judge.

Roettger was born in Lucasville, Ohio, in 1930. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Ohio State University in 1952 and his LL.B. from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1958. Roettger served in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant, junior grade, and was stationed in Key West. After leaving active duty he served in the Naval Reserve as a captain.

Roettger was in private practice in Cincinnati, Ohio from 1958 to 1959 and in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from 1959 to 1969, where he joined the firm of Fleming, O'Brien & Fleming. Roettger was acting general counsel and deputy general counsel for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1969–1971, before returning to private practice in Ft. Lauderdale from 1971 to 1972.

President Richard Nixon appointed Roettger to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on April 13, 1972, to the seat vacated by Ted Cabot. Confirmed by the Senate on May 31, 1972, he received commission on June 2, 1972 and served as chief judge from 1991-1997. Roettger assumed senior status on June 17, 1997.

Roettger was noted for presiding over many cases involving drug trafficking and organized crime, including Mafia cases (for which he received death threats) and the trial of Yahweh Ben Yahweh. He also overturned the conviction of William H. Kelley, who had been sentenced to death for the murder of millionaire Charles Von Maxcy. The ruling was overturned on appeal and the sentence reinstated.

Roettger served on the court until he died in 2003 in Fort Lauderdale from a heart attack.

Sources

• Norman Charles Roettger Jr. at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.