In his four decades as a jurist, Massachusetts U.S. District Court Judge William Young has thought deeply about the art of judging. 

As a state court judge, he was such a proponent of courtroom transparency, he allowed the 1983 trial of a gang rape case to be broadcast, which sparked a Senate subcommittee hearing about victim privacy in court proceedings. He also wrote an open letter to his fellow judges to warn about the perils of abandoning the jury trial, and he has opined that he is a practitioner of what he calls “the trial model,” which he argues is more productive than the “administrative model” most judges use.

When we spoke with him, his desk in chambers was stacked high with papers and binders of evidence, because he was virtually presiding over a bench trial in Puerto Rico. Though he took senior status about two years ago, that’s just another example of how he’s still putting the “trial” in trial judge.