Frederic Block

Education and career

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Block received an Artium Baccalaureus from Indiana University in 1956 and a Bachelor of Laws from Cornell Law School in 1959. After law school, he was a clerk to the New York Supreme Court, appellate division, from 1959 to 1961. He was in private practice of law in Patchogue from 1961 to 1962, then in Port Jefferson, Centereach, and Smithtown, moving back and forth between these locations from 1962 to 1994. During this time, he became an adjunct professor at Touro Law School, beginning in 1992. During his time in private practice, Judge Block handled both civil and criminal cases, and trial and appellate work—even arguing a case before the Supreme Court of the United States.

Federal judicial service

On July 22, 1994, Block was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York vacated by Eugene H. Nickerson. Block was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 28, 1994, and received his commission the next day. He assumed senior status on September 1, 2005, and was succeeded by Judge Brian Cogan.

In 2005, Block complained that working as a judge in Brooklyn rather than Manhattan was like being a denizen of Fallujah rather than the Green Zone.

Notable cases

On April 15, 2004, Judge Block sentenced Gambino crime family boss Peter Gotti to 9 years and 4 months in prison for money laundering and racketeering charges. Gotti had a subsequent conviction in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for plotting to murder informant and former Gambino underboss Sammy Gravano.

In 2008, Judge Block ruled that the United States government could not use ethnicity as a factor in deciding to detain two Egyptian-born men on a plane. Farag v. United States, 587 F.Supp. 2d 436, 443 (E.D.N.Y 2008). The Judge stated that it was the first case post-September 11 attacks to address whether ethnicity may be used to establish criminal propensity under the Fourth Amendment. Judge Block has stated that this is the matter he is most proud of.

On September 30, 2015, a portion of a “seemingly never-ending dispute” over the printing of the Rebbe’s Sichos came to an end when Judge Block dismissed a major part of a lawsuit involving members of the Orthodox Jewish Chabad group. Judge Block dismissed claims of copyright infringement and unfair competition brought by Vaad L’Hafotzas Sichos and Zalman Chanin against Merkos and Agudas Chasidei Chabad.

On May 24, 2016, Judge Block ordered a sentence of one year of probation (rather than the guideline 33-41 month imprisonment) for a defendant who was convicted by a jury of importation and possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute. USA v. Nesbeth (E.D.N.Y. 2016). Text In a 44-page opinion, Judge Block described that the "collateral consequences" facing convicted felons are punishment enough. Judge Block's opinion and call for reform appears to be one of the most detailed examinations of collateral consequences and sentencing.

Books

On July 17, 2012, Judge Block released his first book named Disrobed: An Inside Look at the Life and Work of a Federal Trial Judge. The book was written for a behind the bench look at some of the most controversial cases in the past 20 years. The book covers Judge Block's approach to sentencing such as the death penalty, racketeering, gun laws, drug laws, discrimination laws, race riots, terrorism, and restitution of looted property to victims of the Holocaust.