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John Sirica

AKA John Joseph Sirica

Born: 19-Mar-1904
Birthplace: Waterbury, CT
Died: 14-Aug-1992
Location of death: Washington, DC
Cause of death: Heart Failure
Remains: Buried, Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Silver Spring, MD

Gender: Male
Religion: Roman Catholic
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Judge
Party Affiliation: Republican

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Watergate judge

US District Court Judge John Sirica oversaw the Watergate trials, and took an aggressive role in unraveling what he suspected was more than a simple burglary. He imposed stiff but provisional sentences on the burglars, enticing cooperation with the possibility that their sentences could be reduced, a ploy that paid off when James W. McCord, Jr. told Sirica of perjury and payments that had been made to entice defendants not to implicate higher-ups. He ordered President Richard M. Nixon to turn over White House tapes of conversations, leading to the Supreme Court showdown that backed Sirica's subpoena, and required Nixon to release the tapes. Sirica presided over trials that found John Ehrlichman, H. R. Haldeman, and Attorney General John Mitchell guilty, and he was named Time's Man of the Year for 1973. A staunch Republican, he was appointed to the bench by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1957.

Sirica boxed while attending law school, winning his only professional bout in 1926, and during his early years as a lawyer he augmented his income as a boxing promoter. Long-time friend Jack Dempsey was Sirica's best man at his wedding in 1952.

Father: Ferdinand Sirica ("Fred", barber)
Mother: Rose Zinno Sirica (grocery clerk)
Wife: Lucile Camalier Sirica (b. 1923, m. 26-Feb-1952, d. 1998, two daughters, one son)
Daughter: Eileen Cardillo Sirica
Son: John Joseph Sirica, Jr. ("Jack", Newsweek editor)
Daughter: Patricia Doubet Kane-Sirica

    High School: Emerson Preparatory School, Washington, DC (attended)
    High School: Columbia Preparatory School, Washington, DC (1921)
    Law School: LLB, George Washington University (1926)

    Time Person of the Year 1973
    US District Judge District of Columbia (1957-86)
    Assistant US Attorney District of Columbia (1930-34)
    District of Columbia Bar
    Knights of Columbus
    Young Men's Christian Association Washington, DC
    Italian Ancestry
    Watergate Scandal

Author of books:
To Set the Record Straight (1979)


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