The Responsible Judge: Readings in Judicial Ethics

Edward A. Tamm was educated at the University of Montana ( B.A., 1928) and Georgetown University ( LL.B., 1930). He served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia from 1948 to 1965 and was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. A member of the U.S. Judicial Conference beginning in 1969, he chaired the Committee on Judicial Ethics from 1978 to 1986. Patricia M. Wald of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has a broad background in social policy issues, including juvenile justice, mental health, and drug abuse. She was educated at Connecticut College for Women ( B.A., 1948) and Yale Law School ( LL.B., 1951), where she was case editor of the Yale Law Journal. She clerked for Judge Jerome Frank on the Second Circuit and served in the Department of Justice, first as an attorney in the Office of Criminal Justice and subsequently as Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs. She was appointed to the Circuit Court by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. The following excerpts are from Steele v. FCC, 770 F.2d 1192 ( 1985).

Before TAMM, WALD and SCALIA, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the court filed by Circuit Judge TAMM.

Dissenting opinion filed by Circuit Judge WALD.

TAMM, Circuit Judge:

The Federal Communications Commission (the "Commission") extends preferential treatment to female applicants for FM radio stations in comparative evaluation proceedings. Appellant James U. Steele contends that this policy discriminates on the basis of sex in violation of the United States Constitution and is an agency action that is arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A) ( 1982) (the "APA").

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