No Person Above the Law

The country faced a Constitutional crisis during Watergate. He stood firm for the rule of law.

As the chief judge of the federal court in Washington D.C. in 1972, John J. Sirica took on the trial of burglars arrested while planting electronic bugs in the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate complex. Who had sent them? The defendants weren’t saying and President Nixon disavowed any knowledge of the matter.  

Sirica came to the law as the son of an Italian immigrant who lived a hardscrabble life. From these roots, he fought as a boxer while simultaneously going to law school. Practicing law in D.C., he defended criminals and prosecuted them, too.  

No Person Above the Law describes how he was determined to see the truth come out during the Watergate scandal, even going toe-to-toe with the president to order the release of secret tapes. Named Time Man of the Year, he held high the central promise of the U.S. Constitution:  no person is above the law.