In a time where American soldiers have been deployed all over the world, fighting to ensure justice and liberty to those who can’t defend themselves, Judge Robert Rigsby, of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, will become an integral part of the war efforts.

Rigsby, a District of Columbia Court of Appeals judge, was called upon for active duty in a most extraordinary way. Rigsby will become the first active judge to be mobilized into duty to serve as a judge in Kuwait.

Filling up the hall outside of the second floor court rooms, where tributes of some of the great judges of the past have been enshrined by plaques and busts, many of his closest friends and family gathered to give tribute to Rigsby just days before his set departure. Among those in attendance was Major General Swartz of the Army National Guard, General John R Hawkins III, director of human resources for the Army, and John Peyton, president of the NAACP legal defense fund.

“He’s the right man at the right time. The legal protections and legal requirements grounded in our constitution have no boundaries or boarders. Where there is Americans there are protectors, and he is one of them,” said General John R Hawkins III, director of human resources for the army.

Yet even as Rigsby was being honored, the judge emphasized that he was a small piece of a larger puzzle. In his departure he reminded those in the crowd that the important people of this war are the families that are doing their service in the military.

Judge Rigsby has been on he bench for eight years. Rigsby was nominated in 2002 by President George W. Bush as an Associate Judge in the District of Columbia Superior Court. The United States Senate unanimously confirmed Judge Rigsby on July 25, 2002.