Imagine how terrified that child must be.

Young often tells jurors they’re “the most vital expression of direct democracy that exists anywhere on the planet." I’ve never forgotten that lesson.

10/10

I learned so much that day, as he gently questioned potential jurors about their reservations and viewpoints from the bench. They were real people, with responsibilities, difficult experiences, and hard lives they were willing to put on hold to do their civic duty.

9/

He was gently pointing out that jury duty was hard and heroic, and that jurors try their very best to do the right thing. He invited me to spend some time in his courtroom to see for myself who ends up deciding cases.

8/

Second: In 2012, I wrote a column decrying a jury’s decision to find a defendant not guilty on an earlier murder charge, after he went on to kill someone. Afterwards, I got a note from Young.

7/

It was beautiful and jarring, and I’ll never forget it.

6/

But here was a federal judge standing below a giant painting of Daniel Webster defending the Union, saying *he* was grateful to *us*: "This is a short ceremony, but you have walked long roads to get here. I want to thank you ... on behalf of all citizens."

Until then, my overwhelming sense from years of dealing with the immigration bureaucracy was that I didn’t deserve to be let in here, that this whole deal was all to my benefit and not America’s, that I should be grateful, above all else.

4/

"It's my privilege to welcome you to citizenship,” he told us. "You, make no mistake, are what makes this country great." I could feel the pride rising in me, in the whole crowd.

3/

First: In 2008, he swore me in as an American citizen. There were 417 of us, from 75 countries, in Faneuil Hall that day. And all these years later, the thing I remember most clearly is how grateful Young was that we had chosen the United States.

2/