The Howard T. Markey National Courts Building (formerly the National Courts Building) is a courthouse in Washington, D.C., which houses the United States Court of Federal Claims and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. It is located at 717 Madison Place NW, east of Lafayette Square and north of the White House, and borders the Benjamin Ogle Tayloe House at 721 Madison Place NW, the former Cosmos Club building at 725 Madison Place NW, and the Cutts-Madison House at 1520 H Street NW.
Originally, the plan for the courthouse and an office building for White House staff had called for the historic houses on both sides of Lafayette Square to be razed. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, a believer in historic preservation, urged President John F. Kennedy to find an alternative solution. Kennedy tapped architect John Carl Warnecke to come up with a plan to preserve the houses. Warnecke and Jacqueline Kennedy envisioned that the courthouse and the New Executive Office Building, a twin structure to be built on the other side of Lafayette Square, would form a backdrop for the historic houses. The two buildings remain distinctive in their own right.
The Building Committee included Chief Judge John Marvin Jones, Commissioner Marion Tinsley Bennett, and Chief Commissioner Arnold Wilson Cowen. The building was dedicated on September 20, 1967.
The courthouse was initially built for the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and the United States Court of Claims, so when the two courts were abolished and merged to create the Federal Circuit in 1982, they already had a domicile in common.
In 1998, President Bill Clinton signed legislation renaming the National Courts Building after Howard Thomas Markey. The re-dedication celebration was held on October 23, 1998, during a special joint session of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Court of Federal Claims.
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“Ah, Governor [Murphy, of New Jersey], don’t try to deceive me as to the sentiment of the dear people. I have been hearing from the West and the East, and the South seems to be the only section which approves of me at all, and that comes from merely a generous impulse, for even that section would deny me its votes.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“Ah, Governor [Murphy, of New Jersey], don’t try to deceive me as to the sentiment of the dear people. I have been hearing from the West and the East, and the South seems to be the only section which approves of me at all, and that comes from merely a generous impulse, for even that section would deny me its votes.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“Any honest examination of the national life proves how far we are from the standard of human freedom with which we began. The recovery of this standard demands of everyone who loves this country a hard look at himself, for the greatest achievments must begin somewhere, and they always begin with the person. If we are not capable of this examination, we may yet become one of the most distinguished and monumental failures in the history of nations.”
—James Baldwin (1924–1987)
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For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory:”
—Bible: Hebrew Psalm LXXXIV (l. LXXXIV, 9–11)
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—Susan Lieberman (20th century)